We were lucky to catch up with Katie Arntzen recently and have shared our conversation below.

Katie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

At LDY Shop, I make all of my pillows from custom-printed deadstock designer textiles. I spent over a decade working for some of the most fantastic textile designers in the industry – it was truly a dream! During that time, I was surprised by how often private clients would order custom color runs outside of the everyday collection. Often times these orders would result in a slight surplus of yardage – typically 2 – 5 yards, but sometimes up to 10 – 15 yards of leftover beautiful hand-printed fabrics. These deadstock bolts would sit purposeless in warehouses- it was such a shame! Knowing how regularly this was occurring within the textile lines I worked with, I started to reach out to other fabric houses to see if they too had deadstock custom-printed fabrics in their warehouses. These lovely but stray yards of fabric became my target product and I began purchasing deadstock bolts from as many lines as I could. The beauty of my little pillow shop is giving a second life to otherwise forgotten fabrics.

Katie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hello! My name is Katie Arntzen. I am a lover of print, pattern, textiles, rugs, and cushions. I was incredibly lucky to get my start in the interior design and textile design industry with an internship at Peter Dunham’s darling showroom, Hollywood at Home, tucked away on a tiny street in the La Cienega Design Quarter. I had no experience; it really felt like a fluke landing that position which eventually led to a full-time job. I stayed with Peter for four years learning loads about design subtleties and color saturation and dry British humor. From there, Peter was gracious enough to suggest I connect with a good friend of his who was looking for someone to manage the production of their new textile line, Carolina Irving.

It was with both of these fabric lines I learned the frequency that custom-printed yardage was being ordered and subsequently left behind. From this deadstock fabric, I make throw pillows and cushions which I sell retail, but also offer a trade discount to those with credentials. My shop is a funny one – I call LDY Shop, a-few-of-a-kind shop, since every fabric, and therefore pillow, is extremely limited in quantity. LDY Shop doesn’t so much solve a problem for the direct consumer as it solves a problem for the textile industry and our environment as a whole.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

LDY Shop has always been a side business for me. I’ve maintained either a part-time or full-time position throughout the building and continuation of running LDY Shop. I’ve had a couple years of career transitions that made it feel impossible to consistently advocate for and put energy into my small business. Those were hard years – feeling like I’d abandoned something that brought me a lot of joy. Overall I’ve found that running my own small business has helped focus me on the things that are meaningful in my life. LDY Shop has been a touchstone for how I want to spend my time and energy. There are so many distractions in our lives and many many things that tell us how and what we should be doing with our time, I’ve really loved having this thing I’ve carved out for myself to puzzle through.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

There is a lot of pressure when you are starting a new business to have it all figured out – professional photography; dynamite marketing; branding; artist statement; etc. It can really get in the way of actually getting going, so at some point I told myself none of that mattered, that I was going to put my pillows and my little pillow shop out there anyway and try to make decisions based off what feels fun. Each little step forward started to feel like a much greater accomplishment than it would have if I were comparing myself to other brands

I love working at my own pace and I’ve found there’s great pleasure in taking my time to allow my business to ebb and flow. I don’t have great marketing, or a genius business model – my business is run on small happinesses and I like that.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://WWW.LDY-SHOP.COM
• Instagram: LDYSHOP_ONLINE
• Other: EMAIL: [email protected]

Image Credits

Marianna Jamadi