Pillow Designer
Alexandra Ferguson @alexandraHOME www.alexandraferguson.com
@alexandraHOME
November 13th, 2014
Alexandra Ferguson @alexandraHOME www.alexandraferguson.com
@alexandraHOME
November 13th, 2014
Ah,
sleep. Yes, sleep. Despite our myriad cultures, beliefs and
perspectives we can all agree that sleep is both a valuable and often scarce
resource. As the Dalai Lama proclaimed,
“Sleep is the best meditation.”
Editor's love note: Oh dearest sleep, my capricious paramour. Quiet that damned alarm and spare me a moment more. Here and gone within a deep soporific kiss. Our time together clips by in the (literal) blink of an eye.
Welcome the pillow that welcomes us into sleep, the comfort of the couch, or simply a place called home. The dialog between person and pillow is intimate, easing the tired mind and sparking new dreams. Not to mention that whole other kind of "pillow talk".
Pillow whisperer Alexandra Ferguson has crafted a design company around this conversation; finally, giving them their voice.
Editor's love note: Oh dearest sleep, my capricious paramour. Quiet that damned alarm and spare me a moment more. Here and gone within a deep soporific kiss. Our time together clips by in the (literal) blink of an eye.
Welcome the pillow that welcomes us into sleep, the comfort of the couch, or simply a place called home. The dialog between person and pillow is intimate, easing the tired mind and sparking new dreams. Not to mention that whole other kind of "pillow talk".
Pillow whisperer Alexandra Ferguson has crafted a design company around this conversation; finally, giving them their voice.
Alexandra:
I was, fortunately, born into design. My mom's background was in fashion design and pattern making in the UK where she grew up. Although she had left the industry when she married my father and moved to the US, having babies was a great excuse to pull out the sewing machine again. Our house was always a den of creativity and craft making- from the kitchen to the closet to decorating our homes - she is an enviable Martha Stewart protégé.
During my rebellious teens, I spurned the sewing machine and became drawn to industrial design. I was dying to design cars and then became interested in photography later on in college, with dreams to become a war photographer for the NY Times. Lo and behold, I needed a job right out of college and happened to land instead in the fashion industry. It satisfied basic creative criteria, so I went for it.
Next thing you know, I'm running sample rooms, standing over patternmaker's shoulders and managing fittings. At twenty-five, I realized that I had unwittingly followed in my mother's footsteps after all. Not one to go halfway, it wasn't long before I purchased a sewing machine and began seasonal crafting projects. One of those evolved into my company.
I was, fortunately, born into design. My mom's background was in fashion design and pattern making in the UK where she grew up. Although she had left the industry when she married my father and moved to the US, having babies was a great excuse to pull out the sewing machine again. Our house was always a den of creativity and craft making- from the kitchen to the closet to decorating our homes - she is an enviable Martha Stewart protégé.
During my rebellious teens, I spurned the sewing machine and became drawn to industrial design. I was dying to design cars and then became interested in photography later on in college, with dreams to become a war photographer for the NY Times. Lo and behold, I needed a job right out of college and happened to land instead in the fashion industry. It satisfied basic creative criteria, so I went for it.
Next thing you know, I'm running sample rooms, standing over patternmaker's shoulders and managing fittings. At twenty-five, I realized that I had unwittingly followed in my mother's footsteps after all. Not one to go halfway, it wasn't long before I purchased a sewing machine and began seasonal crafting projects. One of those evolved into my company.
I launched my company on Etsy.com with only $1.60 for a few postings while eating a roast beef sandwich at my desk during my lunch break. I didn't imagine that much would come out of it. All I knew is that these pillows I made over the holidays for friends and family were well received, so I might as well give it a shot. In the beginning, there was no business plan or vision outside of a few posts. I consider myself an "accidental entrepreneur."
The product is simple: pillows that include sayings that connect to our consumers in different ways. The sayings are meant to inspire, relax, remind, and sometimes, make laugh. The best sellers focus on what it means to be at home and create a sense of calmness in the midst of the chaos of life or brighten up a room with humor.
Once sales began to increase consistently, and the product started garnering media attention, I decided to take the leap and have dedicated the last five-and-half years to really driving it. The most challenging part is usually cash flow and managing operations. Also, keeping promotional buzz going, costs down, a healthy profit (we've averaged 40-60% growth year over year), our manufacturing capacity ahead of orders, and our cash ahead of the bills is quite a balancing act. Thankfully, I have tons of encouraging pillows to return home to after a long day’s work!
I think what inspires our customers is the clean way we message. Our design language is clear and simple. So, designing a new product at this point is just about sampling a new phrase. I don't wait for any market events to time my product launches. As soon as I think up the idea, I write it up onto a work order which goes through production, photography, and then launches right away.
For new silhouettes, like the tote bags we launched this Fall, I rely on my head sewer who doubles as our patternmaker. We work closely to make a few "protos" (prototypes). She gets angry with herself if she doesn't nail it on the first try, but it's never a problem since any extra prototypes go to great use as testing samples.
I often snap some iPhone photos of the new design and email blast it to our customers to get feedback. Our customers are great at giving us feedback as far as what's working and what's not. We also do a ton of custom work, so if it's not something that we offer in our catalog, we can still make it specifically for a customer. All of these value-added options are part of the advantages of being able to control our factory. We've designed our space to be efficient and nimble so we can react on a dime.
I approach marketing with different strategies for social media, print media, and word of mouth. But in the end, the quality and customer service makes the most impact. I love Instagram - that's my favorite (@alexandrafergusonllc). Most of our marketing focuses on wholesale trade shows: NY Now and Atlanta Americasmart.
We have benefited from good press including a pillow that lives on the set of The Today Show ("I Love this Place" pillow in the Orange Room) and several that live in Shoshanna's room in HBO’s Girls. We have also been covered in dozens of major magazines including Vanity Fair, Cosmo, House Beautiful, Real Simple, Shape, and Fitness. Glamour even featured me once! And now, the amazing Bloated Hippo Magazine!
So, what's next? We are taking it year by year. The next twelve months for us will be all about settling into our skin, especially with this past year of wild growth and change. We just moved into our factory space last summer to meet the scale-up of business and are focusing now on efficiencies and continuing to target and support our network of over six hundred independent retailers that carry our line.
After that? We'll see. My mom is pushing to enter the European market, mostly because she wants to go to Paris twice a year for the Maison & Objet show. That sounds pretty good to me and hopefully we can make that happen in 2016. Our company focuses on the consumer, so we'll go wherever we need to go to connect to them, continue the conversation, and find new inspirations.