Eco-Luxury Living: The Art of Sustainable Interior Design with Cate Brown

Hello and welcome to this episode of Conscious Design. I'm your host, Ian Peterman, author of the Conscious Design book. And today I'm excited to have Kate Brown. She's an interior designer and founder of Kate Brown, a luxury brand offering alternatives to fast fashion. Welcome to the show.

Hi, thanks for having me.

Yeah, so everybody loves a good origin story. So let's wind back a little bit. And what got you to move fashion? Most people don't think of interior design and fashion necessarily blending. I think that's a unique blend that you have. And then launching a brand is a lot of work. So how did you go about it?

Obviously I'm an interior designer. That's my background is home interiors. And I had a lot of influence from New York City and a dear friend of mine who is our creative director, Dean Sidaway. He is a sustainable fashion designer, and that's where I started to look at the incredible fabrics that weren't being worn anymore. I mean, even in my own closet. And I started to think about the different materials, the wools and all these things. And I thought these materials would lend themselves beautifully to interiors, to especially pillows. I brought some garments, some cashmere and wool jacket and skirts and things, and brought them to my seamstress who, I don't know, probably thought at the time I was out of my mind. I don't know. But, and said, hey, I have an idea, bear with me. Let, you know, let's deconstruct these garments and sort of put them together and reimagine them as cushions. And we made a few just to sort of see what it would be like. And I ended up selling them almost immediately to clients, saw them in, in our studio. And then I just sort of started to make a few more, started to source garments from vintage garments from different shops in New York, different vintage and consignment and thrift stores and all that kind of stuff. And ended up starting to really get into some of the heritage fashion like Chanel, Hermès, Louis Vuitton, etc., and started to buy up some of their beautiful, beautiful vintage pieces that were maybe had a little bit of damage on a cuff or damage on this on the zipper that doesn't work or a liner that has damage or just a silhouette that's not worn anymore. People just didn't gravitate towards it, and I would buy those up. They were great, and I started. Making an atelier line that were those heritage— made from those heritage brands. And in New York, that just took off, and I ended up launching my first line at Maison 10 on Fifth Avenue. And from there, it just sort of developed into creating a full-blown brand. And from there, I've been working with Andrew Joseph in New York and different retailers, New York and London. With Selfridges for their Earth Initiative. And I just started working with Distinctive Assets in Los Angeles, and we're doing the Oscars swag bag. Super excited about that.

That's awesome. Those swag bags are pretty cool. I've been with a couple of brands and helped them with getting into those. Those— a lot of people don't think about those swag bags. They're like, oh, it's just a swag bag. But it's— a lot can go into those for that event particularly. So that's Yeah, kudos to you. That's a lot of work.

So yeah, yeah, I'm really excited about that. You know, all the material that we use on the pillows that coordinate with the garment fabrics are all offcuts and deadstock and remnants from, example, like Mood Fabrics. We buy a lot of their, a lot of their deadstock and a lot of their kind of offcuts and remnants and things like that. And that's what we use for you know, pillow backers and things like that. So it's always a sustainable choice that we're making for each pillow. Some of them are one of a kind. There's only one. And then others, we just do short, small batch runs. So most, you know, they're all sort of this piece of art for the sofa, if you will.

Usually if you just buy a pillow, it's like, oh yeah, it's a, you know, it could be really beautiful, but it's a, it's a pillow. Like there's not really a story, right? It's made, here you go, pillow. And now what you're doing is you're, It not only is it sustainable, but now it's, oh, well, this, this is this Gucci material, right? This is a— it was this coat. Oh, we can, you know, look at the photo. Here you go. Like, there's— it was this coat, and now it's this new, new piece that can be enjoyed in a, a new and fun way, which is, I think, is amazing to be able to tell that. I love it when you can tell that story.

Yeah.

It's not just that I made it. Like, if it That's cool. But being able to really expand on that story, I think, is, is great to be able to do. Yeah.

And expanding the lifespan of fashion because as we all know, or it's becoming certainly more common knowledge that fashion is the number 2 polluter behind oil and gas and almost 90— I mean, the amount of textile waste just in the United States Is, was it 12 million pounds? It's just an insane amount of textile waste that's going into landfills and 85% of it is not recycled. So you're looking at only a small percentage of fashion waste that's actually, you know, being recycled. It's a lot, you know, that when you start your head around that number, it's really, it's a little bit frightening.

It's huge. I've interviewed people in the fashion space. It's a huge thing. So And that's part of what caught my attention when, when we saw your brand is somebody's actually using that material, putting it to good use instead of, instead of that waste. I wanted to dive into that too a little bit because you, you mentioned a few things because not everybody is aware there's deadstock, right? There's— and people, I don't think everybody knows really what that is, but—

Yeah.

You have all this material that's left there that's still good, right? It's still perfect condition. It's on a bolt.

Yeah.

It's sitting there. I've had a few projects where we've worked with Mood Fabrics and used leftovers that are just, just sitting there. How are you, 'cause you also mentioned kind of the, I guess, almost thrifting level of going, oh, this has been in production as clothing and get that. What do you look for when you're looking for materials in order to grab? 'Cause I'm sure you're not just grabbing every everything off of mood. How do you go about figuring out what's going to be a good fit? What's going to be sustainable? What's going to be usable by you?

Yeah. For pillows, we do and want a lot. We, a lot of wool, like men's suiting is fabulous. So we do buy up deadstock men's suiting or just old suits. Vintage suits are really great. The beautiful wool suits, cashmere, Any kind of high-quality wool we look for, bouclé wool, and there's so much of it. One of the things that's really common in a lot of thrift stores is leather. There is so much, so many leather jackets. We use a lot of leather for our backers, the back of the pillow.

Mm-hmm.

We worked with some artists in New York where we did leather pillows that they painted. And all the leather came from vintage leather coats that had been just sent to thrift stores. And even places like Housing Works, they don't— as much product as they have on the floor, they have so much more in storage. They have more garments than they can handle. So we do try to support Housing Works and buy a lot of our vintage pieces from there, especially coats, jackets. Things like that that, you know, again, might have a little damage or it's just not a style that's worn anymore. I mean, fast fashion especially has created such an intensely quick turnaround for clothing that people feel this inherent desire to just keep buying and keep turning over. I mean, we throw away so much more just because of that 4-season Fashion. Remember when there were 4 seasons of fashion? Well, now there's 52 micro seasons. So that creates that mindset, like overconsuming, and you overthrow away. That's just the nature of the beast. So the more you buy, the more you discard. And we just discard fashion at an alarming rate. And we're not— a lot of people aren't buying quality pieces. They're buying— numerous pieces, and those numerous pieces don't last very long because they're not made very well. And then you end up again, you're just perpetuating that whole cycle. So we're really trying to push buy better, keep it longer, repair it, reuse it, repurpose it, recycle it, and just change the mindset of the consumer. And also being able to see things in a different way. I mean, a beautiful wool coat is an example of something that maybe it's not something you want to wear anymore. It's just not your style or whatever it is. That can be repurposed into something else. And I think that's where we're trying to open those floodgates of thought about how can we use these incredible textiles that sadly are just going to landfills. And Just re— giving them a new life and a new form in something that's, that's beautiful and has function and value. And kind of reimagining these old beautiful heritage garments that aren't worn anymore or whatever the case may be. Being able to give them new life and new purpose is kind of reimagining that whole luxury in a different way, that sustainability aspect to it, but luxury without compromise. Like sustainability, sometimes I think people feel there has to be a compromise that comes along with having a sustainable product. And we're really trying to show that you don't have to compromise and still have a beautiful, luxurious product and feel really good about it. And you're supporting something that's handcrafted locally, right, in the States, and you're supporting artisans and craftsmen in whatever capacity. You know, there's so many great artists out there that make beautiful things that we really need to slow down and think about those artisans and those things that we can support to create a better purchasing environment for all of us.

Yeah, well, and I kind of to that point, listening to all the materials you were listing, You weren't mentioning polyester. I wanted to, one, ask, is that partly because those other synthetic materials are often made for really fast fashion where it's not going to hold up long-term?

Mm-hmm.

Two is, I think, kind of what you're bringing out, that's my impression with those materials typically, is that there's actually some additional value, right? Because we think like, oh, you're going to spend so much money on a coat and what if you stop wearing it? And now you're going, yeah, but that material, because it's so high quality, we can actually take it, we can actually turn it. We, this, this whole idea of upcycling or repurposing, it's only possible because the material is so good because it can actually handle being transformed into a new product. And so I was curious if there's, are there materials that you have to stay away from completely? Are there kind of, what's your— Do you have some general buckets that you're like, yeah, these materials can actually be upcycled?

There are some blends that we've worked with just because it's a product that maybe it's a higher-end brand, but it's using a wool that maybe has a blend, some synthetic blend in it. Well, our sort of take on that is, well, it's better that it's being made into something else. That will extend its life versus that synthetic material going into a landfill, because we all know what happens in terms of breakdown of those synthetic fibers. They're not the same as natural fibers, obviously, when they hit a landfill. So we don't say no, but the ones that we do say no to are just, they're not quality enough to work with, like you were mentioning. It's just that, you know, there are some Fabrics that we just have to stay away from. Some of those synthetic leathers, they actually peel. We worked with one, and it was literally peeling off in the seamstress's hands.

Oh, no.

So things like— we're trying to repurpose it, but we can't use something like that. So we try to base it on— as much as we can, we're basing it on the look that we're trying to achieve, our goal in terms of the sustainability aspect of keeping it out of landfills, and using great textiles. And also just the functionality of the fabric, how it works into being repurposed. The long and short of it, we try to stay with the best materials, but at the same time, we want to save as much textile as we can.

I love it. I mean, we need to save, what, 12 billion pounds or something like that? So we have a lot, a lot of weight to try to recover.

I mean, even in like we were saying earlier, you think million and then you go, oh my God, wait, that's actually billions. It's sort of like, that's a number even computable in your brain. Yeah.

It's such a huge number. I wanted to ask too, cuz I, with you coming from the interior design world, are you finding that you can recover— there's the fashion world, but are you able to recover textiles from like couches and furniture, like that kind of material as well? Or is that, is it a totally different space for you guys?

Yeah. So I don't think that would be something that couldn't be done, but our objective when, you know, when I started the brand was really focusing on fashion textile waste. It's just so rampant that it was my main kind of the focus of the brand is taking these vintage fashion garments and repurposing them. But definitely we have used deadstock of upholstery and interiors fabrics. Absolutely. Usually, they don't have as much dynamic playfulness as some of the incredible garment fabrics that you can find. I mean, like an upholstery fabric to a Jeremy Scott printed graphic pattern, or Moschino, or a Chanel bouclé wool. I mean, they look a little dull.

Right.

So when you start comparing these amazing fashion fabrics, so yeah, they can come along for the ride. And we'll use them in backers and that kind of thing. I can't say any upholstery fabric is taking center stage on a pillow just because it's not really the drama that, that we take our pillows to. Our pillows aren't like anything that you'd see in West Elm or Crate and Barrel or, you know, all those places. It, it's another level in terms of the detail and the craftsmanship and the materials. You just don't see them anywhere like that. So upholstery fabrics kind of play a second stage role, I guess I would say.

Got it. I'm curious, kind of looking forward, right? You're— it seems like these pillows are doing very, very well. You're doing— they're getting out there, which is amazing. Are you seeing this expanding? Like, do you want to expand into other interior? There's all kinds of things I'm thinking, you know, the drapes, there's so many things you could possibly get into. Is that something that you're wanting to start getting into, or is that— how are you looking right now? And your crystal ball.

We actually have been making some really beautiful tote bags out of leather jackets and mixing with Valentino wools and some Chanel wools and some Louis Vuitton wools, and they sold out right away. We don't— I don't even have any left for Christmas. I have none. So those were popular. And we did these called Love Is the Drug, and We made out of remnant Chanel remnant fabrics, we made a pattern that was like the pill breaking into a heart formation, and we put that on totes and we did some pillows as well. And that did really well. So we'll probably be making more of the Love is the Drug totes. And we're going to start doing more smaller handbag, like repurposed handbag materials and tote bags and little carry cases, like little travel makeup bags, things like that. So we're definitely interested in that sort of realm. And then I think we'll do more outdoor stuff, like poofs, like outdoor poofs, because we have a lot of coat material, Burberry, uh, raincoats and things. We did a really beautiful line with Burberry that were amazing. I think that that would be fantastic for outdoor pillows using all these great like North Face coats and all these types of things that can be repurposed. Sort of the following the vibe of like Rayburn in London. They do a lot of that type of stuff. So that's been something that we've definitely been thinking about for sure, getting into that. That's a really cool one. Imagining like really cool kind of patchwork fashionista drapes. That would be super fun, especially with some of the cool patterns that you can get in beautiful silks and repurposing some of those silks and things would be very cool.

Yeah, well, I, I love the idea of using those outdoor, you know, your coats, right? All those, they're really good at, at being outside in the weather. So I was like, yeah, I love that idea. 'Cause you, you know, there's not many, it's one of those things I can't think of many good options to really reuse that material 'cause it's really built for sitting outside. Like that's the whole reason you're wearing it to isolate yourself and insulate and stay warm.

Yeah.

Not get wet. So yeah, I love that idea. That was a great, I think the best idea I've heard for reusing the, those coats.

Yeah. That, yeah, that's something we're gonna be getting into in the start of 2024.

Amazing. I'm excited to keep checking out your website and see when they come out. I'm gonna have to, yeah, get some of those for our outdoor furniture. That would be great. Yeah. Well, this is really great. I love that you're tackling this waste, right? This massive billions of pounds of fabric way. You're doing it beautifully. I have your website up still. It has amazing designs. I love what you're doing with it. It's crazy. You guys are progressing so far. And before we kind of wrap up here, I just want to— 2 things. One, for everybody that wants to reach out, whenever you get bags again, buy some bags before you sell out.

Yeah.

Best way to find you. And then also just if there's anything else you want to add in. Exciting things that are coming up? I want to make sure you can share that for everyone listening.

Yeah, so our Instagram is @katebrownstudio, and Kate is with a C, and kate-brown.com. And our exciting things that we have coming up are— one thing that I had already mentioned is we are doing the Oscar Swinebag in March of next year, which we're really excited about. And we're looking at our Selfridges Earth Initiative launch next year and hopefully the throes of curating a line with Liberty London, which is super exciting. So that'll be a really beautiful curated line just for them. And yeah, we've just got a lot of growth in store, we hope, for 2024 and really just keeping at the sustainable direction of buying and getting our hands on as much textile, you know, sustainable textiles that we can, and just keep on coming up with creative and fun designs and growing the brand, or any ideas that we can come up with for ways to repurpose these beautiful textiles is where we're at. And that's what our growth pattern and plan is for the next year.

Well, amazing. That's a lot of exciting things. So I'm I'm glad that I can be following, see how you guys grow. I hope 2024 is amazing for you guys. And yeah, thank you so much for being on this show. I really appreciate you taking time to talk about what you're doing. It's important. Hopefully more brands will find ways to use these fabrics and start utilizing it. And, and it's great that you're showing, you're really showing that it, it doesn't have to have compromise, which I think is so important. To show people that you can still have amazing products, even if it's the second life of a material.

And I think that it's really important for luxury brands and luxury stores. Like the conversation we were having with Harrods is all about that. It's they don't want their clientele to compromise and teaching that sustainability can come without compromise and that luxury can be built into the story of the products. And, you know, you can sort of do well by being well, doing the right thing and still feeling like you're not compromising on the things that you love, being able to shop wisely and really think about your purchases and buying better and just thinking about that story that comes along with those things that you buy. And I think educating consumers is so important because the more you know, The more you think when you're buying. I really think it's about information, a story out there so people can understand and think about those purchases that they're making and how to buy better. And just, you know, just being informed is always the right path in anything. So.

Yeah, absolutely. Perfect. Well, thank you so much. Thank you for being on the show and being able to share and really appreciate it.

Yeah, it was really great chatting with you and I really enjoyed being on the show. So thank you so much for having me.