This content was created by Sue Warnke. This content was uploaded by Sue Warnke. This is a YouTube feature titled "LA Furniture Designer Finds Joy in Refurbishing Classics | Squarespace Presents" (published 2021-07-29). It presents Lulu LaFortune, a furniture designer, speaking in first person about her design influences (17th–18th century craftsmanship, paintings, mid-century film fashion), aesthetic goals (ornate-but-functional, heirloom-quality pieces like a stained-glass chandelier), and her process of showcasing and selling work online—noting her Squarespace site evolving from a college portfolio to full e-commerce and the significance of making her first sale.
Chapters
Let me like brush this. Oh, I looked at the camera. Is that okay? Oh yeah. Hi, my name is Lulu LaFortune, and I'm a furniture designer. I decided to design furniture because I was really obsessed with the connection that people make with the items in their home and growing up. I mostly get my inspiration from 17th century, 18th century furniture and objects. I'm constantly looking at how ornate they are while also being functional and beautiful. I think the craftsmanship at that time is something that we should all be looking at, taking that technique, how they're crafted, their purpose, and bringing it into the modern world and trying to tell Gen Z, like, hey, you know, we should invest in things and like you should Think about things that are going to be in your life for longer than 5 years. So bringing that heirloom idea, but also making it fresh and modern. So when I'm designing, I'm mostly thinking of the aesthetic. I'm thinking of the vibe and the joy I want it to bring to someone. I really want to make a chandelier. I want to do a stained glass chandelier with, like, Italian blown glass that's just, like, so over the top and ornate. I look a lot at paintings for colors. I look at movies from the '70s, '60s, and the '50s for the fashion. Looking at clothing, I think, kind of shows you what colors work together. Making these pieces is one thing and designing it, but then getting it out to people and how do you showcase it correctly and how do you showcase these quality materials online. Squarespace has been amazing throughout this It's been a really interesting whole journey because I started in college with my domain and I used it as a portfolio to kind of showcase the furniture I was working on in school, the textiles, and then it evolved into full-on e-com where you can now buy stuff online. Making that first sale, you know, it kind of legitimized what I'm doing. As these orders keep coming, it just feels more and more real that this is, you know, possible to do.
