Inside Olive Ateliers: The Story Behind a Brand Everyone Wants in Their Home

Well, thank you so much, Kendall and Ben, for having us here in your store, which feels like not the right word for what Olive Atelier is because it feels like so much more than that. Where did this all begin for you guys? Yeah, I mean, we actually started, believe it or not, by collecting pieces and dropping them on Instagram. So we, once a week, I think it was every Monday night or something, we would drop, you know, 10 pieces or 20 pieces and they would sell, like, hotcakes. And they were mostly things that we collected from, you know, flea markets or antique dealers or other importers that, you know, we admired. And it kind of grew from there. We launched, you know, a pop-up experience in Venice Beach. We were open, you know, once a week for six weeks or something, and people would line up around the block to come and shop with us. And each time we would open doors, we would sell through everything that we had collected. And then it grew to having our first retail location, which was actually in Culver City in Los Angeles. That was about 5,000 square feet. This is about 22,000, so you can understand the scale and the difference. And same thing, every second Saturday we would open doors and there would be a line of about 300, 400 people waiting to come and shop, which we were always shocked by and, like, you know, very humbled by, of course. And now, you know, we have the online experience. You can shop anytime, all the time. We have the in-person experience here in the arts district where you can shop Wednesday to Sunday. And we now are not only sourcing vintage, but we're also designing our own collections of furniture and garden and outdoor. So it's very exciting. Incredible. And when did you guys begin Olive Atelier? It was coming up on five years ago. Yeah. So near the tail end of the pandemic. I think the idea was generated in June of 2021. So we're right up on the five-year mark. Yeah. It's amazing what you've been able to create in five years. Did you think that this is where you would be in five years? Or what did you envision when you first began? I think we, I mean, we're very, I would say, ambitious people and entrepreneurial by spirit. But I think we always knew we wanted a brand, a lifestyle brand, not just, you know, a home decor importer or a store or to be one singular thing. So I think that we knew we wanted to expand beyond that kind of concept, but I don't think that we expected to be where we are today at this juncture in terms of the size of the business, the scale of the business. The community that we keep is amazing and always growing. The content that we're creating is very lifestyle driven, right? We're not just saying, hey, buy this pot. You know, we're showing you how to live with that vessel, what that vessel means, where it came from, its origin story. So we're educating alongside inspiring through beautiful kind of lifestyle driven content. And, you know, I'd like to think now that people are also following because of the objects that we're designing and the furniture that we're designing, because the quality is so beautiful. I mean, we're standing in the showroom, which is currently mostly styled with The Sentimentalist, which was designed in partnership with Pamela Anderson. And we just were so obsessed over the details, the finish, the hand feel. And still making sure that the pricing is accessible. So there's, I don't know, there's lots of things kind of, I guess, that intersect that I think inspire and draw in that community and continue to engage that community that we've been able to build. I would love to know more about how you guys style each collection, because I've been here one time a couple of years ago. It was completely different. And I feel like each time I see a new iteration of your store, it's better than the last. So I would love to hear how you guys conceptualize that, bring it to life. It's a beast. And it's crazy that we look back only like, I would say two and a half, maybe three years ago, it really was just like Ben, Laura and I, for the most part, styling the space. Now we have, of course, a team. We have, you know, forklifts that help us make it happen. But in terms of the concept, it always comes from whether we're kind of designing the space around the collection that we've just designed and launched, or whether it's designed around a collection that we've sourced. You know, it might be a container from Italy of beautiful vessels. And we're kind of wanting to bring to life that concept of La Dolce Vita and, you know, beautiful Italian summer. Or for this collection, for example, The Sentimentalist, it's really created around the feeling of memory and the rituals that you keep that kind of stay with you. And so we really wanted to bring to life, for example, like the beautiful Rose Arbor that Pamela would sit under and read in the mornings. We wanted to recreate the Cypress Lane from our beautiful editorial shoot at Patina Farm. So there's that, there's her home in the back corner, which is Arcadia. She's named it Arcadia. We kind of recreated that moment and that memory for her. But, you know, in terms of just how it comes to life, it's, you know, I sit with Laura. We think about the collection, the meaning of that collection, how we want that to come to life in a slightly surreal way. Because we don't, we want to do things that are far from average and inspiring and different and very uninterested in kind of taking things that we've seen and just recreating them. We want things to really come from an instinctual place. So we sit, we concept, we think, we kind of dream some things up. And, you know, from there, we have an incredible team that helps us bring it to life, right? There's 12 people in here, sometimes closer to 15 over, you know, two to three days that completely got the place and restyle under our guidance. So it's crazy. Yeah. Well, I love what you were saying about it coming from a very instinctual place, not trying to recreate what you've seen, because that's what I feel being here. I feel like nobody's doing what you guys are doing. And I, walking through, it's like you're seeing what people would usually style for a magazine, but come to life. And usually when you go into a store, you just see the pieces on their own. But this, it truly is. It's like, oh, wait, this is what my backyard could be all together. I just think it's incredible. So I would love for you to talk to me a bit about styling these vignettes. Let's do it. I think Cypress Lane over here is one that I'd love to show you. When we're thinking about a vignette, you know, this is a large one, but this is a vignette to us. I think I'm always really standing back and thinking about the customer journey and the experience that they'll have when they see it, right? So they enter the atelier from over here. The first thing they're going to see is this grand lane, or I guess alley, which, you know, is very provincial at a glance. I always start by anchoring with the largest pieces. And Laura and our team are the same. So, you know, the Cypress will go in first, being the tallest. Then you'll go in with the larger vessels that really anchor the eye. And then you kind of scatter around that. And I always want to see layers. I want to see abundance. I don't want things to feel too static. There has to be like a lot of dimension. And so, yeah, as you walk through this lane, you kind of feel things that some things get closer to you. Some things give you more space. And that's what we're trying to accomplish. It's ultimately drawing you to the porch setting in the back. So is that how you approach your home too? How does your home feel compared to the shop? That's a good question. Our home is a little less surreal, maybe. There's definitely layers, but it's far less abundant. I would say it's a little more restrained because of the nature of what we do, we're kind of rotating things in and out, which is a luxury, absolutely. I mean, what would you say? Well, you know, we live in a small, modest bungalow in Venice Beach. So there's only so much you can do with that space as compared to this immersive environment. But it's very much us. And it changes and evolves as we do. And it's very influenced by what we're seeing in our design style with the company, the product that we're developing, the showroom. It's all circular. I will say one thing that is similar is just, we love an abundance of natural light. So as much light as we can bring in, we want to achieve. And we've done that here in this space also. I think also making sure that nothing feels too precious. We want people to enter our home and feel relaxed and at ease. You know, we have antiques, but they're maybe a little rough around the edges. Nothing is too pristine. And so that is a similar trait to the showroom. We never want people to enter the space and feel like they can't touch something or they don't, you know, they're scared to ask the price of something. We want everything to feel approachable and for you to have that tactile experience of touching and feeling. The home is where everything starts and everything finishes, you know, of the day and also life. And I think it's a very sacred place that gives you comfort, warmth, protection, but a very inspiring space. It's where we spend most of our time outside of work. It's very important to us that that reflects individuality and the ability to express yourself. And I think what's always been inspiring to me about the business that we're in is it's similar to fashion in some ways because you're able to express yourself through, whether it's garment or furniture and decor. But furniture, in our opinion, has more gravity to it because you're making a choice on a piece that you're not just wearing this weekend and maybe a couple times over the next three to four months, but it's with you every single day. And so you wake up in the morning, it's there. You depart for work, it's there. You come home, it's there. You rest on it, it's there. So it feels very special and important to us and gives us kind of a different lens through which we view what we do as a brand. I think too, the way that it's like the chicken or the egg, but your home is kind of, I would say, designed around your rituals, right? Like, do you drink coffee on the porch in the morning? Therefore, you would love to have a beautiful, you know, rattan chair and antique table to do that on and vice versa. You know, you're drawn to this look and this piece of furniture. So how can I weave that into my daily ritual? I think that that's what's cyclical about the home and how you live with it and how you choose to design your home because of the rituals that you keep. And so we are really intentional in how we design to make sure that these pieces are not just things, you know, that gather and won't be used, but are pieces that you're proud of that will evolve with you and that will be with you, like you've been saying, for that morning coffee or that afternoon tea or to, you know, do some art with your kid on the dining table and pick up some stains and it's going to be okay. That is so smart. I love that you guys are talking about starting with those rituals with the experiences you want to have in your home and then designing your home around that because I think so often, people can probably think of design as just purely aesthetic and it's so much deeper than that. And if you think of it in a purely aesthetic way, I imagine you're buying pieces and then getting rid of them when it's no longer. Cool. Yeah, exactly. But the pieces you guys have in here and in your home are pieces that stand the test of time. I can't imagine somebody getting one of your stone troughs and ever wanting to let go of it because it's been around for so long. It's really all about inspiration and driving curiosity through what we do and whether that's through our perspective on design or the experiences that we bring together for others to engage in. It's really important for us to feel like we're making an impact on people's lives and what an amazing way to do that than through home. I'm so thankful that you guys took the time to take us through and share a bit more of your story. If you guys want to shop any pieces from Olive Atelier and be able to experience it in your own home, you can shop at their website right here on the screen or down below in the description. You can connect with them on social media as well. All the information can be found down below. Thanks so much for having us, guys. Thank you for coming.