Often, when clients have a hard time identifying what they like, aesthetically, I ask them to take a look in their closet. Are they apt to choose bright colors and patterns? Are they more subdued, opting for muted hues and neutrals? Or do they drift somewhere down the middle? These questions are important because of the blurred lines between interior design and fashion. Trends in one often informs trends in the other, creating a synergy between these mediums that pushes the envelope.
Taking this notion and running with it, The Inside offers “fashion for your home” allowing the user to customize pieces of furniture with up-to-the-minute trend-setting fabrics that break the mold.
Founder and CEO, Christiane Lemieux, is a true innovator, creating a line of easy-to-customize pieces, allowing the customer to reflect his or her personal style in an affordable way. Keeping things stylish and undeniably unique, Christiane takes great inspiration from her own vintage fabric collection, much of which was collected during her travels around the world.
“I started The Inside to make the online furniture experience inspiring. Through proprietary technology, The Inside is able to bring a frictionless custom experience to both designers and consumers alike. The Inside is home to the internet’s largest selection of custom fabrics and frames and we want to help everyone create their perfect personal space.”
— Christiane Lemieux
Making furniture shopping fun, exciting, personal, and shockingly easy, The Insider’s team of designers and innovators curates a collection of irresistible fabrics. Customers are invited to choose from the extensive collection of fabrics featuring elevated colors, patterns, and textures, and have samples direct-shipped to them within days.
Additionally, notable collaborators including fashion and interior designers, tastemakers, and artists including experts such as Katherine Carter and Claire V., create exclusive capsule collections that guarantee a high-end look based on a range of styles including classic and contemporary.
Katherine Carter’s collection, Homepolish, features elegant, polished pieces that embody the essence of The Inside’s impeccable partnerships. Carter’s collection, inspired by patterns and textures found in nature offer customers the ability to harness organic beauty with these sustainable pieces that embrace the irregular and unpredictable, yet captivating patterns found in natural settings.
The Inside is a key digital disruptor in the design industry, personalizing the customer experience in an industry that has been sprinting to keep up with the demand for digital solutions.
Critically looking at the market, Christiane noted a large gap — it seemed there were no options that offered fashionable, fun furniture with a fast turnaround (the average wait time could be around 18-months). This meant a complete re-imagination of the industry, creating a U.S.-based, zero-waste model that keeps no inventory on-hand, leveraging a proprietary process for creating unique designs at lightning fast speeds. All cotton and linen fabric is printed to the exact measurements needed to make each piece, while digital manufacturing using 3D models creates a specificity that bolsters the lack of waste. This model leaves The Inside without the need for a warehouse, adding to their ability to keep consumer pricing considerably lower than their less-digitally savvy counterparts. Each made-to-order piece is shipped via Fedex and arrives in just 2-3 weeks.
The Inside engages with designers and influencers worldwide to stay up-to-date on what consumers are demanding. Not only do these collaborations show a dedication to understanding trends, but point to Christiane’s entrepreneurial ethos. Supporting others in the business, recognizing their value, and creating a new space for them to exercise creativity speaks to her inclusive nature and collaborative spirit.
The innovation offered by The Inside is unparalleled, and to find an innovative, sustainable company creating breathtaking pieces gives me hope. We all wish for a better tomorrow and strive to live responsibly to preserve our planet. Those of us who crave fashion and feel moved by works of art are slowly being empowered to nurture our planet while engaging our creativity. Christiane’s creation of The Inside stands out to me as one of the greatest leaps our industry has taken toward a seamless blending of up-to-the-minute style and sustainability.
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