You co-founded Business and Pleasure Co. while traveling back and forth between Australia and California. Tell us what made you decide to start your brand together.
Ollie Edwards: Lach and I had met 8 years prior when he was playing in a band and traveling through Australia. I was drawn to him by his creativity and was certainly not surprised when he told me years later he had learned to manufacture umbrellas in the basement of Australia's last handmade parasol craftsman. A quick google of what was available in this category at the time, and I instantly knew this was a journey I wanted to go on with him.
Lachlan, we understand that you design each of your goods, from renderings to packaging. Could you walk us through your design process?
Lachlan Leckie: When approaching a new product, we think of three key areas—beauty, functionality, and sustainability. There are also some key questions we ask ourselves to begin the process:
Beauty: How can we make this category Business & Pleasure? (As in, where can we add iconic B&P ingredients like our fabric or fringe).
Functionality: How can we produce it better than in the past?
Sustainability: Without compromising the design, how can we slim up the packaging by making the products collapsible and/or foldable?
Getting into the nitty-gritty of design (I like to make everyone's life hard, ha!), we re-design every little detail and component of a product. We do not use any standard molds and hinges or sliders etc. Everything is custom-made across multiple factories. It's a tough, complex, and expensive process, but it ensures we get an original and unparalleled result and design.
We love the timeless, vintage, yet modern feel to your pieces. Is that how you would describe your brand's decor style, and if not, how would you?
Ollie: I think that sounds about right. A little Coney Island in the 1950s meets the modern ease of use. We try to keep all the elements of what made these items so good in the past while modernizing them with tech, durability, and modular and foldable options. Most importantly—how can we remove any plastics and harmful substances that may have been used beforehand, both on the product and with packaging.