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Olive Ateliers, the L.A.-based home decor retailer best known for importing rustic pots, troughs, and other vintage treasures from the Mediterranean (and as a result garnering attention from celebrities like Kristen Bell, the Kardashian-Jenners, and Melissa McCarthy), has been keeping a secret. You probably didn’t notice, but amidst the brand’s popular online and in-store drops, it has peppered in a handful of new products designed in-house. It was easy to miss—the pieces, like the romantic iron Juliet Chair, look convincingly vintage. But all along cofounders Kendall Knox, her husband Ben Knox, and friend Laura Sotelo had something bigger planned: their first-ever furniture collection, Vestige.
Olive Ateliers’ main motivator for embracing design was pretty simple: “We couldn’t source and sell enough beautiful vintage bistro garden tables and chairs to save our lives,” says Kendall. The 14-piece assortment, which includes a few of those early teaser products, is a reflection of the brand’s outdoor roots (although nearly all of the products would make a lot of sense indoors, too) and draws heavily on European antiques. So naturally, they shot the campaign imagery at an estate two hours north of Los Angeles that’s surrounded by a lemon orchard.
“We were really inspired by 19th century iron work—all of that delicate detailing that you find in gates, down to small little details like the faucets and fences,” shares Sotelo, who spent hours personally studying storied furniture and architectural embellishments. “I would catch her staring at French garden gates and then she’d just be scribbling on a page,” adds Kendall. They also obsessed about getting the patina of the materials (in this case hand-forged iron and weathered marble) just right, so that nothing felt too glossy or new.
Ahead, the Olive Ateliers creatives give us a behind-the-scenes look at some of their favorite pieces from the debut collection.
“We were really conscious about the proportions of this piece so that it’s loungy. We also looked at the fabric that we’re pairing with this collection. It’s really textural. It feels luxurious.” —Sotelo
“Ben and I actually stumbled across an antique floor candelabra during our honeymoon in the south of France. We have it at our home, and as soon as I posted it on my personal social media where a lot of our customers follow us, we had such strong feedback. People were like, ‘What is that? I need that!’ It’s designed to add ambience to an alfresco setting but it’s also a piece that can be brought indoors and be a statement.” —Kendall
“We tested our Juliet Chair about a year ago now—that was the first piece of the collection, and that actually was the inspiration for the sun lounger. The back is so beautiful, and we wanted to make sure that we had a really comfortable cushion that pairs with that.” —Sotelo
“We didn’t want to over complicate [the dining table], so keeping that really simple shape was important to us.” —Kendall
“The other piece I love that is very versatile indoors and out is our Gaston Martini Table. That piece would look beautiful by a large comfy couch or an accent chair. But, of course, it’s also a great side piece for the sun lounger.” —Kendall
“The watering can is a little bite-sized piece of who we are that people can enjoy through the summer…and really forever.” —Kendall
