WAS THE NEWSLETTER #104

I’m Paige Wassel. WAS the Newsletter is your weekly dose of design inspiration, where we love a sneak preview.

THE PERFECT TEN

Today, we're taking you behind the scenes of putting together our December 7th WAS pillow drop. I've gotta tell you, it feels a little bananas that this is our tenth WAS photoshoot. What's cool is that each time, I learn how to be more efficient, more creative, more... everything, and I'm always so stoked by the end of it.

After ten drops, I've learned that nothing matters more than the people in the room. This time, the team teamed so well that the entire day felt smooth.

Like, suspiciously smooth. Especially, since we didn’t have Kate there.

THE PEOPLE

I lead the art direction and styling, with Yaro handling production design. Julien Sage was behind the camera. He's so great that I build the shoot schedule around his availability. Maren kept us organized, and our intern Anjalika jumped in exactly where needed. Everyone has worked together like a little creative pit crew. We switched sets, staged props, fluffed pillows, and never lost momentum.

This felt like the kind of synergy that makes me wonder if I've finally figured out how to do this like a grown-up company?

THE SET

I've experimented with a lot of shoot formats over the years. We've rented houses. We've shot in borrowed spaces, including friends' living rooms. However, creatively and logistically, I found that what works best is building our own sets from scratch. Because I spent nearly a decade as a prop stylist, designing sets is quite enjoyable for me. This is when I get to flex that part of my brain and bring the whole world of the product to life.

For this drop, Yaro and I worked out three fully different mini-environments. The first was a stainless steel backdrop, which sounds intense but photographs in the most fantastic way. Love the cool, sleek, industrial vibe we created.

Then we built a medium-wood wall using this strange veneer we found in LA. Yaro stained it into this beautifully warm tone.

The third wall was a dark faux-wood linoleum. Listen, you know I'm normally aggressively anti-fake-wood. But for a photoshoot set, it works because you're not living with it. On a set, everything is fake, so it doesn't matter. In this case, it was just another texture to play with.

The big upgrade this time was that everything was prebuilt. Since we used Yaro’s studio, we could prep the walls earlier in the week rather than assemble them in a chaotic morning scramble. On shoot day, we simply walked in and got to work. It was… peaceful? Like, I didn't know shoots could be so chill.

THE PROPS

Props for a pillow shoot might sound like an afterthought, but when you're photographing fifteen pillows, you need fifteen surfaces. I'm talking chairs, benches, stools, settees, whatevs. Usually, I rent from Gil & Roy, which is the coolest editorial-style prop house in LA. Their stuff is unreal. But now that I have my own vintage shop, Office Supplies, I thought: why not thrift, reupholster, and use pieces we can actually sell later?

So that's exactly what we did. Most of the chairs and furniture in this shoot are thrifted finds I reworked, and many of them will be available for purchase at Office Supplies next year. Love this satisfying circularity for us. As in, the props aren't just props; they're part of the broader world we're building.

Of course, some iconic things like the red subway chair still came from Gil & Roy, because some items only exist there. But overall, this shoot felt more self-contained and more personal than any we've done.

THE PROCESS

For the first time ever, this drop hasn't felt like we were sprinting toward a cliff edge. We started prepping in July, which meant everything, from the design to the website updates, was done with actual breathing room. Weird.

A lot of times, it's like: "Um, the pillows launch tomorrow. Should we build three walls and redesign the entire studio?" But this time… zero drama or chaos. Just organization, prep, and a shoot day that felt shockingly civilized.

The whole process reminded me how much I love the many layers of this job. Designing the pillows is one thing, but directing the shoot, arranging the sets, and choosing the props activates the part of me that spent years styling for film and photos.

THE PILLOWS

This drop features fifteen designs. I'm especially excited because we added more long lumbars this round. Some designs have limited quantities and will sell out quickly, while others have a bit more stock. Each one has its own personality, but they all live beautifully within the three different sets we built.

Newsletter subscribers (that's you) will get the exact launch time first. Not to be braggy, but it might be our strongest pillow lineup yet.

THE PAYOFF

After ten drops, I can confirm that the WAS shoots are the confluence of logistics and problem-solving. (And sometimes, full-blown panic.) But there's always this amazing moment that happens. It's hard to describe, probably because it's more of a vibe than anything. At some point toward the end of the day, the clouds metaphorically part, and everything sort of falls into place. For me, that's the magic of it all ❤️ 

Seeing the final images is pretty great, too, NGL. But what's so FUN is that I get to build this world exactly the way I want. I'm drawing on my past life as a prop stylist while designing products I genuinely love. It feels like everything has aligned into a job that's somehow both new and familiar.

Ten shoots in and so many more to come. I can't wait for you to see the pillows IRL once they're live on December 7th.

See you then! SMOOCHES ❤️ 

DO / DON’T by Basma Alromaih

xx,
P