On Building Materie: In honor of Female Founder’s Day, a look behind the scenes of building Materie.
There is a version of building a company that prioritizes speed—scale quickly, expand widely, produce more.
This is not that version.
Materie has been developed slowly, through instinct, relationships, and a belief that not everything benefits from acceleration.
I come from a lineage of builders, though none of them would have described themselves that way.
My grandmother raised seven children while running a portrait studio, working as a seamstress, teaching ice skating, and offering psychic readings. She built a life by saying yes to what she could do.
My grandfather founded and scaled the largest cabinet business in Colorado in the 1980s with a seventh-grade education. His path was not linear, but it was consistent.
My mother built a successful interior design firm in Aspen from what began as a volunteer position at my elementary school.
My father has moved across industries—commercial real estate, a tile and bath showroom, a fine art gallery, even sports franchises—guided less by certainty than by curiosity and a willingness to begin.
What I inherited was not a method, but a perspective: that building something meaningful rarely follows a prescribed path—and that growth, in its most enduring form, is often quiet.
Materie began the same way.
Long before there was a formal plan, there were conversations. As an interior designer, I’ve always been drawn to the people behind the objects—asking artisans how they started, what sustained them, and what they dream about.
Over time, those conversations became something more: a network of relationships, a point of view, a sense that the objects we live with carry more than just function—they carry history, narrative, discipline, and intention.
That perspective has always guided how I think about a home.
I’ve never believed in filling a space quickly. The most considered interiors are built over time—layered slowly, with objects that hold meaning. Fewer pieces, but finer ones. Things chosen not for immediacy, but for their resonance—materials that age well, forms that endure, a story you can relate to.
A home, at its best, is not assembled. It is collected.
Materie is an extension of that belief.
The first version of Materie launched in late 2023 with a single piece: the Materie x Hangai cashmere pillows, developed in collaboration with artisans in Mongolia through my relationship with Hangai Mountain Textiles.
From there, the collection grew through recognition—pieces encountered and returned to over time. Society Limonta. Riccardo Monte. Ringvide. Blacksaw. And most recently, Studio Nudo, introducing a sense of balance and form.
Each addition has been deliberate.
The goal has never been volume, but coherence—objects that exist in conversation with one another, without feeling uniform. Sustainable not only in material, but in permanence.
In many ways, restraint has been the discipline. Growth has meant knowing what to leave out.
Materie reflects a broader shift in perspective: away from accumulation, and toward collection. Toward living with less, but living with quality. Toward surrounding ourselves with objects that express a point of view.
There have been many missteps—that is inevitable. I’ve learned a great deal about ecommerce, importing, and supply chain management, and have genuinely enjoyed the process along the way.
Materie will grow deliberately—grounded in thoughtful living, considered sourcing, and a respect for how things are made.
Thank you for being here.
—Nicole
