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In fashion metrics, if the name of your brand can be bookended with the words “a” and “girl” and the aesthetic is immediately known, you’ve created a lifestyle. Let’s try it: consider a Staud girl. You already have an image in your head. A bit eclectic, certainly not averse to statement pieces, but equally acquainted with the classics. More interested in dressing for her mood than for the dress code, and just as likely to show up in a surf tee and denim bermudas as a beaded mini and kitten heels. She probably listens to acid rock, definitely reads Neptune Papers, and has been known to sip a corpinnat on occasion.
Given that distinct identity, it was only a matter of time before Staud arrived at homewares, further establishing itself as an archetype more than a brand. Today, Staud Home launches with a collection of ceramics, leather goods, and textile pieces, marking the first foray into the category for this LA-based label.
It’s been a little over a decade since Sarah Staudinger and George Augusto introduced Staud. Since then, the success has been stratospheric, with new categories like sport and denim, collaborations with New Balance, Birkenstocks, and Keds, and even a capsule for St. Regis Hotels. But despite the seemingly constant stream of collection launches, store openings, and impressive revenue milestones, homewares was an especially significant moment for Staudinger.
“It’s something I have wanted to launch for years,” she tells Vogue, “not only because it’s a natural progression from our accessories and brand DNA, but because I’ve personally felt there is a gap in home goods for our customer.” The goods she refers to are the kind of everyday objects that so fluidly double as decor, like a coaster with the perfect patina, or a key tray that enjoys a second life as an ashtray. “This home collection treats every living space like a canvas,” she says, “one that’s never quite finished.”
That fluidity is similar to how she approaches her personal style. “It’s a reflection of my mood, that urge to mix things when something feels stale,” she says. “Repurposing a favorite top with a different bottom, or wearing a gown with a flip-flop instead of a heel.” It is the same sentiment, she adds, as rearranging your coffee table or moving vases to new places.
And so far, the design process for Staud Home doesn’t feel all that different from the fashion, either. “Some of it I make myself, some of it is inspired by things I’ve collected or taken from my parents, some of it is just things that spark joy, and some of it is things I can’t seem to find but genuinely need, like a placemat,” she says.
An example that comes to mind involves an unlikely hero: a sheep sculpture plucked from the flea market. “My husband pointed it out, and at first I thought, what are we going to do with that? We had no place for it and no real plan,” she says. But it returned with them all the same, finding a home in the living room corner. She immediately fell in love. “It reminded me of François-Xavier Lalanne’s pieces, or the sheep photographed at YSL’s home, but it was our version. A random $50 piece that completely changed the energy of a room we’ve spent so much time in.” And that’s the idea behind Staud Home, she explains—and why this sheep motif has found its way onto a ceramic vase in the collection. “The familiar and the unexpected coming together to breathe new life into a space you thought you already knew.”
Staud Home’s inaugural collection has a touch of everything. Crinkled ceramic wall art and leather vases with a signature weave. Practical items like bookends, placemats, and coasters—all slightly irregular in shape. Those imperfections are key. “Nothing in your home or in fashion should feel too perfect,” she says. “It’s boring and lacks personality.”
Meanwhile, the colors for the leather pieces were inspired by the palettes of Staud’s handbags—chic neutrals, with the occasional color pop. “I thought a lot about my friends’ homes and apartments and how to choose colors that could live easily across different spaces,” she says. She also thought about how objects could live in a space, similarly to how fashion pieces do. “Sometimes I would leave a bag I loved around because it completed the room with its color or shape,” she says. “Even thinking about what happens when you come home, where your things go, led to pieces like our catch-all trays and leather buckets, which are directly inspired by our bags.”
Despite crafting one-off pieces for Staud stores and for her home, she had never created decor objects for purchase. “There’s so much I have learned during this process, like how to wire lamps properly, how to develop scents, how to take something I’ve made by hand and translate it into something others would want without it losing its soul.” Speaking of scents: They developed a signature aroma in her greenhouse called Serre, which was transmuted into candles for the collection. “It felt elevated, mysterious, but still warm and inviting.”
Perhaps the most compelling motif of the collection is what—or, rather, who—she refers to as Henry. Staudinger was deep in the process of creating faces for the brand’s Melrose Avenue flagship in her home ceramic studio when Henry was born. “One day, I made a pot with a face on it, ears sticking out with a subtle smile. It made me so happy. It had a personality, not just a function.” Henry was, she says, a total vibe: The Staud version of the ubiquitous yellow happy face. “You can’t see a Henry and not feel happy. It’s not a bright happy face, it’s not screaming out, it’s subtle, it’s a nod. It evokes emotion without yelling it. When you see him, you’ll know. And honestly, everything in the collection is meant to feel like that.”
Staud Home launches on April 7 and is available exclusively at Staud stores and on the brand’s website, with prices ranging from $75 to $2500.
