At the core of it, contemporary design means design that’s ‘in the moment’. Design that’s of current times, and one that isn’t limited to any one style or era. The contemporary school of design leaves room for a lot of crossovers between different styles of design, like – traditional, modern, mid-century, or even futuristic. It allows practitioners to create for themselves and experiment to their tastes. What it also creates space for is functionality, and designs that aren’t just for the eyes, but also for a practical, utilitarian purpose.
Still, the question remains – is it all that easy to sustain a curation of contemporary design?
To answer the question, we caught up with one such incredible founder – Stacy Lewis, of Eternity Modern. Stacy opened up to us about what it’s been like to walk the tightrope between modern design and tradition, and how she paved her way up through the hurdles that come along the way of running a furniture business.
The founder and interior designer also delved upon the ins-and-outs of what it takes to build a brand that’s not just carved it’s idyllic niche in the design landscape, but has also been proudly vouched for – by names like Vogue, Refinery 29 and L’Oficciel amongst many others.
Read ahead, to get a better insight into Stacy’s story!
The initial years, in Stacy’s words –
I have always been passionate about design since I was young. As a young girl, I used to look at magazines that feature beautiful homes and it always fascinated me how people were able to come up with such ingenious designs. That passion and curiosity soon took me on a trajectory towards a career in interior design. I did that for a while and explored the various facets of the industry before finally deciding to start up a furniture business – so I can serve even more people with my passion and expertise.
A transit : From traditional to ‘eternally modern’ –
Eternity Modern started in 2005. For the first 10 years of its existence, it was a typical traditional furniture supplier who wholesalers to retailers with brick and mortar storefronts, since we believed that customers preferred to purchase furniture items in person. At this time, we did not consider selling furniture online.
By 2015, we decided to bring in a shift. We restructured our business model, eliminating all of the “middlemen” – resellers, dealers, salespersons. We invested into manufacturing facilities overseas and partnered with international manufacturers. Since then, we have evolved into the exclusively online, D2C store that we are today.
It’s been a journey of it’s own, but it hasn’t been as smooth as it sounds.
One of the main challenges of setting up a business is getting clear about the business model. Before we adopted our present business model, we had to deal with different types of “middlemen.” We did not have full control over the customer experience and that was kind of a bummer, especially for someone like me who is passionate about taking people on a real journey of satisfaction.
Coming to the money part of it, fundraising was also a challenge initially. But soon, we were able to solve that by leveraging networks and relationships to find suitable VC partners. I think at the end of the day, these lows taught me a lot and gave me a much more in-depth perspective on things than before.
A day in the life of Stacy, the entrepreneur –
It hasn’t always been like this, but I enjoy a lot of freedom now as an entrepreneur. Most of my days would be spent communicating with my team and conducting regular meetings with them. I try to be as hands-off as possible and let my team do their jobs to keep the business running. When I was younger, I used to have a tendency to wear all hats in my business but I soon found that to be the perfect recipe for nothing but a burnout!
Since then, I have set up better systems and processes that allow me to spend less time managing and more time on being the visionary of the business.
Right now, my focus is on becoming a thought leader in the interior design space so that I can share my expertise with more people and drive traffic to my business as well.
Eternity Modern : The store, and the idea behind it
I wanted to fill in the need for a digital marketplace where people can customize orders for home furniture. We already have such stores in abundance in the brick-and-mortar space, but most of the digital furniture stores I know only offer pre-made items or fixed designs. The idea of Eternity Modern is to be a platform where customers can request unique customizations without having to go to a physical store.
As for the name, it pays homage to the mid century modern style while also emphasizing that what we offer is both modern and timeless. Our products are also made to last, so that contributes as well to the meaning of our company name.
In the end, the customer comes first –
Firstly, my business focuses entirely on mid-century modern styles of furniture and decor. I believe that it’s important for my personality and expertise to reflect in my business and the way I do that is to stay authentic to what I’m good at and what resonates with me the most.
Second, my business puts customers’ desires first. That is why a major part of our business model is the ability it gives for customers to customize their orders according to their preferences. Even though we have core offerings and templated designs, it’s always up to the customer if they want to spice the items up according to their taste.
After all, at the end of the day – the customer always comes first!
