AOW INSIDER: An Interview with PORTA NYC

I am delighted to spotlight one of today’s hottest independent retailers. PORTA brings together European tableware and home furnishings, focusing on local craft, independent artisans, unique designs, and everyday use. 
 
I was delighted to interview Alice Russotti, one of the co-founders of PORTA, earlier this month. The brand she and her co-founder Francesca have created always surprises me in the subtle ways it pairs traditional textiles and ceramics with contemporary flair. It's an artful balance that’s hard to achieve, but they do it so.
 
During the interview, we chat about running a small business, sourcing inspiration, marketing techniques, and her favorite spots in NYC. Alice didn't hold back when sharing her insights and wisdom.

To start, I love your brand. Beautiful work. Can you tell me more about how you and Francesca got started?

At the time, deciding to launch PORTA together felt like a leap of faith. It came from the gut after some giddy conversations over wine – and a few more serious ones over breakfast. Looking back, though, it was quite natural. Both of us were discussing different ideas that we had been loosely exploring in the months leading up to our ‘let’s do it’ handshake.

This all took place during the Covid shutdowns. Like the rest of the world, we were both reevaluating - looking at our current careers in art and fashion - and thinking about what we wanted our lives to look like on the other side of the pandemic. We had both spent our time curating and project managing for other people. There was a desire from both of us to tap more into our personal interests and creativity.

We searched for how to build something good for everyone involved with a 360-degree perspective. Very importantly, we also wanted to create something fun, that we and others could enjoy the process and result of. There is an easy openness between us which is very generative and looking at our shared family histories, the fact that we are at home in a foreign place in NY, we wanted to focus on rooting ourselves in NY in the best way we knew - around the table!

What was the inspiration behind your brand?

The inspiration came from thinking of our families and how we grew up - particularly on the Italian sides. There is a simplicity and ease when it comes to the table, cooking, and gathering. Everyone pitches in, all generations are there. It can be a madhouse, but it’s a delicious and beautiful one.

We found that a little lacking in our current lives. People can be very precious about their food and formal about their table. We wanted to make a world where color and detail are not the enemy. Where you can mix and match plates and glasses, throw a tablecloth over a table and be done.

Francesca and I are also both art history majors - so we care about objects, their story, why they exist, as well as how they affect and/or reflect the world around them. For us an object is a portal into so much more, yes even a plate! And being able to find and then tell that story is a real joy for us.

Also, let's face it, everyone wants to be a shopkeeper at heart (!) - and both of us are Capricorns so once that seed was planted, we just put one foot in front of the other until ta da! It happened!

I love the authenticity of your brand. I know it’s a buzzword these days, but your brand has such a singular style – it’s timeless and chic but still very playful and soulful. Did that brand-building process come naturally?

Thank you so much for saying that! It was a really fun and natural process to work out how we wanted to come across as a brand to the world. Really it is just a feeling that we have had ourselves so many times - that feeling of being settled in a beautiful place that simultaneously feels natural, effortless, and welcoming with no hint of pretension or agenda. It's just right.

Having a partner in this process is amazing - we don’t know how people do it alone. We have really pushed each other towards the vision of PORTA as it stands, and it is a point of view that we both love thinking about, engaging with, and existing in. It is not a 100% reflection of either of us, but a thoughtful channel between us both that we understand and see clearly.

We decided early on that if we couldn’t imagine something in our own houses, we wouldn’t include it in PORTA and that is really our veto card. Beyond that there is a lot of discussion around our product, editorial, branding, partnerships, etc. which doesn’t stop until it sits right with both of us. While we look at the world around us to contextualize what and how we are doing things, we always bring this home to carefully distill and better understand how, where, and if a suggestion fits for PORTA as a brand.

We did have help with the execution of bringing our vision, brand, and space to life - from brilliant people, I might add. We worked with the creative design team Ania e Lucie on our branding and the design of our website. We worked with Studio Gianvarclo Valle on the design of our shop. Both were wonderful working relationships which had a great flow and understanding to them.

I love the ease of your photography style - your tablescapes look truly lived in. Can you tell us more about the thinking behind your photography and art direction. Do you do this yourself or do you hire a stylist?

We think a lot about our imagery as it is really a vehicle for storytelling. We think it’s the best way to convey the feeling of the brand we want out there in the world.

When we started actively looking at how other brands were using photography, we found so much of it felt cold, removed, and untouchable. For us this felt counterintuitive when it came to the table - or any homeware that exists in a space for living. It was important to us that our imagery felt alive, the products usable, the food eaten, and the tablecloths stained. What better way to show the fun vibe that can percolate up from the objects you set around you.

We have worked with Adrianna Glaviano with a focus on food and the tablescape and love her and her work. We have also worked with Alice Gao on a few shoots that were more focused on interiors. She is also totally wonderful. Both are very easy and open to us styling the shots ourselves. It’s not something that we are formally versed in, but we love rolling our sleeves up and building the imagery as we envision it.

When it comes to styling it's quite intuitive. We think about the mood, the time of year, the product, and plan the shots ahead of time. Inevitably things change along the way. More casually, we take a lot of pictures ourselves for our social channels, along with Nic, our brilliant Assistant Store Manager, who is also a very talented photographer - and then we piece it all together!

How do you plan out your buying, small drops, and shoots?

That is a very good question, and we are still working through our cadence. As it stands now, we are committing to our core collection items, and working through each season more specifically as it relates to items that we layer in for a shorter period of time. These could be one-offs or things that come back summer after summer but which we break from in the other seasons.

We have an art program called ART360 in the space which rotates a new artist through the space every six months. We have had a great response to this, and it is something that we will definitely continue. We opened with Derek Brahney and now feature Isabel Bacon - both very different but brilliant in their own ways. Next up in the fall will be Pangea Flags alongside a collaboration of breakfast ceramics by artist Laetitia Rouget.

What are three things you wish you had known when you started your brand?

-       Get ready for a lot of admin, admin, admin!

-       Be patient with yourselves when it comes to inventory. You must get to know your audience and their buying habits, which takes time.

-       Trust your gut. If it doesn’t feel right, it isn't because you are green, it is because it isn’t right.

PORTA’s style is so distinctive. What is the continuous thread you have in mind when sourcing beautiful new things to ensure they align with your brand?

First and foremost, if we can’t imagine something in our house (or the house of our dreams), then it's not for PORTA. That helps us cull a lot of things that are interesting but not for us. Other than that, it has been very intuitive. In general, what we are looking for are products that have interesting techniques, histories, and designs that can be updated for a contemporary eye.

On one end of the spectrum, we see a lot of minimal housewares on the market, and then on the other a lot that is dangerously verging into grannycore. We see ourselves as being on a distinct third path. We love pattern and detail, but not too much! We love vacant space and neutral colors, but not too much! We believe that something can have character and still be elegant. 

In terms of sourcing, we have committed to taking a trip or two a year to a place in Europe of interest to us. This not only scratches our itch to get back to Europe in general, but really focuses us in terms of our research, relationships, and products. A lot of research goes into each trip. We outreach to friends, friends of friends, makers, and friends of makers for ideas and connections.

We plan, plan, plan and then once we hit the ground those plans change, change, change. Ha! We have found that it is really important to have a backbone to a trip but also leave room for flexibility and spontaneity as that is where the magic (and five-hour surprise drives to the end of the rainbow) happen. Meeting the makers of our products has been incredibly illuminating. We have learned so much from them and it is always such an enriching process that we hope we can bring back with us to the shop. It is pretty amazing to stand in our shop and look around and know the walls of the studio and the face of the potter that created our things.

Sourcing also happens at the computer, on other travels when we come across things by surprise, and from people reaching out to us. Our offering is a lot of our own designs, a lot of working with makers to tweak things that they are already working on, and a few products by third party brands and artists sprinkled in the mix.

What are some marketing and sales strategies that have worked well in growing your brand?

Another good question that we don’t have a definitive answer on yet. Neither of us comes from a marketing background - yet we are the ones doing our marketing at the moment so take everything with a large grain of salt!

Up until now, we have not engaged with paid marketing. That’s not because we don’t think that both are worth it, but rather that we wanted to give ourselves a little time to grow into our skin as a brand to see how best to apply both. We both felt that would be better to find our feet, make sure our operations are in order, and see how inventory is running before shouting from the rooftops. That way, we can operate from a position of confidence when we are ready - the product, the brand, the collaborations, the followers all speaking for themselves. That might be a bit English of us, but it's what feels right!

That being said, we are just now starting to test out online performance marketing in the coming weeks. We are giving it a go to see where we get to. I think that one has to do a lot of experimenting when building a brand. Try things and see what feels right to you and what people respond to. If it doesn't work, try something else. I guess that's the challenge and the fun of it.

What is one of the biggest challenges you have faced as a brand and what steps did you take to overcome it?

There are always unexpected challenges popping up, but probably the biggest challenge for us has been logistics. We had a difficult time with our warehouse to begin with, which was a real headache. We spent a lot of time thinking that the issues were stemming from us because we were so new to the game, when in fact we were just stuck in a bad situation. When we finally realized that the problem wasn’t with us, we got out of there quickly and now have a fabulous warehouse that we love. It took a lot out of us in terms of time, money, and emotion, but it feels good to be beyond it. That ties back to trusting your gut - when something feels wrong, it usually is.

I know you are both based in NY, so are there any gems you want to share? Perhaps a few favorite places you love to go which might be overlooked?

-       Walter de Maria, The New York Earth Room - calming while also blowing your mind. Always makes me smile and love what art can be.

-       Judd Foundation at 101 Spring Street

-       Saraghina Cafe in Fort Greene - a Milanese cafe in Fort Greene Brooklyn. It’s everything you want it to be in content and vibe.

-       Bar Pisollino in the West Village - best aperitivo with the perfect snacks. Sets you up for a lovely night.

Where do you go for most of your inspiration? Books, IG pages, other brands, artists, etc, you can share?

-       Italy Segreta - an Italian culture magazine about the small pleasures in life

-       Maison Flaneur - travel, hospitality, objects

-       Issimo - talk about creating a feeling in everything that they say, do, and show - take me there!

-       Dora Daar – beautiful, brilliant, thoughtful things

-       Alex Eagle - Alice used to work with Alex’s husband Mark in London, curating art installations at the Brewer Street Car Park. Alex was just starting her eponymous brand at the time and Alice would travel a lot to Berlin with her as Alex was setting up her space in the Soho House. She is a wonderful friend and a brilliant mind. Being part of that process was not only so fun, but also a lesson in putting your mind to something and doing it with a real point of view.

What places are you most interested in exploring next?

-       Morocco

-       Italy – more, more, more, always

-       Spain - up to the north and Majorca and other islands

-       The Azores

-       Romania - following your footsteps

-       Georgia and Armenia at some point in the future, as well

What's next for Porta?

We are popping up in Bridgehampton over the summer at L’Epicuriste, a high-end culinary boutique. We will be there from Memorial Day through Labor Day and are very excited to be out there for the summer.

We are working on an exclusive, limited-edition collaboration with painter and ceramicist Laetitia Rouget focused on breakfast. Rouget is a French artist living in Lisbon. After spending her childhood in France growing up in a family of porcelain manufacturers, she decided to move to London when she was 19 to study art at Central Saint Martins School. Well-known for her quirky ceramics, her work ranges from beautiful hand-painted plates, to unique decorative pieces, paintings, and textiles.

In October we will be showing a number of new Flag designs by Pangea - a creative collaboration between painter and ceramicist Laetitia Rouget and fashion designer and creative director Colombine Jubert.  The duo met at Central Saint Martins and through Pangea manifest a creative hybrid utopia that mixes art, fashion, and performance with a focus on free-spirited femininity, colorful poetry, optimism, and sincerity. The new designs are the third series of Flags created by Laetitia and Colombine and see a number of recurring symbols related to their utopia and the ministries that make it up. 

We also have a lovely space in the back of our shop that we are working on planting and making into a space for daytime hangs, working, and evening dinners. More space for more fun.

For more info, visit: https://porta-nyc.com/