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From Home Furnishing Business
Christiane Lemieux Launches 'The Inside', Made-to-Order Home Décor Brand
September 27,
2017 by Jane Chero in Business Strategy, Designer Weekly, Industry 
Christiane Lemieux, former executive creative director of Wayfair and founder of DwellStudio and Cloth & Company, has launched ‘The Inside’, a direct-to-consumer home décor brand offering made-to-order furniture and capsule collections designed by global designers like Clare V. and Peter Som.
The company also announced $1.5 million in seed funding from leading commerce and retail venture capitalists, Forerunner Ventures.
The Inside aims to change the furniture industry, and will surely make waves in the design industry, by leveraging virtual manufacturing and a zero inventory model to offer unique designs made with incredible speed. With prices averaging around $300, Lemieux said The Inside was created as a solution to the cost-efficient imports that inundate the furniture market.
The result is a sustainable model with reduced production costs and limited waste. All products are made-to-order in the U.S. through a virtual manufacturing process that uses 3D models to allow for products to be adaptive, collaborative and flexibly priced.
“We want living spaces to be the backdrop of people’s lives and every bit as unique as their individual personalities,” said Lemieux, CEO and founder. “The Inside will transform the way people shop for furniture and interiors by making it less onerous, infusing as much joy and personality into the buying experience as the products themselves.”
“Leveraging technology, we can for the first time detach value from price and create an assortment of styles for any mood. Our ability to bring designs directly from the runway to someone’s home will be a shock for the industry. We want to give customers something very special, very quickly and at a price that makes refreshing their style attainable,” continued Lemieux.
Catering to the unique style preferences of today’s consumers, The Inside offers assortments of stylish furniture with over 800 SKUs in made-to-order printed fabric, offering endless design possibilities available in six to 14 days.
Kirsten Green, founder and general partner at Forerunner Ventures said, “The Inside has the ability to become that home brand people are proud to showcase, and one that is reflective of a truly-design-centric and technology-first team.”
The Inside is based in New York and funded exclusively by Forerunner Ventures.