10 Years IN BED with founder Pip Vassett

Small business stories tend to be just as colourful as the products they produce. IN BED is no different - born in 2013 we’re now proudly approaching our first decade. On the cusp of our 10th birthday, our founder Pip Vassett reflects on the IN BED journey & what she’s learnt along the way.

“I’d been freelancing as a stylist for about 8 years and was ready to do something that I had complete creative control over. I’d recently become more interested in  homewares and I realised there wasn’t a home textiles brand I really loved or felt a connection with (in either what they represented or the product they created). 

"In hindsight it was the perfect time to launch a brand and product. I was in my twenties and didn’t really have much responsibility, online shopping was established and becoming the norm, and instagram was in its infancy, and a great place to launch a brand without the capital that is now required for cut through and advertising."

“Like many businesses, when I first started IN BED it was really just me doing everything with some family members roped in for a bit of free labour (In particular my wonderful mum, Penny who was always there to lend a helping hand and words of encouragement).

I started to grow our team about a year or so in, from 2015 when we had our first ‘proper’ hire (Megan, now our Head of Retail & Trade). In 2016 my husband Eddie officially joined the team, after years of being my sounding board, and soon after a few more team members. Suddenly IN BED was feeling like it was a ‘real’ business.”

Suddenly IN BED was feeling like it was a ‘real’ business.

“What felt like a pivotal moment for IN BED was when we opened our first store in Paddington in 2018. It hadn’t been in the ‘plan’ at the time exactly but when we stumbled across the space that was to become our flagship it was full steam ahead. Opening our first store was lots of fun. We worked with our friends Tina & Jess from We Are Triibe to create a very special, warm and welcoming space that I still love spending time in.

The team worked above the store for the first 2 years (pre-COVID) and this was one of my favourite iterations of IN BED. All being in the one place (and one city) and feeling really connected to all the goings on of the business. Something that is hard to replicate the bigger you grow and I probably didn’t realise how nice it was at the time."

"So many changes were brought about by COVID. Our team shifted and changed, and we’re now spread out up and down the east coast of Australia, with only a few of us still in Sydney. 

We opened our first Melbourne store in 2021, just as lockdown eased in Victoria. We worked with Flack Studio on the design who we had long admired the work of, I knew I wanted Dave and his team to design the space as soon as we decided to open a store in Melbourne. They have such a love of the city and I think it’s important to work with local designers especially in a city like Melbourne where people take such pride in their home state (which I love). The store itself in Melbourne is so beautiful, full of texture and colour. We really couldn’t have asked for a more perfect space.”

“While we were born from an idea of making beautiful homewares, there is so much more to our business and brand than just making nice things. Over the past 10 years I’ve learnt a lot about production and sustainability and how to do business better. We have always worked with responsible factories and with natural fabrics, but as we’ve grown the effects of manufacturing and doing business become more apparent and in good conscience I knew that if I was going to continue to make things, I wanted to be making the best decisions I could and producing in the most responsible way for people & planet. We aren’t perfect but we are doing a lot and are getting better everyday and as the saying goes, progress over perfection.

"We moved the majority of our production to Portugal in 2017 which was a mammoth task and began working with only certified fibres and factories and tracing our entire supply chain back to raw material. We aim to be constantly improving our processes and work closely with our factories on bettering all facets of our manufacturing. In 2021 we began working on the B Corp process and achieved certification in 2022. This is  one of my proudest achievements with IN BED.

I’m also really proud of our commitment to sustainable manufacturing and our transparency. We’re not retrofitting this stuff to make ourselves look sustainable. We have been doing the work to be better and better for many years. We actually really do give a sh*t!” 

We’re not retrofitting this stuff to make ourselves look sustainable. We have been doing the work to be better and better for many years. We actually really do give a sh*t!

“It sounds trite but our community has always been incredibly important. Our collaborators, our team, our customers and local community. Without all of these people we wouldn’t have a business, so I really do thank each and every one of you for helping us create what we are trying to create, and for the support over the past 10 years.”

Thank you for helping us create what we are trying to create, and for the support over the past 10 years