Their showstopping cutting boards are a cut above the rest.
New York Design Studio Fredericks & Mae Celebrate the Art of Gift Giving With Their Playful Creations
Their showstopping cutting boards are a cut above the rest.
There's an art to gift giving. It's not easy finding the perfect present that's special and that your loved one can keep for years to come. But there are certainly ways in which you can increase your odds of success, and that's where New York-based design studio Fredericks & Mae enters the picture.
Roommates Giovi Mae Signorile and Gabriel Fredericks Cohen met in college and started creating art in their Brooklyn living room. They connected over a mutual love of materials and would make things together as a way of hanging out. Their ever-growing studio creates joy-sparking homewares that marry practicality with pizzazz to celebrate the art of the gift and how gift-giving fosters connection.
"We are committed to bringing objects into the world that prompt wide eyes, inexplicable delight, and full body chills." From whimsical candle holders to sophisticated games, each piece conceived by the designers has involved plenty of research and reflects their interest in producing objet d'art and homewares that are part of a larger historical and cultural context.
The Bed Threads team love entertaining and one of our favourite creations by Fredericks & Mae is their eye-catching cutting boards. These delightful boards make for a stunning foundation for serving everything from the ultimate cheese platter to indulgent desserts. A selection of these colourful creations is available at Bed Threads to help take your at-home dining up a notch. They also make for a timeless gift for anyone who loves entertaining or has an appreciation for thoughtful design that mixes form and function.
Below, we chat with the design duo about their creative process and showcase their fabulous cutting boards.
Hi Gabriel and Giovi! We’re so excited to feature some of your creations on Bed Threads, can you please share with us a bit about Fredericks and Mae?
Yes! Fredericks & Mae is a gift and houseware company we started 14 years ago. We create a line of goods that is really quite varied – cutting boards, matches, bocce balls, candles and more – we just make what we like! We have an online shop where we sell our work alongside the work of artists we love and admire - and also wholesale our collection to stores around the world.
Tell us about your career journey to date. Did you always know you wanted to pursue this line of work?
We met in college – we had adjoining art studios and F&M grew out of our parallel art practices. I think neither of us knew we wanted to pursue this line of work– we were just making work that felt good and following it to the next project. Eventually, that gave way to more formal business planning and visioning – but it's been a real journey!
Talk us through your creative process. Where do you start?
I wish I knew! Sometimes an idea lands, fully formed and we just have to figure out how to make it. Sometimes we start with a tiny seed and pass the idea back and forth until it turns into something. Sometimes we start with one idea and end somewhere else entirely – each product really has its own path.
Do you have a personal design philosophy you live by or guidelines you follow?
Not explicitly – it's so much about our personal sensibilities – but if I tried to put them into words it might be…. less is more? Taste the rainbow? Feel the rain on your skin?
What does gift-giving mean to you and why do you think it’s important?
Gift-giving is at the core of F&M – we believe that a well-chosen gift can be a bolt of connection, a beacon that reminds us of our relationships.
What’s been the single most crucial tool or strategy you’ve used to further your career?
We wrote out a business plan about 6 years into our business for the first time - and it was a revelation. Turns out that having a plan and writing it down is useful and relaxing!
What’s been the best thing that’s happened to you since you started your career?
Growing up a bit!
Do you have a single piece of advice you’d give to your younger self or someone looking to pursue a similar line of work?
Go to therapy. Early and often =)
