fernseed

Fernseed is located in the Dimond District of Oakland, California.

We can make the old look new...

Our shop is 99% retained, reclaimed and refabbed. The other 1% are products that support local artisans, plants and planting materials, or items with functionality that helps decrease demand for new raw materials.

An accomplishment, indeed. My costume jacket dress made from a torn rain poncho and a hat turned orange to match.

Photo by Spench

I started Fernseed in August, 2009, based on an eco-friendly idea that maybe we can create stylish, upscale products from things unwanted or landfill-destined.

It is now an obsession - reclaim, retain, reinvent, reuse, redesign, repurpose, re[everything]... There isn't really one word to describe this production process. I mostly call it 'refab', but sometimes I call it refab[ulous] reclamation, fab refab, or after a so-so creative day, refab-redo.

Honestly, I simply believe we should invest little money in new raw materials. Instead, we should focus more on investing in people - create more jobs locally. That's basically our business model.

I'm super psyched about Fernseed, and I'm incredibly happy the customers who find us are totally psyched about our concept as well.

Prior to Fernseed, I was a consultant for Web 2.0 companies focused on social shopping and specialty merchandising. I was interim CMO for ThisNext.com for six months.

Prior to ThisNext, I held a position at RedEnvelope as Executive Vice President of Merchandising, Design and Creative Services. During my eight years at RedEnvelope, I launched and managed many, many departments, including merchandising, product design, international sourcing, planning, print creative, digital creative and production, web management, and corporate sales.

My career has consisted of 100% retail, which included positions at Williams-Sonoma, Macy's West, the Gap, The Nature Company and Sony.

History Press Info:

East Bay Express
SFExaminer.com
The Oakland Tribune
SFSU Alumni Magazine
New York Times article by Dan Brekke

We know what you're thinking: "Fern-seed? Everyone knows ferns have spores, not seeds!"

Aah, everyone NOW knows that. But at one time, nobody knew how ferns reproduced, and their invisible, ineffable, mythical seeds were thought to give the bearer mystical powers.

Quoth Shakespeare's Henry IV,"We have the receipt of fern-seed, we walk invisible." (act iv. 4)

Contrast that with modern culture: we have been anything but invisible in all we do! We chose the name fernseed because we aspire to produce a less visible footprint in commerce and consumption. However, we wish to be more visible to the world our journey.

Please feel free to Yelp about Fernseed when you have the chance. We appreciate your kindness.