{"id":245006,"date":"2026-01-21T21:33:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T21:33:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/245006\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T21:33:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T21:33:13","slug":"how-serena-dugan-helped-build-serena-lily-then-started-over","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/245006\/","title":{"rendered":"How Serena Dugan helped build Serena & Lily, then started over"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the early aughts, Serena Dugan<\/a> was working as an artist and designer when she met entrepreneur Lily Kanter<\/a>. She approached Kanter to pitch her painting, artwork and textiles, and the two hit it off, launching Serena & Lily in 2003, a company that began as a nursery bedding brand but soon blew up to the lifestyle giant it is today. \u201cIt went from crib bedding to big kids bedding to guest room bedding to adult bedding to upholstery fabrics to the actual sofas,\u201d she tells host Dennis Scully on the latest episode of The Business of Home Podcast. \u201cI could not have invented a more exciting opportunity for me at that stage in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fourteen years later, Dugan stepped away from the company to get back to her artistic roots. \u201cI was re-creating myself as a painter, an artist, in a way that felt very restorative to me, because in my essence, that\u2019s where it all comes from,\u201d she says. \u201cI think that the business had drifted from artistry towards sellability in a way that was appropriate and that I respected, but I had in that experience also drifted from artistry, and I needed to get back to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

She spent a few years painting until a visit to New York\u2019s Studio Four<\/a> sparked the idea for a boutique textile line. She officially reentered the market<\/a> in 2020<\/a>, primarily working with the trade, and hasn\u2019t looked back. \u201cIt has been an incredible experience to be able to focus on a business that feels entirely authentic\u2014no more, no less,\u201d she says of Serena Dugan Studio. \u201cIt gives me the platform to say what I want to say, and experiment and get some things wrong and get some things right and learn and grow. It\u2019s been fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crucial insight: In an oversaturated market full of textile and fabric brands, Dugan emphasizes the importance of having a unique point of view to set yourself apart. \u201cIt\u2019s a noisy place out there: There is pattern and color and design as far as the eye can see, and you\u2019ve got to find a way to differentiate yourself, either in your look or the way you reach your audience. Those are the only two options, in my opinion,\u201d she says. \u201cIt isn\u2019t that your quality is going to be so much better. It\u2019s hard to say something completely new in a printed textile where quality is concerned. We\u2019re all using Libeco linens and printing with the same printers who do an incredible job. \u2026 Just putting out something that looks as good and similar to something that\u2019s already there is no longer viable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Key quote: \u201cA great brand is made up of a distinct point of view and the essentials. The reason [consumers] want to buy the essentials from you is because they respect your point of view. You might not sell point of view, but you sell the basics because of point of view. That was the secret to the success of [Serena & Lily].\u201d<\/p>\n

This episode is sponsored by Ernesta<\/a>. Listen to the show below. If you like what you hear, subscribe on Apple Podcasts<\/a> or Spotify<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Host Dennis Scully and BOH executive editor Fred Nicolaus discuss the biggest news in the design world, including a surprise acquisition<\/a>, Trump\u2019s housing moves<\/a>, and why clients are craving an analog lifestyle<\/a>. Later, journalist Rachel Kurzius of The Washington Post joins the show to talk about the downside<\/a> of viral sofas<\/a>, and tell the story<\/a> of a 17-year-and-counting client lawsuit<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This episode is sponsored by Loloi<\/a>. Listen to the show below. If you like what you hear, subscribe on Apple Podcasts<\/a> or Spotify<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the early aughts, Serena Dugan was working as an artist and designer when she met entrepreneur Lily…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":245007,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[442,498,499,500,501,156,143344,111,139,69,143345],"class_list":{"0":"post-245006","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-how-serena-dugan-helped-build-serena-lily","15":"tag-new-zealand","16":"tag-newzealand","17":"tag-nz","18":"tag-then-started-over"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245006"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245006\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}