L&M Home was launched in 2001 by Anna Lofts, and while she first worked from home, she now has a great team around her who design and tweak the ranges.
“I had previously imported clothing and felt there was a place for good-quality, boutique bedlinen in the Australian market,” she says. “Quality is of the utmost importance to me and the whole team.”
Lofts grew up in Norway and started working life in the PR department of a record company. She spent three years in London and one in New Zealand before moving to Australia and settling down in Melbourne.
Along with a business partner, she started her first business venture: a fashion company importing end of season clothing from France and Italy.
After several years in the fashion industry and with a sound knowledge of manufacturing and importing under her belt, Loft was ready for a new challenge, and started Linen & Moore, which was recently rebranded to L&M Home.
“We felt our name was a little dated and we decided to rebrand. We also wanted our name to reflect that we now sell much more than linen and ‘L&M Home’ covers the full scope of our homewares offerings.”
Besides being inspired by her travels overseas, Loft also has an innate understanding of global trends, which she says is essential when designing and developing new products.
“Colour trends are really important. It can be deadly to do the wrong shade that nobody wants.
“Pure linen is still a very strong trend and we are doing beautiful colours. Towels with texture and trims are enjoying their moment in the sun―I think fringing is a good example.
“In line with the sustainability trend, we have spent the last two years changing packaging, trying to get rid of the plastic. It is a huge job, but we are getting there.”
L&M Home is about to launch a commercial range for smaller hotels, resorts and other accommodation providers. The range will consist of bedlinen, towels, robes and napery.
“The bed and bath business are these days largely controlled by the big players like Adairs and Bed, Bath & Table. As we are a small company and cannot do huge runs of prints and put these designs on sale after a few months, we concentrate on designs with longevity―in bedlinen, cottons with trims or pure linen. For towels, patterns are now popular as opposed to plain colours. By necessity and by design, we want our products to be as timeless as they are beautiful.”
As L&M Home keeps going from strength to strength, does Loft have any tips for anyone starting out in this industry? “Love what you do,” she enthuses.
“Do lots of research, but don’t listen to people with no business experience. Be brave. Also, make sure you understand and meet your customers’ needs.”
