Great design should be in the everyday. And you don’t get much more everyday than pots and pans. We catch up with the Our Place founder to chat about the virally successful brand that transcends kitchenware
Tell me about Our Place and how the brand came about
When we immigrated to the US, my husband and I literally found our place in our new community by inviting friends to our dinner table, making a meal, and sharing our stories. We’ve always believed that cooking at home, and sharing it with people you love, is at the centre of a joyful, healthy, connected, and vibrant life. When we started Our Place, we knew it was about so much more than kitchenware. We wanted to create a place that brought people together to celebrate traditions and create new ones. We knew we wanted to work with sustainable materials and female artisans. We also knew that whatever we made, it had to make cooking more approachable and less cluttered. Simpler. Because when you have the right tools, cooking at home is beautiful.
What were you doing beforehand?
Before starting Our Place, I co-founded the Malala Fund to help girls around the world access education. I also started an angel fund investing in mission-driven start-ups, and travelled around the world speaking on social entrepreneurship, women’s empowerment, and the power each of us has to create lasting and meaningful change.
How would you sum up your design ethos?
At Our Place, we design products that make it easier, and more joyful, to cook at home. Our products are designed to be displayed, never tucked away in cabinets, because they are beautiful objects. They’re also highly multi-functional, with almost 200 patents across our portfolio and creative innovations in kitchenware, so you can do more with less and whip up a meal, hassle-free.
How has home cooking in Pakistan influenced what you do now?
My parents were deeply passionate about giving my siblings and I a strong education so we could have every opportunity to pursue our dreams. When I moved halfway across the world to study in the US, I missed my mother’s cooking and started learning to cook. It was eye-opening for me to see how much of the rest of the kitchenware industry was designing outdated products that made cooking harder. It inspired me to create products that are better for you and better for the earth we share.
Tell me about the role of sustainability at Our Place
Sustainability is deeply important to all of us because we know planet Earth is our only place! While most cookware companies use PTFE/PFAS (forever chemicals) to make their non-stick coatings, we’re pioneering toxin-free coatings and we’re challenging the industry to remove PFAS from their products. We also make our Always Pan from 100 per cent post-consumer recycled materials, and package our products in fully biodegradable materials, designed to minimise waste. What do customers love most about the products? Our customers love the design and colour of our products. Our range is so beautiful that it inspires you to cook more! Customers also love that they can trust that the materials we use are toxin-free, so they know they’re cooking with a healthy and safe product for themselves and their loved ones. And they love how every detail of our product is considered, big or small, each decision makes the range more multi-functional, leading to easier cooking.
What’s next for the brand?
We have some very exciting launches planned for next year. Having transformed the cookware category, we’re bringing the same design ethos to dinnerware, prep and even electrics. And we’re continuing to launch exciting, limited-edition collaborations that honour culture and traditions, so keep your eyes peeled!
