Chloe: Let’s start at the beginning. What made you decide to open Centerpiece?

Julia: I had been working in fashion sales for a long time, and I liked my job but I was missing the creative aspect. My boss would tell me to create content for the brand, but I wasn’t motivated to create for another person. I had my own, personal platform where I could post things I liked and that made me so much more excited. 

I went through a breakup right when COVID hit and for the first time I had a space of my own. I didn't have a big budget and that was when Facebook Marketplace was filled with gems.

Chloe: Back when it was popping for the buyers because people didn't know what they were selling.

Julia: Exactly. We started finding really nice things and every time we would find something that wasn't crazy expensive I felt this rush. There’s this high that comes with finding a treasure, you get a little tingly feeling. Honestly, if you had seen my previous apartments you would be shocked that I was suddenly so into interiors.

Chloe: The more that you expose yourself to something the better trained you become, obviously.

Julia: Exactly. I would go into a nice space and I would know that it was beautiful, I could admire and appreciate it, but it reached another level during that time. 

I had gotten this apartment a little prematurely so I couldn’t really put any of my things in it yet. But I had seen this beautiful chair from Reixue that I just needed to have, so I bought it and for a while it was the only thing in my place. And then everything else revolved around that piece. That’s why the brand is called Centerpiece.

Chloe: That’s what made you want to start the brand? You got this piece and then you were like, "I want to do this myself?"

Julia: It wasn’t that simple. Even if finding all these gems made me excited, I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do about it. But I was already so passionate and it hadn’t even started. It gave me that excitement that I had been missing so I just went for it.

Chloe: Good for you. 

Julia: Thank you. I do sometimes feel like my origin story is funny though. I have imposter’s syndrome. 

Chloe: I’m sorry, imposter’s syndrome? You run one of the most successful vintage resellers in the city. 

Julia: No, no, I know and I’m so grateful, but I feel like it comes naturally to some people in a way it doesn’t for me. The things I’m drawn to in design have a lot to do with the shapes, colours and textures of the piece. Designs from the 60s to the 90s really speak to me because the material is much better quality and better utilised. They mix things together that you don't see anymore now that everything is mass produced. That's what drew me to it at first and that’s what I still love. But that’s also why I feel imposter’s syndrome. I’m drawn to things because of their aesthetic purposes rather than their academic ones. 

Chloe: But that’s not a bad thing: you really did it yourself, not because you were taught to like it or told to like it.

Chloe: How do you think that your interest in fashion, or your background as a content creator, have influenced your philosophy for Centerpiece? Do you feel like the three exist simultaneously in your everyday life?

Julia: My approach to the three tend to be very similar. I believe in styling things and layering and then adding something unexpected, whether it's a belt or something that shouldn't necessarily be there. My brain works in layers. I apply the same approach to Centerpiece. I think that’s one of the reasons why Centerpiece is successful.

Chloe: You're one of the only vintage furniture resellers that came out of the pandemic that managed to actually set yourself apart. How have you seen the reseller market evolve since you started Centerpiece? 

Julia: When we started [during COVID ] it felt like everybody had the same idea as us. The only thing you could spend money on was your home because you were confined there. You weren't going to buy new clothes, you weren’t going to go on a trip or to a restaurant. It was a great time to launch, but I think a lot of people thought it was easier than it is. 

Chloe: It felt like a hobby for a lot of people, which means it was probably easy for them to stop caring when it got harder. It feels like Centerpiece had a lot of intention and foresight from the very beginning.

Julia: I don’t want to take away from the work other people have put in, there's a lot of hard work that goes into it all. We have always been very intentional: I’m really trying to create a brand that goes beyond vintage, I want to have multiple offerings. 

We've always had brands, it brings a different customer that might not be into vintage. Then maybe while they’re on Centerpiece they discover something that they didn’t know they would like. 

Chloe: That’s also smart now that sourcing on Facebook Marketplace has changed so much.

Julia: Oh my god, it has. At the beginning, we would find something on Marketplace, and we could immediately get in the car to grab it because it was perfect and it was right next door and everything was fun and exciting.

It's really not like that anymore. It's hard when you're buying from someone that's selling their item for retail price and probably over my retail price. Of course, they're allowed to make their money, but often it’s way higher than what it’s worth because that's what they see it going for on the internet.

Chloe: Absolutely. Where do you source your stuff now?

Julia: Now I’m mostly buying from auctions, which is really exciting.

The oversaturation of Facebook Marketplace and the reseller market has made me a lot pickier too, which I like. I don't just buy something to buy something. I wait until I have that little spark. It's harder but in the long run it’s better for the brand.

Chloe: It makes your offering more curated. Has the way your sourcing has changed influenced the style of pieces that we’re selling?

Julia: Of course, the style is ever evolving. I’m very into Italian at the moment. I’m still always including some mid-century items, antiques and objects like that. It's nice to mix and match.

Chloe:   Besides that chair that started it all, do you have a favourite piece that you've sourced? 

Julia: We had these two dancer cabinets that were really special. I didn’t know this at the time, but there was only one of each ever made. And the two that I didn’t have, the woman who made them still owns. I wouldn’t necessarily say they were my favourite pieces, but they were really unique. They were so fun, the form, the shapes, the colours, everything. Finding out that I had two of the only four ever made was crazy.

There’s this glass squiggle table from Laurel Fyfe in the 1980s. It’s all one piece of glass. It’s one of the very first pieces we got and I cannot sell it.

Chloe: You’ve definitely formed an attachment to it.

Julia: Oh yeah, at the beginning it was terrible. Jade [Moisan, Julia’s former business partner and Centerpiece co-founder] would be like, "Julia, we need to sell things." 

Every new piece I found felt so special and singular, like I would never find one ever again. I’m much less attached to things now; I know that I may never find that piece ever again, but I'll find something else that I like just as much.

Chloe: How do you know that a piece needs to be in a Centerpiece collection?

Julia: It's very much a feeling, I'll be in a room and my eye will be drawn to something.

Chloe: That almost feels supernatural.

Samantha: Julia often looks at pieces as a collection rather than a singular item. She has a curatorial approach to sourcing; what's the lore behind an object and what it’ll feel like in the space and in other people's spaces and next to different pieces. She never really looks at things just for their value.

Chloe: What is the thing that you're most proud of with Centerpiece? 

Julia: I'm proud of a lot of things to do with Centerpiece, but I'm also very hard on myself. I think anyone who has their own business or is doing it mostly alone will understand. There are so many ups and downs. It's a roller coaster, so sometimes I'm super proud of myself and other times I honestly question why am I doing this. 

I'm proud when I walk into my studio. I'm proud to have created this space—it’s so special and beautiful to me.

Samantha: I have to say that I'm proud that you're so steadfast in your vision. You communicate it through the pieces that you buy and how you put them together. To keep refining your vision constantly is something to be very proud of. You keep chipping at it and you don't buy things that don't sparkle.

Chloe: That is something to be very proud of.

Julia: Thank you, Sam.

Samantha: You're welcome.

Chloe: So what's next for Centerpiece?

Julia: I’m hoping to build more of a community around Centerpiece. We want to make our own objects, and we’re looking to collaborate with people that already do. We’re not looking to make furniture right away but that is a dream. I want it to always be vintage focused, but want to diversify our brands and expand into other divisions. I think mixing in a bunch of things that make sense together will benefit Centerpiece as a whole.