In-between eating peanut butter bagels, walking the dogs and admiring various trinkets and idiosyncratic artworks that fill their home, we sat down with the pair to chat all things Cold Picnic. From what it’s like working together as a couple to their favourite places to be in Brooklyn, read on for an insight into the wonderful world of Phoebe and Peter.

Peter: Well, we’re officially a soft home goods brand. Right?
 
Phoebe: Yes. We do rugs, bath mats and quilts. We use a lot of bright colour but we still think of our style as quite minimal.
 
Peter: Even though everything is abstract, I do think it’s got a sense of humour. Especially when it comes to private parts!

Phoebe: I grew up in DC and after studying a number of things like journalism, Chinese and sculpture, I went back to school for fashion design and that’s where I met Peter.
 
Peter: We’ve basically been working together ever since!
 
Phoebe: We did each other’s homework back in school and we always had the same jobs after that – working in fashion and print design before we started Cold Picnic.
 
Peter: I’m originally from Brighton in England and did everything from interior design to illustration and then got into fashion. I moved over here with my family in 2004, met Phoebe, and we kicked off from there.

Peter: Every time it’s coming up to a new collection we watch a bunch of movies right?
 
Phoebe: Yes and we sketch on and off for a few weeks.
 
Peter: We get inspired by those movies. And then we probably design maybe like 100 designs and we pull them all together and kind of just pick and choose to form a collection, and then we put them into the computer.

Phoebe: Colour is a really big influence. We look at the way colours work together in movies in a way that usually defines the collection in the end. But also just anything, our neighbourhood…
 
Peter: Yeah, one of our collections was based on our honeymoon. So we just looked through old photos and got inspired by colour and the landscape. And national parks, nature, it could be anything.

Peter: I’ve always been a huge fan of Whistles. Coming from England, I’ve known about them for a long time. When I told my family about it they all freaked out!
 
Phoebe: I have known about Whistles for a few years and always like what they do. I like the imagery and feel like everything is a bit more conscientious and thoughtful than a lot of other brands.

Peter: Living and working together is surprisingly easy – we’ve been doing it for 12 years…
 
Phoebe: We don’t know much else: as soon as we met we moved into a studio apartment with a twin bed!
 
Peter: Like 3 months later.
 
Phoebe: It’s the only way of working and being adults that we actually know.

Peter: Well, I can’t really imagine doing anything without Phoebe. So I mean, hopefully, we’d have another company together… maybe like a dog sanctuary would be pretty nice?
 
Phoebe: I’d like that.
 
Peter: But I think I might also still be in fashion as that’s my background. Same with you?
 
Phoebe: I think the same with me, I went to school too many times to go back again.
 
Peter: I could never go back to school.
 
Phoebe: So it’d have to be something that you can teach yourself or…
 
Peter: But together, we have to stick together.

1. Red Hook
You can find a huge football field in this neighbourhood with food trucks selling amazing lobster and arepas. Then you can walk to Steve’s on the pier to eat a little key lime pie overlooking the water and the Statue of Liberty.
 
2. Franklin Avenue
This is a stretch in Greenpoint with so many great vintage furniture stores. It has a fancy hidden tea shop that looks like a beautiful grey gardens living room with lots of restaurants and bakeries.
 
3. Queens
We love the Noguchi Museum in Long Island City. It’s amazing and has all these sculptures and installations. Nearby there’s also Astoria, which is a big Greek neighbourhood – you’ll eat the best Greek food in New York here.