Amid a rash of department stores closing and businesses shuttering in the wake of the pandemic, Baton Rouge's Fig & Dove appears to have hacked the code.
Owner Colleen Waguespack operates both her curated home décor line, Fig & Dove, and Colleen Waguespack Interiors, under the umbrella of what she calls “hybrid retail,” which allows her to combine the convenience of e-commerce with the appeal of a brick-and-mortar store at her showroom at 5207 Essen Lane.
“We didn't expect customers to stop by every day, but we call it shopping with a purpose,” Waguespack said.
A decorative display in the Fig & Dove showroom, photographed on Thursday, June 6, 2024.
Purpose was the driving force behind the interior designer's goals for the space. She and her team seem to do it all here: shipping orders, receiving bulk deliveries, creating content, serving clients, and hosting business meetings. Purpose is also reflected in the pieces Fig & Dove provides, such as acrylic cardinals to symbolize lost loved ones and acrylic doves to represent peace.
Waguespack's goal with Fig & Dove is to create investment-worthy products that customers can use all year round, but one product, or combination of products, stands out.
“What are the two things that people come here for? The wreaths and the wreath sashes,” Waguespack says matter-of-factly.
Thursday, June 6, 2024. A close-up of an embroidered sash resting on the base of a Fig & Dove automated embroidery machine.
From Christmas to Easter and Beyond
Waguespack graduated from Louisiana State University's School of Interior Design in 1997. He spent the first 10 years of his career working as a project interior designer for commercial architecture firms in Washington, D.C. In 2007, he returned to Louisiana and joined the New Orleans interior design firm Holden and Dupuy, focusing on residential interior design.
When she completed a client's home, the client would often ask her and her coworkers to decorate the house for the holidays.
“I always said, 'No, I'm not going to do that,' because it just seemed too decorative to me,” Waguespack said.
Then, when one of the homes was going to be featured in inRegister Magazine’s December 2016 issue and they asked her to style it for Christmas, she began to notice that the decorating options were not themed, were low quality and had odd color schemes that didn’t suit people’s homes.
Owner and interior designer Colleen Waguespack poses for a photo at her desk at Fig & Dove on Thursday, June 6, 2024.
Her solution? Do it yourself.
In 2015, she launched Fig & Dove and introduced its first holiday product, an ivory, monogrammable, cuffed Christmas stocking, which remains her most popular product. In 2016, the interior designer opened Colleen Waguespack Interiors.
After the success of the stockings, she realized that the regular 52 inch tree skirts were too small, so she launched a 72 inch wide tree skirt, then introduced acrylic doves that were less likely to break like other Christmas ornaments.
She thought Christmas would be her specialty, but clients began asking her to decorate for Easter, Thanksgiving and other holidays.
A close-up of an embroidered wreath sash hanging near the Fig & Dove showroom on Thursday, June 6, 2024.
“The front door lends itself to all of these things,” Waguespack says. “I'm a designer who doesn't like bows, so the wreath sash was an idea I came up with.”
Lease Sash Phenomenon
During a chance encounter in 2018 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's “Heavenly Bodies” exhibit, which explored fashion's continuing connection to Catholic faith practice and tradition, Waguespack walked past a mannequin dressed in papal vestments.
“I was literally standing in front of it thinking, 'What do I call it? Wreath wrap or wreath sash?'” Waguespack recalled. “I was taking pictures of how they decorated everything because it related so well to our brand. For me, the exhibit was totally inspirational.”
Back at her office, Waguespack retrieved the stocking fabric, cut it to size and tied it at the bottom of a boxwood wreath. For Christmas, Fig & Dove is selling wreath sashes that customers can add monograms in red, green and gold.
“They did a really good job and in my mind I thought it was over,” Waguespack said.
On Thursday, June 6, 2024, Fig & Dove's hall of wreaths will be decorated with Mardi Gras-themed wreaths.
That wasn't the case.
In reality, the game was just beginning.
Waguespack wreath sashes have become a bit of a phenomenon. Since their first Christmas sash, Fig & Dove has sold wreath sashes nationwide with custom monograms, nutcrackers, bunnies, birthday cakes, lemons, mint juleps, skeletons, fireworks, purple tigers and a variety of other options. The product has been featured in Traditional Home, Atlanta Homes and Lifestyles, and inRegister magazines.
Waguespack now has a photo of the mannequin on a bulletin board behind his desk.
The wheel is always turning
While the initial inspiration came from museum exhibits, Waguespack said he often gets business ideas from his travels, such as during a recent visit to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello in Virginia.
“If you're a creative person, your creative talents will come out wherever you go,” she says. “Your little wheels are always turning.”
The kitchen at Fig & Dove, photographed on Thursday, June 6, 2024.
Fig & Dove sells products statewide and ships orders daily, while Waguespack designs and manufactures products in China, Peru, India and Baton Rouge.
She has also begun 3D printing a gold and white angel made from silk PLA filament to mimic moray eel fabric. The product is hollow and made of plastic, and the star on the angel can be fastened or removed, making it versatile.
“When I design for Fig & Dove, I follow the exact same vetting process that I do to this day,” Waguespack says, “It has to look just as great in a modern home as it does in a traditional one. There has to be something clever and unique about it. It has to be timeless and made with the qualities that interior designers look for.”
