How Lunya’s Sleepwear Evolved into a Mission to Empower Women
One of my favorite summer memories is scrolling across this photo in my Twitter feed. As an avid Lunya fan (wearing it now!), I can recognize the luxurious sleepwear anywhere. However, on that early Saturday morning, the Fast Company title is what caught my eye.
I was fortunate to meet Ashley Merrill, Lunya’s Founder and CEO, in November 2015 when she shared the company’s mission to create sleepwear for the modern woman. Our first interview centered on her quiet determinism that Lunya will change how we view sleepwear in the same way that Lululemon made it acceptable, and now expected, to pay hundreds of dollars for athletic clothing.
Ashley doesn’t have the typical ‘A-ha moment’ startup story. She recognized the need for a sleepwear refresh while working in digital media and venture capital in Los Angeles. Conservative by nature, she sat on the idea for a few years and decided to take the leap when she learned she was pregnant with her first child. Unsurprisingly, the impending deadline was a blur of designing, learning, and researching. Ashley launched Lunya in the delivery room nine months later.
As a friend and lover of the brand, it’s been extremely special to watch Ashley and her mighty team of seven gain recognition for their work. In the last month alone they’ve been featured in Inc., Fast Company, Forbes, and The New York Times. While the strides are certainly motivating, women’s eager reception to the brand has revealed a more meaningful goal for Lunya. “As a company, we’ve realized our mission goes far beyond sleepwear,” Ashley says. “There are many reasons getting in the way of women buying this that don’t have to do with sleepwear at all.”
Lunya is not a story about why women need to buy sleepwear. It’s a story about women believing they are worth it.
In today’s episode of The Peaks, we discuss how Ashley and the Lunya team are bringing that story to life and pioneering a new industry.
Here’s what you can expect in our conversation:
- The unglamorous side of launching a startup — Lunya only had a few sales a week in the early days — and what you can expect during your first year
- What to know before starting a manufacturing and e-commerce company
- Lunya’s efforts tightening their grip on their target customer; “We are solving a problem for a particular woman and she’s everything to us. I want her to love what we are giving her and how we make her feel.”
- Lunya’s decision to operate on a custom design and production schedule, rather than conforming to traditional fashion seasons
Stay tuned for next weeks episode where Seedling CEO and Co-founder Phoebe Hayman discusses growing Seedling from a farmer’s market in New Zealand into a global brand leading the children’s play market.
