Meet Jessica Koenig: Founder & Maker at Landet Studio

Editor’s note: As a part of our Christmas Calendar, Landet Studio is offering 30% off their products at The Nordic Collective with the code ‘swedesinthestates’. It’s the perfect way to support a small business while discovering a new brand we promise you will fall in love with.

In 2009, Jessica Koenig landed in Brooklyn, New York. What was supposed to be a short stay turned into the love story many Scandinavians in the United States can relate to so well: She met her future husband in New York City and thus began her American adventure.

Originally from Avesta, a small town in Dalarna in Sweden, Jessica made her way to Los Angeles and finally settled in Portland, where she decided to launch Landet Studio.

Her candles and soaps, inspired by the Scandinavian landscapes, towns, and nature, quickly caught on to the Scandinavian market in the United States. All Landet Studio’s products are made in-house by Jessica herself and the hand-made batches are small to ensure the highest quality and freshly made products.

The editorial team at Swedes in the States fell head over heels in love with Landet Studio, enough to feature all their products on Swedes in the State’s very own e-commerce, The Nordic Collective. We decided to find out more about Jessica’s story and her work with Landet Studio.

Tell us about how your story from Sweden to the United States?

After attending college in Gothenburg, I moved to London while working in fashion retail for a few years. I later moved to Stockholm where I worked as an accountant but missed London and decided to move back, but to first take a detour to experience New York. Pretty soon after getting there, I met my husband (to be), moved to L.A. to live with him, and after having our second child we moved up to Portland, OR where we are today. 

How were you inspired to start Landet Studio?

My husband does screen printing, and right around when we first met I drew a print with polar bears saying I Love You in Swedish, jag älskar dig, which turned out to be pretty popular. I started selling my shirts on Etsy while staying home with the kids when they were babies. I got such great feedback on the shirts and got connected with the American-Swedish community here which inspired me to start Landet Studio.

I love creating and during the years of staying home with the kids I really got a chance to explore what I wanted to do and in which direction I wanted to go. I have also kept doing local markets and shows year after year and it’s such a fun way of selling your goods directly to customers and chat with people. 

Do you source the ingredients and create all the products yourself? 

Yes. I get my candle and soap supplies mostly locally and make everything in my basement studio. Everything is made, packed, and shipped out by me. I like to make fairly small batches of everything to ensure an even and high quality. I work with a fantastic French Canadian graphic designer to develop my packaging and she has been really amazing at helping me visualize everything exactly how I intend it to look. 

Are your candles inspired by your favorite places in Scandinavia? Do you have a personal connection with each one of them?

They are! The candles especially are inspired by specific places around Scandinavia that I like and I tried and tested quite a bit to make scents that match the vibe of those places. Bergslagen – the amber & oakmoss candle for example is the mining region where I grew up. The soaps are inspired by the nature of mainly Sweden, something that I miss dearly.

What is your vision for Landet Studio? Will you be expanding the product range?

This year I added 3 new candle scents, and I just released 4 oz travel tins as a candle option now in time for the holidays. I am really happy with the new candle scents, and my vision for the places I wanted to add and their style of scent to go with that place it took a lot of trial and error to develop them before I found the right mix of scents. I rather have a fairly small product line where I feel equally excited about all products rather than add too many too fast. 

2020 has been a challenging year for sure and all my markets and shows have been canceled and wholesale has been pretty slow from retailers having to temporarily close their stores. I really appreciate all those who shop small in these times and I can’t wait to get back to do shows and markets and meet my customers in person again. 

Editor’s note: As a part of our Christmas Calendar, Landet Studio is offering 30% off their products at The Nordic Collective with the code ‘swedesinthestates’. It’s the perfect way to support a small business while discovering a new brand we promise you will fall in love with.