A studio that stayed small
PEARLMOTH has been mixing and pouring colour in Portland, Oregon since 2016. The range has grown to twenty-one shades in that time, which is fewer than most people expect.
The studio started with a grey. Nothing on the shelves at the time was the particular greyed rose we wanted, so the first formulas were written on graph paper at a kitchen table and mixed in 30 ml quantities. That colour is still in the range as Moth Wing, reformulated once in 2019 when the original base was discontinued.
How we think about the range
Most polish brands answer a season. We answer a gap: a colour is added when something we want to wear does not exist, and not when a calendar says a collection is due. The consequence is a slow range and a lot of colours that sell steadily for years rather than a fortnight.
It also means we say no to collaborations that would require a run larger than the studio can pour properly. We have turned down three in the last two years, and expect to turn down more.
The numbers
What we will not do
- Use pigments we cannot trace to a supplier who will confirm they are free of animal-derived inputs.
- Reissue a retired shade under its old name with a different formula.
- Sell a batch that did not roll for ten days because an order is waiting.
- Photograph swatches under filters. Every image on this site is daylight, uncorrected.
Where the studio is
The studio sits above a bike shop on SE Division Street. It is a working space rather than a shop, so there is no counter and no walk-in trade; orders are packed on Tuesdays and Fridays. Anyone who wants to see the process can arrange a time through the contact page and we will usually say yes.
Stockists
A small number of independent salons in Portland, Seattle and Vancouver carry part of the range. We do not sell through distributors and have no plans to; a stockist buys direct, in the same batch quantities everyone else does, and gets the same batch codes.
