Welcome to the World of Bessette

By Cait, Shannon, and Lauren

Jul 31, 2024

The first day we met we sipped pomegranate martinis and bonded over our love for all things vintage. We were brought together on a sunny Spring afternoon for a photoshoot for a mutual friend’s art magazine. Cait (older sister) and Shannon (younger sister) had just decorated the most adorable cottage in Corona Del Mar which became the perfect backdrop to our creative shoot. At the time, Cait was working as a stylist, Shannon was a YouTube vlogger and social media influencer, and Lauren was running her own creative marketing agency.

Photos from the day we first met! One of our final photos from the photoshoot was published by Vogue Italia!

As our friendship grew, so did our entrepreneurial spirits. We soon realized our individual strengths complimented each other well, and were so much stronger, together. We spent the next few weeks building a deck and pitching ourselves as a one-stop-shop creative production team. Cait was the stylist, Shannon was the model, and Lauren was the brand manager. To our delight, the brands we pitched were just as excited as we were.

For the next year, we traveled the world creating content for brands like Beach Riot, L*SPACE, and VRG GRL. Our work took us to the most beautiful places that year - Miami, Florence, Rome, and our personal favorite, the stunning Il Pelicano hotel on the Monte Argentario peninsula in southern Tuscany. You can follow along on our Italy adventures on Part 1 and Part 2 of Shannon’s vlog.

Hotel Il Pellicano is our heaven on earth! An absolute must visit xx

As much fun as we had traveling the world, nothing feels as good as your own bed. And we’re girls who love our beds - especially when it’s covered in crisp percale.

Enter, Bessette. Born from our love of all things vintage and the quintessence of home, Bessette was born on June 30th, 2022. We had a stockpile of vintage items to start with; Cait and Shannon’s mom, Maureen, is a collector—think Christian Dior tea cups made in France and Villeroy and Boch china from Germany. The good stuff. With the help of LegalZoom, a few visits to City Hall, and a volunteer finance advisor who we found on Google (lol), we were off to the races.

Our very first collection, Coastal Cottage, launched on September 1st, 2022. We had a few orders trickle in on launch day, mostly from friends and family. We jumped up and down every time our Shopify app made the *cha-ching* sound. “We’re on our way to becoming the next Pottery Barn!” one of us squealed as we spent the next hour perfectly, immaculately, flawlessly, packing up 1 order while a Nancy Meyers movie played in the background.

And so, the essence of Bessette had begun—created for those who appreciate the art of living beautifully, in every corner of their world.

The mood board for our very first collection back in 2022, Coastal Cottage

Thanks for following our adventure - it means the world to us. We’re excited to use Substack as a place where we can connect with you and share our story, sneak peeks, and so much more. If you have questions or topics that you want us to answer in this Substack, email bybessette@gmail.com.