Founders of Bien Mal / LA, California

Kicking off the first interview of the 2022 with an amazing creative couple. Beatriz and Ivan are the founders and creators of Bien Mal, a throw blanket brand from Los Angeles. Their products became a part of my home the minute I met them. I always love to feature a creative couple and learn about their journey of building something together, how they inspire each other and the world around them. During the pandemic, they moved from Williamsburg to Los Angeles to have more space and explore a new city while building the brand.. We talked about their inspirations, LA life, running a business together and many more. Enjoy!

You can find them @bien__mal and shop for the collection on bienmal.com

Tell us a bit about both of you, who are you?

Hola, we’re Beatriz and Ivan, two Venezuelan’s now based in Los Angeles. After making an active life decision to bring beauty into this world Ivan and I founded Bien Mal. We want to evoke joy and make people feel alive with our designs.

 We both share a big passion for interior design, architecture, photography, and music. In our routine, we find happiness in the little things, like the smell of coffee in the morning or discovering a new song. Los Angeles energy keeps us constantly inspired, with its architecture, diversity, tastes, and closeness to nature. Lately, trying out every croissant in the city and building Legos are some of our new hobbies.

When we met earlier this year, I was blown away by your brand Bien Mal. Blankets have been really out there recently, but yours always stand out for me with their quality, branding, colors, patterns… I really want to learn the story behind the brand. How did you decide to go for this journey?

Ivan and I always wanted to create a brand together. We’re lucky that we see the world similarly. We seek for beauty in the same places, we’re inspired by similar things, and we take advantage of our different but complementary skills to work together, way better than independently.

Early on, we realized that jacquard woven blankets were the perfect first product for our brand. Blankets are the ideal medium, a combination of large scale, texture, color, and function. From the first moment we saw one of Ivan’s designs woven onto a sample blanket, we knew we were up to something special. Creating an object that can both transform a space and keep you warm is hard to top. I’m also always cold, so I’m biased.

Bien Mal’s patterns are so unique to me. I love every one of them and honestly can’t pick a favorite. Would you share the inspiration and design process a bit?

We both want Bien Mal to never feel like work, so our process is intentionally unstructured and fluid. Inspiration comes from our daily life. From visits to museums, films, books, road trips, photos...sometimes inspiration comes from a memory or a dream. Lately, we’ve found a lot of fascinating ideas in our own past and nostalgia for things we lived or things we imagine that our parents lived.

For those living in LA, would you recommend some of your favorite places to shop for interior and decor?

LA has a ton of amazing vintage stores with the most unique finds, some of our favorite stores are DEN, Mid Century LA, and Pop Up Home.

In addition to shops, I would recommend visiting architectural gems in Los Angeles. Richar Neutra’s VDL House in Silver Lake and the Schindler House in West Hollywood are some of my favorite houses to visit.