

Today we’d like to introduce you to Hopie Stockman.
Hi Hopie, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Block Shop started as a passion project between us sisters. We launched the business in grad school with no business plan other than supporting and celebrating the extraordinary art form of block printing. We’d learned to block print in college, but our appreciation was deepened by Lily’s 2010 artist residency in Jaipur, India.
We have grown organically to become a team of 9 women & non-binary people working together in LA to bring pillows, scarves, rugs, artwork and more to life, with the help of some of the world’s leading ethical producers of textiles in India, Los Angeles and Italy. Block Shop’s principles are comfort, beauty, compassion and creativity.
In India, we support block printing via payment of fair wages, consistent orders, community investment, and upcycling waste fabric. We’ve been visiting our textile partners twice each year for ten straight years (barring COVID) and can’t wait to get back soon. Here in LA, we’ve partnered with two fantastic organizations providing arts education and art therapy to young people in under-resourced communities. Through these orgs, we’ve been able to spread the joyful, therapeutic power of block printing by teaching workshops and providing printing supplies.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We’ve been stumbling through Covid just like everyone else. The past two+ years have been a bit like feeling around in the dark for the light switch. The severe 2021 wave of COVID in India was absolutely devastating, with production halting broadly and so many of our friends and partners losing loved ones. We paid our partners upfront to carry them through lockdown and did our best harness our follower base to raise money for COVID relief.
We made due with our dwindling inventory in LA and shifted gears to put our primary focus on our team’s health and wellbeing. Now that we’re in February 2022 and the surge seems to be slowing, it’s been challenging to shift from defense mode back to offense.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
We’re best known for our large scale, abstract geometric patterns that take the form of framed artwork, robes, scarves and more. Our original geometric design vernacular is inspired by pioneering artists like Anni Albers and Sophie Tauber Arp, but I’m especially excited about our foray into florals and more figurative designs. Block Shop is an extension of our daily art practice, which is constantly evolving and informed by the books, natural world, music and art that surrounds us.
I’m most proud of our small but mighty team, which works hard and operates from a baseline of kindness.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
Lily and I are also artists. Lily is a painter with a flourishing studio practice, and I do still lifes, portraits and interiors.
More importantly, our team is comprised of three of us sisters! There’s yet another sister, Grier, who we poached from Google to run our marketing. The girl is also a comedienne in the making and maven of culture (exhibit A: her Eastside LA street fashion account @the_drip_report).
Last but not least, we will be releasing a stunning, joyful collection of wallpaper this spring!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.blockshoptextiles.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blockshoptextiles/