Sister Duo: The dames trailblazing West of Breakfast
Meet sister duo Anna Price Connolly and Sarah Kate Price, founders of pajama and loungewear brand West of Breakfast. Created out of their childhood love for pajamas, Anna and Sarah Kate are trailblazing the world of pajamas building their "pajempire" one clever design at a time.
I discovered West of Breakfast some time ago and was drawn in straight away. While pajamas make a nightly appearance, not all are crafted equally. And most certainly do not convey an enrapturing sense of brand identity and belongingness for an audience. Anna and Sarah Kate founded West of Breakfast on the principle that pajamas are not solely meant for sleep. Pajamas are meant for all moments.
"We wear pajamas to the supermarket. We wear them on zoom calls for work. We wear them to fancy restaurants when topped with a cowboy hat and high heels. We wear them while vacuuming the house and watering plants. We yearned for pajamas that were comfortable enough to cozy up in, but stylish enough to wear out."
Each unique set has a distinct personality description embodying the spirit of its design alongside its likes and dislikes offering up cheeky anecdotes. If anyone can add cunning charm to pajamas it is Anna and Sarah Kate.
"Meet the Classic One. They’re simple, clean, elegant, and still know how to have fun. They have a standing karaoke date with Marie Kondo. Their tamagotchi is alive and well. They make a mean charcuterie board and probably speak French.
You’ll dream of waltzing down 5th Avenue with a pain au chocolat.
Likes: the artwork of Henri Matisse, clean sheets, chocolate chip cookies with sea salt, old movies, soft pretzels.
Dislikes: people who cheat at board games, light-up sneakers, kale."
The pair lent me some of their time so I could get the inside scoop on West of Breakfast.
How has your relationship as sisters influenced the creative development of West of Breakfast?
Anna: Sarah and I have always gotten along really well and we are very different. Our differences are complementary which makes us good business partners. I tend to focus more on details of operations, while Sarah is usually thinking more about the big picture. When it comes to our pajamas, Sarah leads the fashion element and I am all about comfort, which really helps us sanity check each other. We truly feel like this has helped make West of Breakfast pajamas unique.
Where did the name West of Breakfast come from?
SKP: When we started we had a vision of designing pajamas that could be worn day or night, dressed up or down. We wanted to make pajamas that you could continue wearing long after breakfast time, and because the sun sets in the west, this would be West of Breakfast. It has a nice ring to it, don't you think?
West of Breakfast is more than just loungewear and pajamas, can you speak more to this?
SKP: From the moment we started talking about starting a business, we knew that the brand component was important to us. We joke a lot about creating a "pajempire", but we are also very serious about cultivating a community around the brand that is positive, exciting, and friendly.
We want our brand to have a sense of humor and familiarity that we try to embody with the personalities of each of our sets, which have names like "The Lovely One", "The Fun One", "The Wild One", "The Classic One", "The Flirty One", and "The Clever One". On our website, each pajama set has a name and an accompanying description that is full of funny little easter eggs. One of them even mentions the fact that "Carrie Bradshaw envies their shoe collection". We hope that everyone can identify with each of these personalities, at least to some extent.
How does the development of a new garment or print begin?
SKP: We usually identify a type of design we want and then search high and low for things that exist that we like, and talk about how we would improve them. We hunt for inspiration in lots of unlikely places: old movies, thrift stores, interiors, museums, you name it. Once we have a few ideas that we're feeling inspired by, we weave them together to make something new.
Ideal breakfast?
Anna: My go-to favorite lately has been a Greek omelet. Biiiigggg fan of feta!
SKP: There's a diner in Greenwich village that makes a killer pastrami breakfast sandwich that I adore. I'm a slut for pastrami.
From whom do you draw sartorial inspiration dead or alive?
SKP: Gosh, who don't I draw inspiration from? I tend to go through lots of phases, and at the moment my top contenders are probably Carolyn Bessette, Max Fischer from Rushmore, Grace Kelly, and Ralph Lauren when he's in Montana. Eclectic? Yes. But they're all bangers.
Anna: I love super classic and feminine icons. When I was little and we were obsessed with the Parent Trap, I always wanted to be Annie (the British one). When I got older, that morphed into Blaire Waldorf and even now I just love those classic silhouettes and styles.
What is your most treasured possession?
Anna: My most treasured possessions are the rings I wear daily. My wedding ring was given to me by my sweet husband Todd which makes it very special. I also wear a family ring that Sarah and my extended family members all wear. Every time I look down at it on my finger I think about how important my family is to me.
SKP: Probably an antique painting of a leopard I have hanging in my apartment. I found him at the Alameda Flea Market outside San Francisco 5 years ago and named him Harold. He's in this heavy gilded gold frame and kind of looks like he's rolling his eyes. Anna thinks he's creepy but it's seriously my favorite thing.
What’s next?
Anna: We've got big things coming down the pipeline for West of Breakfast! We are currently working on extending our sizing and adding some fun new products for the holidays. We are reworking some familiar favorites as well as adding some things that are completely new. This has been such a labor of love and we are DYING to share what we've been working on! The pajempire is growing!
I have notably been one to strike an eye roll at the sight of a public pajama-wearer, but I am now a convert thanks to Anna and Sarah Kate.
Follow West of Breakfast on Instagram: @westofbreakfast
Follow Natalie on Instagram: @natalieealdridge
Shop West of Breakfast HERE.
x Natalie
Images: West of Breakfast
