Poketo brings art and design into the office, home and closet.
everything that is best about the eclectic LA enclave where designers, architects and musicians pioneered the California lifestyle. Through his workshops, pop-ups and store, Jenkins has brought his love of plants and gardening to Silver Lake’s diverse community of longtime Latinx families and striving young artists who share a common love of the natural world.
Arts District
Also explore...
“The Poketo ethos is accessibility and utility and beauty,” Vadakan explains. Much like the colorful, mural-covered Arts District, where the couple opened their first store in 2012, the creative duo think of the world as a canvas. With carefully curated everyday items, Poketo brings art and design into the office, home and closet — transforming something as mundane as a coaster into an abstract work of art.
Art for your every day — now on demand.
Back to hub
Next Story
Scroll Down
Sponsored by
Discover Silver Lake’s Hidden Painted Stairways
Tap to read more
Silver Lake, LA
In 2003, Myung and Vadakan started Poketo, a play on the way Myung’s grandmother pronounced the word “pocket.” Fittingly, the first product was the brand’s iconic artist’s wallet, an affordable piece you could easily tuck in your pocket, which ensured that “no one would be without a piece of art of their own,” Vadakan says. Over the years, Poketo wallets have featured original works from artists including Lisa Congdon, Tim Biskup, Cole Gerst and Yellena James. The company soon expanded into housewares and stationery, selling wholesale and online for nine years before opening the brick-and-mortar store in the Arts District.
“There were no stores, there was nothing there at the time. We really helped build that community in the Arts District. It was like metaphorical tumbleweeds in 2012, and then things started to really change, and communities started to form. More and more businesses started to pop up, and more people started living downtown,” Vadakan says.
Poketo fit in perfectly in the rapidly developing area. “It has a lot of change energy, you know?” Vadakan says. Being in the center of a community of creators meant that artists and artisans would often come into Poketo to share their latest product. One such company was Boy Smells, an LA-based candle and fragrance company that’s now making it big nationally.
“The owners popped in and showed us what they were doing, and we immediately fell in love with it — and we’ve been carrying that brand for years in the shop,” Vadakan says. “Poketo generally is often a first entry for a lot of emerging brands that then become successful, and we’re so happy to see them in other places as well.”
Poketo grew up along with the Arts District, from upstart to institution. In 2017, the flagship store moved to Little Tokyo. A year later, the team opened the Poketo Project Space at ROW DTL, which hosts a rotating selection of artists and creators’ work as well as Poketo products. They also held workshops on everything from ceramics and calligraphy to a practical internet marketing class. “Collaboration has always been part of Poketo’s DNA,” Vadakan explains. “We used the space for a lot of different events, community events and workshops, really trying to make the space a place for people to have as a home base … for art and for design.”
The challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic have shifted the way Poketo does business. Vadakan misses the workshops and events. “There is that natural kind of energy and conversation that happens when you get people together, so it’s been tough not being able to have that,” he says.
The brand also began selling some of its most famous items, like bamboo dinner plates and beautiful wavy combs, through DoorDash. “It’s been another opportunity for our customers that couldn’t come into the store in the last year,” Vadakan says. “Things are looking brighter but we’re still in a pandemic, and it’s been nice to be able to have the options from DoorDash.”
Poketo Brings a Pop of Color
to Los Angeles
Scroll Down
Presented by
Poketo Brings
a Pop of Color
to Los Angeles
Explore Your Neighborhood
Click here
Explore Your Neighborhood
Click here
A Wild West Dish Reimagined in Silver Lake
Tap to read more
Silver Lake, LA
A Wild West Dish Reimagined in Silver Lake
Tap to read more
Silver Lake, LA
Words by HADLEY MEARES
Photography by ANNIE GREGORY
Words by HADLEY MEARES
Photography by ANNIE GREGORY
We’re a joyful brand, we’re not afraid of color,” says Ted
Vadakan, who co-founded design and collaboration
powerhouse Poketo with his wife Angie Myung. Their flagship store on the border of Little Tokyo and the Arts District sells everything from Poketo-designed brightly colored modernist day planners to Azio retro computer keyboards, living up to the brand’s motto: “Art for Your Every Day.”
“
But Poketo has soldiered on. Current offerings include colorful, pop art-inspired bento boxes created in collaboration with famed Japanese bento box makers Takenaka, and Areaware’s unique puzzles, featuring photography by KangHee Kim.
“
But Poketo has soldiered on. Current offerings include colorful, pop art-inspired bento boxes created in collaboration with famed Japanese bento box makers Takenaka, and Areaware’s unique puzzles, featuring photography by KangHee Kim.
More coming soon...
Hank Jenkins Believes in the Power of Plants
Tap to read more
Silver Lake, LA
Hank Jenkins Believes in the Power of Plants
Tap to read more
Silver Lake, LA