Our Story

Design is at the root of everything we do. To say it’s an obsession would not be overstating things. It has transformed our habits and our habitats. Wms & Co. offers everyday objects elevated by design and influenced by history. 

These are exquisitely practical tools to enhance daily life. Use them often and they will acquire the rich patina of service. We think they provide an intimate, personalized and deliciously offline experience that can be hard to come by these days.

Our carefully chosen and crafted pieces represent a considered mix of the esoteric and the highly pragmatic. Many of these simple things reflect the hand of the artisan or the quiet genius of the inventor. They are useful in ways that are difficult to quantify but, if pressed, we would say they make life a little more efficient and a lot more beautiful.

In the words of Paul Rand, the great American graphic designer, “Good design adds value of some kind, gives meaning and, not incidentally, can be sheer pleasure to behold.” We second that emotion. 

Wms & Co is a collaboration between JP and Allison Williams. This is our passion project, born out of our love of design and of collecting. It also reflects our world travels and the work we’ve done as co-founders of design MW, our award-winning Tribeca-based design consultancy. 

A big impetus for launching this company was JP’s lifelong passion for collecting (further detailed at amassblog.com). A connoisseur of vintage typography, ephemera and classic desk tools, he has amassed legendary collections—balls of twine, envelope liners, 19th-century letterheads—many of which inspired the product offerings of Wms & Co.

There’s also a big paper trail that leads to Wms & Co. Over the past two decades we’ve fully immersed ourselves in sourcing, developing and marketing all manner of paper goods. We founded Claudia Calhoun, a line of wedding stationery that was truly groundbreaking in its use of mixed typography and dark, saturated colors; designed branding and product offerings for several paper companies including  Mohawk, Crane & Co., Domtar, and Büttenpapierfabrik Gmund.

Wms & Co is an exciting opportunity for us to bring all our expertise and fetishes together in one place. And maybe it will even allow us to reclaim the hackneyed notion of “pushing the envelope.”