Until a few years ago, collectors and design buffs had largely forgotten the late American midcentury-modern furniture designer Mel Smilow. But in 2013, his daughter, Judy Smilow, reissued 10 of his shapely, wood-framed greatest hits under the name Smilow Design. Since then, interest in the unsung champion of affordable, American-made furniture—who designed, manufactured, and sold his line in Smilow-Thielle stores on the East Coast from 1949 through the late 1970s—has been building. In August, Judy died after a two-year battle with ALS. But Smilow Design, now helmed by her 27-year-old daughter, Maia Smilow Schoenfelder, and Maia’s father, graphic designer Steven Schoenfelder, in New York, is poised to bring even more attention to the modernist whose work was nearly lost to history.

How did Smilow Design start?

It was always my mom’s dream to relaunch my grandfather’s company. She was a product designer who had gone to Parsons and done freelance work for most of my childhood. When my brother and I went to college, she tried to find full-time work but found it really difficult, as an older woman, to get hired. So she decided it was the perfect time to launch her own company. It started with glass, which she designed, and moved into furniture and lighting, which were reissues of designs by my grandfather.

Did you talk with your mom about taking a larger role in Smilow Design?

When I started working with her, I was doing freelance social marketing. But soon after she got sick, I started to take on some of her work, like bookkeeping, custom orders, working with salespeople, and really just running the business. I loved working with her. I think she thought I felt obliged, so I made it very clear that it was something I was super interested in doing. In the past six months, my dad started working with us as well. He handles everything after a sale is made, and I handle everything before that happens. It’s a family business, and not only my grandfather’s legacy, but my mom’s as well. It’s the most meaningful work I’ve ever done.

Is the business different today from how it was in Mel’s day?

The pieces were originally meant to be affordable. You could buy a lounge chair for $25 in the 1960s. Even accounting for inflation, that’s a lot less than one costs now [$3,460 and up]. When my mom relaunched the brand, she really wanted to stick to well-made American products. So we had to transition from being an affordable brand to a luxury brand, because it’s super expensive to manufacture high-quality products in the United States today. My mom would drive down to the factory in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, once a month to inspect every single item we made. Now, my dad and I do that instead.

Is it a challenge to keep all production in the United States?

It can be. When we launched the lighting collection last year, the pieces used these tiny birch dowels on the shades. Those were almost impossible to find. There’s one guy in America who supplies dowels at that size. Without him, we would have had no collection.

What’s been the bestselling piece so far?

The Woven Rush collection, in general, does really well for us, but the Woven Rush bench is our gangbusters item.

How large is the archive of Mel’s work?

There are hundreds of pieces we could reissue and, every year, my mom reissued at least a few of them. This year, I think we’re going to do a bar cart, and potentially bedside tables as well. There aren’t many all-wood bar carts similar to the one that we have in the archive. But there’s also an entire outdoor collection, a recliner collection, and full bedroom sets. There’s so much to tap into.

“My mom would drive down to the factory in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, once a month to inspect every single item we made. Now, my dad and I do that instead.”
–Maia Smilow Schoenfelder

Why do you think Mel isn’t as well remembered as, say, the Eameses or George Nelson?

It was never about my grandfather’s personal brand. It was just, “Here, we want you to have these pieces, which are well-priced and will last you a lifetime.” He was designing, producing, and selling on his own. He was never partnering with larger manufacturers or selling out of Blooming-dale’s. Some of the pieces were marked, but many were not, which is a shame.

Do you often hear from people interested in learning more about him?

Vintage dealers reach out to me all the time on Instagram, asking if things are Smilow, and our business has boosted the name’s value in the vintage marketplace. Yet there are still so many people who reach out because their parents’ entire house was furnished in Smilow furniture. They ask if we want to buy it from them, and I say, yes, absolutely, because we have the capability to do all the refinishing and reupholstery. I’d love to eventually have some refinished vintage pieces available, at a lower price point, through an online store.

What other plans do you have?

It would be awesome to do a capsule collection with an exciting textile designer. I’d like to see the Rail Back lounge chair with crazy colored cushions from a designer who speaks to a younger crowd. I’d also love to do a collection with a furniture company that maybe uses different materials, but is able to translate our ethos into something more affordable. I just haven’t had the time.

Top illustration by Sam Kerr