Jeremy Pyles founded Niche Modern in 2003 with his wife Mary Welch. Frustrated with the lighting options available for Niche, their Manhattan home store, Pyles and Welch created their first hand-blown pendant for the shop. The Stamen Pendant became the store's most sought after item, so in 2005 the husband and wife team expanded their fleet, debuting a line of ten different glass pendant lights. Niche Modern has since expanded its line to include more lights, glassware, and other tableware items. Pyles earned his BFA from the University of Texas at Austin in 1993.