Actress Nikki Reed Tapped to Co-Curate Eco-Friendly West Hollywood Gift Shop

Twilight actress Nikki Reed is adding yet another title to her ever-expanding eco-minded résumé: gift shop curator for the globe-trotting set. She and ceramicist Elizabeth Di Prinzio have teamed up as the shopkeepers behind Goodthings, a consciously curated boutique at the new 1 Hotel West Hollywood.

The partnership was born after Reed’s first stay at one of the hotel chain’s “retreat-like” getaways in New York (where the actress travels frequently). What began as a conversation for 1 Hotels to stock Reed’s eco-friendly jewelry line, Bayou With Love, in the West Hollywood location’s gift shop evolved into her signing on (along with Di Prinzio) as a co-creative director for the entire retail space.

“The second you walk into [the L.A.] space, you can tell the intention behind how the hotel was built and curated from top to bottom,” Reed tells The Hollywood Reporter. “We realized what an incredible way to partner with [a brand] that feels morally aligned and has the same goals as we do. Plus, we get that revolving door with new [shoppers] from all over the world, all the time.”

Fresh off the Sunset Strip hotel’s recent soft debut (it officially opens June 1), the 782-square-foot shop stocks mostly female-founded, Los Angeles-based companies, many of which manufacture locally. There are vintage-inspired dresses by Venice-based Christy Dawn ($198 and up), nontoxic skin care and cosmetics from Santa Monica-based Beautycounter and handmade apothecary products from Laurel Canyon’s Poppy & Someday.

Visitors will also find eco-friendly adornments from Reed’s jewelry collection (which features gold upcycled from used tech products), alongside modern rustic dishware, vases and decor from Di Prinzio’s ceramics brand, Earth + Element ($35 and up). Rounding out the offerings are chunky rope dog collars and leashes from Found My Animal (the hotel is pup-friendly). All of the products are handpicked by Reed and Di Prinzio.

Lest anyone assume that the actress is simply slapping her name on the shop: “I hand-labeled and hand-stamped until my fingers were black with ink and Elizabeth was logging everything, designing everything. We are online every night until two o’clock in the morning; we are in there with our hands doing this ourselves,” says Reed.

Goodthings aims to represent the City of Angels beyond Tinseltown, too. “We really want to be able to offer guests an experiential stay,” Reed tells The Hollywood Reporter. “For so long, Los Angeles has been viewed as the city of film and television and, while that is what draws people to this town, there’s also [another] side, one that I know very well from growing up here that is really focused on artists and makers and nature.”

The offerings are right in line with the luxury hospitality company’s sustainability mission, which includes using responsibly sourced natural and reclaimed materials, keeping small carbon footprints at its properties and supporting environmental advocacy and engagement initiatives. (Its partners include nonprofits like the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, E2, Natural Resources Defense Council and Oceanic Global as well as certification organizations such as the Forest Stewardship Council.)

“We’re lucky enough to live in a space that has the mountains and the ocean and all of the elements, and there are so many people that live here that are inspired by a more holistic approach to living,” says Reed. She and Di Prinzio aim to give people a taste of that lifestyle through a regular calendar of hands-on workshops that will “involve everything from foraging, learning how to dye with plants, experiencing sound baths, broom-making and DIY apothecary,” Reed adds. An avid acro-yogi herself, she’s also working on organizing movement classes.

The two L.A. creatives first connected when “Nikki was aligned in my path and became one of my first customers,” Di Prinzio tells THR by email: “A few years ago I had turned a friend’s backyard greenhouse into a pottery studio after departing from a high-profile job [at a Hollywood photo studio] to pursue a life as an artist. It was a time before I had a website, Instagram or had even sold any of my pieces. Someone told [Reed] that there was a girl making pottery in the backyard and she should come check out my work.”

It’s not the first time that Reed and Di Prinzio have joined forces. The team’s first retail venture together was in the form of a holiday pop-up shop last December in Silver Lake that stocked a similar inventory of mindful products. “We often laugh that we are like the same person: [we both have] strong work ethics and are overly communicative. When you find a partner who matches your vision on story-telling, design, company ethos and simply creating great products that bring joy to peoples lives, the job becomes seamless with each other,” says Di Prinzio.

The duo hopes to eventually roll out the retail concept at 1 Hotels’ other properties, which include three locations in New York and four forthcoming hotels across the globe (including in the U.S. in Hawaii’s Hanalei Bay and California’s Silicon Valley as well as in Mexico and China). If all goes according to plan, those Goodthings outposts will feature products made locally in their respective areas.

“The goal is to bring together and to highlight the hard work that other brands are putting into running a sustainable and ethical business and manufacturing in the U.S. That really speaks to us as business owners as well and I think it’s really important to the hotel,” says Reed.

Goodthings at 1 Hotel West Hollywood, 8490 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood; open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.