Kate Parfet

The SEEN series highlights various guests, diving into the ways they have discovered themselves through reading. What stories shaped them? Helped them define their own? These intimate interviews seek to celebrate their discoveries, hear what they’ve learned from their favorite works, and uncover a glimpse of their interior world through the books that have changed them.

Kate Parfet is a woman of many passions. Whether it be through writing, helping brands grow with her company Studio Parfet, or the occasional modeling job — Kate loves telling a story.

However, it’s not just stories she’s passionate about, but also their accessibility. After unsuccessfully trying to send books to a friend of hers in federal prison, Kate teamed up with Seen Library to host a book drive for the Prison Library Project — A volunteer-led community service project providing free books to inmates across the country.

Here, Kate shares the design books that inspired her home interiors, the importance of raising awareness about the maternal health crisis, and details about her new poetry book coming out early next year.

What is your name?

Kathryn Berry, named after both of my grandmothers, Kathryn “Betty” Mustin and Vivian Berry. I go by Kate.

Where are you from?

Pelham, New York, directly north of The Bronx.

Who are you?

I am a biz owner, writer, sometimes model, student, daughter, sister and partner.

What’s on your nightstand?

Bluest Nude by Ama Codjoe, Mercury by Arianna Reines, In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Mother Reader by Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, and a slew of other incredible female writers.

How is your time spent offline?

Reading, writing, long walks through Mt. Washington, dinner parties, music shows.

What helps you stay present?

Not reaching for my phone first thing in the morning. Writing morning pages helps get the gunk out of my head.

What’s your favorite way to connect with others?

Phone calls over texts, and happy hour is usually a good idea.

You recently teamed up with Seen Library to host a book drive for the Prison Library Project. What made you want to get involved?

More than 2 million people in the US are incarcerated and within that group, 70 percent read at or below a fourth grade level. PLP provides free reading materials to support literacy and personal growth. It’s volunteer and donor led and sustained.

Also, a close friend spent time in federal prison. Many of the books I sent him were either returned or did not reach him. Because PLP is a non-profit with over 40 years of experience, they are successful in getting books into prisons. They receive more than 300 letters a week from incarcerated men and women. They mail over 15,000 packages of books each year to prison libraries, chaplins, and educators.

You have a beautiful home. How did you approach curating your living space? How do you want yourself and others to feel when they enter?

Thank you! The bones of the house are so weird and wonderful. We love the imperfections. We recently learned the Japanese word Komorebi, which loosely translates to sunlight streaming through the trees. It’s fun to see light travel through the house, where it hits the wood, and how it connects to the surrounding nature. It gives off a sense of warmth and comfort. We also want our home to feel personal through books we’ve had forever, family heirlooms, my fiancé Danny’s ceramics, etc.

Are there any books that have inspired your approach to your home?

So many… often revisiting Carl Auböck by Clemens Kois, Selection by Ronnie Sassoon, Handcrafted Modern by Leslie Williamson and Alma Allen & J.B. Blunk: In Conversation edited by Brooke Hodge.

I know you’re currently working on a book, can you tell us about it?

I wrote a book of poetry that will be published by pois é early next year. It includes some amazing contributions from artist friends. We are finalizing the cover art now. I can’t wait to share more.

What led you to create Studio Parfet?

I enjoy helping thoughtful brands articulate their purpose, build a foundation for growth, and authentically connect with their audience. Our approach is highly personalized, collaborative, and flexible. I plan on hosting more intimate events here like our recent co-hosted book drive.

You work as a creative director, model, and writer — proving you are a true multi-hyphenate. Do you find there is a constant that connects everything you do?

I have fun telling a story… through an image, a video, a conversation, or a piece of writing.

What book has made you feel the most seen? Why?

Bough Down by Karen Green is a collection of poems and mixed media collages. She explores complex grief so honestly, sharing all the contradictory emotions that come with it.

Is there a quote from this book that you find yourself returning to?

Yes, definitely.

Before I went to work we were under the olive tree and you were doing what you called psych patient smoking and you said, I don’t want to be Satan but will you join me and we pulled up our shirts to rub bellies and yours was so much flatter but filled with garden bread anyway up went our shirts, solar to solar plexus, and it was a comforting ritual we daily did and I said, Let’s do this for the rest of our lives. You said, You look lovely. It’s hard to remember tender things tenderly.

Favorite place to curl up with a book?

Sitting outside at Sea Ranch overlooking the water.

Is there a topic you’d like to explore deeper through reading?

I am intrigued by stigmatized emotions like shame and anger.

What cause or organization do you wish others would read up on?

National Birth Equity Collaborative (@birthequity on Instagram).

Everyone deserves respectful maternal care. Unfortunately, the maternal health crisis in this country is worsening, with alarming racial disparities. NBEC create transnational solutions that optimize Black maternal, infant, sexual, and reproductive wellbeing. I love their core values: Radical Joy, Reproductive & Sexual Freedom, Sisterhood (Collaboration), Anti Racism/Decolonization and Black Feminism-Womanism, to name a few.

Share your top 3 favorite books.

Off the top of my head… Frank Sonnets by Diane Seuss, Attached by Amir Levine M.D. and Rachel S.F. Heller M.A., and I Love Dick by Chris Kraus.