Legare Sinkler: why Sotokler Studio.

What made you resign from Sotheby’s to start this company?

It all began with a seemingly trivial observation. After moving from my apartment in Rome to furnishing my new residence in New York City, I found myself perplexed by the retail prices of high-value design pieces, always inflated compared to what we commonly find in Italy. Through conversations with domain experts and notable interior designers, I realized that this pricing discrepancy stemmed from factors beyond just tax imports and the local cost of living; it was indicative of a fundamental misalignment between these two worlds. Global interior design studios seek stable and scalable relationships with suppliers. Local merchants and galleries in Europe, adopt a more personalized, one-shot transactional approach. Recognizing the massive opportunity, I decided to establish this cultural bridge, adding value to the process.

After living in Italy for six years, in Rome, where she studied Art History and pursued a master's degree in Business & Marketing, Legare Sinkler relocated to NYC with her husband. In the city, she worked at Sotheby’s, collaborating closely with the Chairman of 20th Century Design. Although born in NYC, she maintains strong ties with her homeland, Charleston.
Now back in Italy, she co-founded Sotokler Studio.

“There is an incredible mismatch between local high-end merchants in Europe and interior design professionals globally. We are here to bridge this gap with Sotokler Studio”

Don't existing platforms like 1stDibs already address these issues?

I shared the same thought process. Unfortunately, they are not enough. After working with the best local European stakeholders at events such as the Mercanteinfiera fair in Parma or IMM Cologne, it was clear their lack of interest in going international and adapting to different channels. These businesses are well established and successful, and they see little to no value in investing efforts to export globally. They perceive little efficiency in these platforms, both in terms of the time required to manage the posting of their pieces and the significant fees they need to share with these third parties. Consequently, what foreign professionals find on these platforms is often overpriced, adding to the communication and logistics nightmares that often follow.

So how do you help?

A concierge design furniture procurement service: We provide a stable, scalable, end-to-end managed service for design professionals worldwide. On one side, we handle the export efforts for local merchants through the expertise of our team. On the other side, we serve as a strong and trustworthy supplier offering competitively priced high-end vintage design pieces and exclusive made-to-order selections for design professionals globally. We take pride in celebrating European design while streamlining a market that requires it to continue creating beautiful interiors with even more character on all continents.