Saint-Tropez-born Studio ALM opens its Sydney outpost
The French expat’s eye for independent designers and rising stars of the interiors world is sought after for home styling around the world.
For two decades, Marjolaine Leray nurtured her successful business, Studio ALM, in the South of France, working on interior-design projects, high-end art curation, exhibitions, procurement and innovative thematic installations. Leray and her sister Marine Hakanson – an architect who is a contemporary of French architect Joseph Dirand – worked with a team of about 20 from the charming, vine-laced hilltop village of Ramatuelle where they grew up.
“The people in our studio were great multitaskers and very hands-on. It was a highly creative space and everyone came from different backgrounds and had different readings of trends and cultural references,” Leray reflects. Even her own background brought a new perspective as she had just left a successful 17-year banking career (she also has a Bachelor of Engineering specialising in forestry and wildlife). The shift was a welcome move that set a new pace and allowed her to “access different parts of my brain”.
In the 1990s, the concept of a multidisciplinary studio didn’t exist as it does today. Studio ALM was one of the few working across a broad spectrum of creative projects and most certainly the only one of its kind in glamorous Saint-Tropez.
“We were brainstorming and thinking outside the box on all levels. Every time we did a building, we came up with everything from the art selection to the interiors. We did it all.”
They earned a name for themselves because each project was so unique. High-end clients with big budgets and multiple homes helped, too. “Some had a chalet in Switzerland and a 14th-century French farmhouse or a home in Ibiza, so nothing looked the same. As a studio, we were very difficult to put in a box. We always reinvented ourselves.”
Studio ALM’s exclusive clientele included former L’Oréal chief executive Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones (he has one of the biggest houses on the seafront in Saint-Tropez), Alain Dominique Perrin of Richemont and Cartier, fashion designers (John Galliano was a customer), Middle-Eastern royalty and A-list celebrities.
Leray tells of a time Ellen DeGeneres came in and she mistook her Australian-born wife Portia de Rossi for the television host’s daughter. “But then I saw them kiss and it definitely wasn’t a mother-daughter kiss,” remembers Leray of the couple, who have a huge real-estate portfolio and a shared passion for design. “We spent three hours talking and I asked what she did for a living, and she said she had a talk show. From then on, every time one of their houses was published it was with our stuff.”
But in 2018, Leray decided to leave France for Sydney, accompanying her daughter who was moving to study medicine in Australia. “From the moment I landed, I knew I would never leave,” says Leray. “I love everything about Sydney. It smells like frangipanis and there’s such a beautiful light and perfect breeze.”
Leray was still being approached by clients in Uruguay and Saudi Arabia. However, she was unable to open her own company until she received residency and so began work as the procurement director at then up-and-coming – now hugely successful – YSG Studio, introducing them to a number of international projects. But after a few years, and itching to again do her own thing, she launched Studio ALM as a retail space on Queen Street, Woollahra in Sydney’s east.
“There was a phase where I thought that maybe I was too old to start something again,” confesses Leray.
“I’d never had a shop before and didn’t really know many people or have many connections in Australia, so I asked some designer friends from Europe if we could stock their pieces.”
Her set of friends includes a who’s who of the contemporary design world: architect India Mahdavi, fashion designer Philippe Model, artist Piet Hein Eek and ceramicist Floris Wubben, among many others. “I was worried that our selection wouldn’t appeal to the market here, so I focused on small, handmade collections – nothing that was mass-produced.”
Unlike other luxury multibrand furniture stores that usually require a minimum of six weeks to import orders, Studio ALM’s inventory is all on hand, which is a huge selling point for local designers “and 30 per cent of Sydney’s eastern suburbs”, says Leray. “But sourcing can be very humbling; if things are too ‘out there’, I think I might die with it or even my daughter will die with it, but then it sells within a week. Other times you think it will sell, but it won’t move.”
Leray says Studio ALM isn’t trying to be on trend, but rather “interesting and surprising”. Yet she feels Australians tend to be more risk averse than Europeans, with a more tentative approach to design overall.
“In Europe, I can use historical pieces and 18th- century silks from Lyon that cost more than a table, but it’s just not something Australians can relate to. The Europeans like rare pieces, while Australians go for things that are more popular, or a quirky element that stands out because the surrounding frame can be safer.” She cites one of her most exciting brands, hip French furniture designers Uchronia, as the perfect example; its blue resin and glass beaded Seaweed Lamp (“a wonder”) perfect as a one-off statement.
Leray also stocks a number of Australian artists and designers and wants to “give back” by introducing them to her contacts in the international market. She is an ardent supporter of veteran Aussie designer and lecturer Trent Jansen and connected him with design doyenne Rossana Orlandi, who invited Jansen to exhibit at her showroom in Milan for Design Week. The relationship led to more exposure and Jansen was ultimately chosen for the Venice Biennale Residency in 2022 from a worldwide field of design talent.
So what is Australia’s relationship to premium furniture design that isn’t from the typical Italian and Danish luxury brands? “The sense of wealth in Australia is still in a real-estate portfolio. Most people invest in art and less in design pieces. It’s going to take time.”
In addition to the relocated new Studio ALM retail store in Macleay Street, Potts Point that Leray opened last year, she has also launched an appointment-only showroom around the corner, which allows her to meet with clients privately.
“I don’t think we [the industry] spend enough time with people at the beginning of the process,” she says.
“A lot of people don’t have patience anymore, so this space is really important. We do private viewings and
I can really talk to people. They often share their plans and schedules and we can brainstorm with homeowners directly.” Eventually she will stock her own made-in-Australia collection, currently in development.
There are some things Leray misses about France, healthy disagreements about politics and “conversations that aren’t about real estate” being some of them. Yet her adopted country has her whole heart and she has no plans to leave. In turn, she says, “I want to do my share; to bring commerce and help people in the industry. I want to stay connected to the designers and architects who visit the showroom – it’s important to recognise their constraints, too, especially when it comes to logistics of shipping. These things matter.
“I’m not interested in being an exclusive stockist for brands. Anything can happen to me and I want them to make a good living. Everyone has a different vibe, but I want them all to thrive and do well.”
This story is from the July issue of WISH.
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