All images courtesy of Robert Stilin Shop.
Robert Stilin really loves shopping. As newlyweds in Florida, he opened his eponymous lifestyle store in 1989 after a frustrating search at Bloomingdale’s, Ethan Allen, and Crate & Barrel. In the next iteration, I established an art and design outlet and interior studio. The store’s customers sought out his eye for décor), and is still thriving and sought after by the likes of Beyoncé and Jay-Z. Robert Stilin 3.0, which just launched this week from its current New York headquarters, is an online marketplace filled with coveted objects, many of which are sold by the designers themselves on the web, Instagram, and around the world. This is what I found by researching.
“Most people, if they’re going to spend a significant amount of money, they want more information, they want more connection. Part of that is romance, part of it is pursuit, part of it is experience,” he says, an interior designer. I’d like to introduce you to a newly created site that I co-designed with two people. With the independent shopper in mind. “We have access to people. They can contact us directly and we can explain what we got it from, the history, the provenance.” In fact, each item on the site comes with ready-made tear-out pages that designers can print and bring to client meetings.
Stilin’s platform, which spans design objects, artwork, and home accessories, embraces the digital age and offers more than just a furniture catalogue. The site allows users to view items in situ, similar to how Stilin places them. “We’re not just showing you five photos of chairs,” he emphasizes. Instead, the show imagines how the pieces would live in space and how buyers could “dream” with them.
“I sat in every chair and tested every sofa,” says Stilin. “I’m an instinctive collector.” The newly staffed platform is located in a 750-square-foot New York space where Stilin stores and sells items, regularly pulling out pieces that are suitable for customers’ homes. It’s an evolution of office space. Online, new inventory moves at a faster pace and is updated weekly as soon as items go through the repair process and are completed.
“The site, the shop, the gallery business, everything else, it’s my personal passion. It’s something I can’t stop myself from doing,” says Stillin. “I’m just trying to share with the world a little bit of what I do, what I create, what you see in my books and magazines.” What’s next? Pieces designed by Stilin himself are interwoven with antiques found in the store. “Up until now, we’ve basically only had custom furniture and new furniture for our customers and not really sold them, but we’re going to see that evolve over the next year or two,” the documents state. describes custom upholstery, side tables, coffee tables and consoles, and in Stilin’s words, “the sky’s the limit.”
But before we get into that, the designer has selected 13 of his favorite pieces currently on sale at the Robert Stilin shop for exclusive viewing by CULTURED readers. Move quickly before they end up at the client’s house instead.
Robert Stillin’s favorite shopping sprees:
francis jordan lounge chair
$25,000
France, c. 1940
BBPR Rare Lounge Chair
Italy, c. 1950
$28,000
Guilherme et Chambronn armchair
France, c. 1960
$12,000
Pietre Chapot Table T22C Royle
France, 1972
$42,000
Side table polished brass shagreen
Italy, 20th century
$14,000
Pierre Paulin Executive Desk
France
$18,500.00
work table/console
France, 19th century
$12,800.00
guilherme et chambron chandelier
France, c. 1960
$5,600.00
amphora table lamp
$6,800.00
iron floor lamp with bird decoration
France, c. 1940
$10,800.00
Maria Pergay Totem Candlestick
France, c. 1950
$32,000
hermes horsebit box
France, c. 1970
$2,400.00
Bitossi red vase, black matt exterior finish
$1,850.00
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