Marion Stora has loved sailing ever since she was a small child. Her other love is art. She began studying architecture, attracted by the ideas of the Bauhaus and the functionalism so dear to the UAM (French Union of Modern Artists), but quickly realized that it was above all interior architecture that captivated her. She continued her studies at Penninghen Paris, graduating in 2006.
She then worked with renowned interior yacht designers in London for four exciting years. Back in Paris, Marion Stora joined Remi Tessier to collaborate on two iconic yacht projects. The technical requirements involved in designing yacht interiors, working with discerning clients and discovering the work of committed craftsmen, were to leave their mark. Keen to express her universe and to broaden her scope, she opened her own studio in 2011. Initially on her own – one foot in Paris and the other in London, where she maintains many contacts – and subsequently with a team, and now with the support of her husband Didier in developing the business. Whether a contemporary 2000m2 villa in Portugal’s Cascais, warmed by the use of textured finishes, Victorian homes in London or an apartment in Northern Europe all in shades of white to show off the paintings of its collector owner, each project is made to measure, guided by the needs of its clients.
Marion Stora’s style is immediately recognizable and distinctive, drawn with rigour and precision, yet warm, colorful and lively in atmosphere. Her taste for natural materials – hand-woven fabrics, raw hides and wood – and her soft, harmonious lines, establish Marion Stora in a vision marked by modernism.
Finnish designer Paavo Tynell (1890–1973), Italian designers Gino Sarfatti (1912–1985) and Angelo Lelli (1915–1984), and Brazilian Jose Zanine Caldas (1919–2001) remain important references. But Marion Stora’s primary inspiration can be found in the work of Pierre Chapo (1927–1987). Furniture designer influenced by an encounter with a shipwright, Pierre Chapo, sought to combine contemporary design with traditional skills. His approach guides Marion Stora in designing timeless furniture of integrity.
As part of the “Jardins Jardin" fair in Paris’s Tuileries Garden last June, Marion Stora, an active participant in the current revival of arts and crafts, designed the architecture and scenography of an area showcasing work by artisans from the Luxe d’Intérieur collective. For the occasion, she designed an exquisite bed with a headboard embroidered with graphic floral motifs by the Vermont workshops. Art in life.