The online store Soul Studio selects curated products and publications: it includes a collective collaboration among designers, artists, and brands to create limited edition prints and objects
Soul Studio in Rome
It was 2016 when Soul Studio, an independent online store, was launched. «It is the natural evolution of Soulmag, an Italian online magazine focused on lifestyle, design, independent publishing, culture and style», says Silvia Peron, the founder. «We wanted to give a new and tangible dimension to it. To offer our readers the chance to discover interesting brands, publications, and stories, and also to buy the products we talked about. This is why we decided to create an online shop. Then, one year later, we decided to run a temporary physical store and exhibition space in Rome from 2017 to 2018».
The same people that founded Soulmag back in 2013 feature the team behind the project. They mainly work web-based and are located in different cities across Italy and Europe: Venice, Rome and Brussels. Describing Soul Studio is not easy as it is «a continuously evolving project», Ms. Peron says. «We could describe it as an independent online store that sometimes turns physical by joining events and markets. Our aim is and will always be to offer a very curated selection of products and publications, to share our vision of beauty and quality».
Opportunities from being independent
Building up their visual identity and style, Soul Studio website offers the user a possibility of choosing among different items: stationery, magazines, books, and accessories. There is not a single focus. Soul Studio is, in fact, a mix of several elements. Quality, research, curation, curiosity, consistency. «We think that the combination of these elements shapes our identity and allows the project to be recognizable, although always evolving», Ms. Peron points out.
Another element is their independent identity, which, in the current landscape, could be a challenge. At the same time, though, there are some opportunities on the side, which is «the relationship we can establish and maintain with customers and suppliers and the freedom to choose contents, products, collaborations guided by our Soul Studio vision». This way, Soul Studio is free to develop projects which see cross-contamination among different expertise and bring unexpected results.
Soul Studios among objects, projects, but also events
The 2020 event PAPER is one example. Soul Studio chose to co-organize in Rome, with Cottonmag, a monthly appointment and a little selected market dedicated to illustration and independent publishing.
Another project was «the collaboration with Studio Mistaker. A super talented multi-disciplinary creative studio specialized in visual design. The establishment created ‘Once Were Pop’, a project and exhibition displayed at our first birthday», Ms. Peron underlines.
Looking to the future more projects are also on the pipeline. Relaunching Soulmag, their online lifestyle magazine – and original root-idea of the group – is one of them. «We are working on some Soul Studio limited edition products in collaboration with designers and artists», Ms. Peron adds. Working mainly online, if they have to imagine another physical store in the future, the one they had in Rome becomes a real point of reference. «It was a hybrid place. Both a store and an exhibition space where we regularly had publications launches, exhibitions as well as live-talks».
Soul Studio
Soul Studio is an independent online store selecting curated stationery, publications, prints, design, and lifestyle goods.
