Satine
Cooper Design Space Suite 612 (213) 891-0663
The secret of success for Jeannie Lee and Sophia Banks, co-owners of the growing Satine store and showroom, is to foster a cycle of goodwill.
“The idea for the showroom started because Jeannie was finding so many great [international] designers and introducing them to the U.S. market [through the Satine store]. She would tell other stores how to get ahold of the designers, so in a sense, she was already acting as a sales rep,” said Virginia Pereira, the chief executive officer of Satine’s Los Angeles showroom. Pereira also heads the New York showroom, scheduled to open in the SoHo district on June 10.
Pereira ran the Los Angeles office out of her home beginning in January, and Satine opened its doors in the Cooper Design Space on March 17. The showroom features an eclectic mix of lifestyle-based wares—including D.L. & Co. Luxury Candles, Saddelite Jeans, Bellekat, Corey Lynn Calter, French Sole shoes and Rebecca Minkoff handbags—and has recently added Satine brand shoes to the list. “The majority of buyers are coming in and writing almost every line,” Banks said.
Satine will represent the Australian label Sass and Bide in both Los Angeles and New York. The addition of Sass and Bide marks the showroom’s first major account and the first time the label has been represented outside of New York.
Saddelite Jeans, one of the several accounts that is carried in both the store and showroom, has gained business from smaller boutiques through the showroom. “We wanted to work with [Banks and Lee] because we knew their professionalism and how they could handle the clients that we had and wanted to get,” said Lukus Eichmann, the co-owner of Saddelite.
“We have a goal to help people. Part of our goal is to help artists grow,” said Banks, who has offered designers to other sales reps because she cannot represent all of the labels that she finds. “There is enough business for everyone. We’re all in the same game.” —Rhea Cortado
