Studio principal

About
Chloe
Starks

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01 Seven years across manufacturers, design studios, and commercial fit-out
02 Strategy and making treated as the same thing, not separate disciplines
03 Fully booked within six months of going independent
Studio
Studio
Studio
The studio today

Built on the gap between the first idea and the moment it gets made.

I work with a small team of designers and technical specialists, partnering with interior designers, developers, and brands on commercial interiors where the furniture shapes how a space feels and nothing off the shelf quite fits.

Since launching we have partnered with furniture consultancies, commercial fit-out suppliers, and acoustic manufacturers, building product ranges across BTR and commercial interiors. Within six months of going independent I was fully booked. That told me the gap was real.

We sit between the first idea and the moment it gets built. That gap is where projects usually fall apart. We exist to stop that happening.

How it started

There has always been one thing I could not walk away from.

At 15 I was told to take food tech over design because I was a girl. The workshop was already my favourite place to be. I went anyway.

At A levels I wasn't allowed three creative subjects. I took two, aced them both, and failed the academic one. At university I was told I was doing too much work. I got a First.

I went into industry and found myself pulled between design and marketing. I do love understanding how a product tells a story but as part of the design process itself, not as a separate discipline. Every time I was pointed somewhere else, I came back to the same thing.

I went independent in 2025. Within six months I was fully booked. That told me the gap was real and that Chloe Starks needed to exist.

Career

Seven years in
commercial interiors.

Click any role to read more
2026 – Present
Founder & Creative Director
Chloe Starks
Founded the studio to sit between the first idea and the moment it gets built. Working with interior designers, developers, and brands on commercial interiors where the furniture shapes how a space feels.
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2025 – Present
Freelance Designer
Various clients
Working independently across furniture brands, interior designers, and commercial fit-out projects. Within six months fully booked, which told me the gap was real.
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2022 – 2025
Designer
DEKA
Three years designing furniture and product ranges for commercial interiors. Developed expertise in taking products from concept through to production-ready specifications, working closely with manufacturers and suppliers.
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2020 – 2022
Junior Designer
The Collective
Developed skills across the full design process, from early concept through to technical drawings and supplier communication, on commercial fit-out projects.
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2019 – 2020
Design Coordinator
Modus Furniture
First real exposure to how furniture actually gets manufactured at scale, where the gaps in the process are, and why so many products arrive on site feeling wrong.
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2018 – 2019
Design Intern
Modus Furniture
First industry role. Learning the language of manufacturing, supplier relationships, and technical drawing, and understanding that design without production knowledge is just decoration.
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2015 – 2019
BSc Product Design
First Class Honours
University of Brighton
Graduated with a First. Found my way back to furniture every time. Was told I was doing too much work. Did it anyway.
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2014 – 2015
Art & Design Foundation Diploma
Distinction
Somerset College
A year of experimenting across different mediums. Painting, sculpture, print, textiles. Every project I tried, I found myself coming back to furniture. That kept happening until it stopped feeling like a coincidence.
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