Pros
- Exposure to retail design aesthetics and branding - Insight into how luxury studios position themselves publicly - Social perks and lunches, new policy of short Fridays - An ok work life balance - Great new location
Cons
- The workplace feels deeply unfair beneath a very polished surface. A lot of effort goes into optics and looking lexury design studio to impress the client and potential future employees, but much less into how people are actually treated. - Promotions and leadership roles often seem to depend more on who you’re close to and family networking, your background, than actually on your skills, education, experience, or contribution. - Opportunities are not given based on how good a designer you are and how much hard work you put in. Hard work alone doesn’t reliably lead anywhere. - Diversity and inclusion feel more like a checkbox than something genuinely built into the company. Studio photos, marketing, and promotions are very curated and don’t reflect the wider team. - There is very little racial diversity in senior, leadership, or client-facing roles. - Many capable and knowledgeable people are overlooked, which can be incredibly demotivating and eventually affects creativity and the quality of the work. - Pay often doesn’t match the workload, while a lot of money is spent on performative perks like client dinners, yoga, lunches, and social initiatives that don’t really benefit staff in meaningful ways. - Insensitive comments or attitudes sometimes go unchallenged, which makes the environment uncomfortable if you don’t fit the dominant culture. - HR has very limited power and feels more reactive than supportive or protective of employees. Based on my current experience, I wouldn’t recommend this company to anyone looking for fair pay, merit-based progression, or a genuinely inclusive and respectful work environment.
