Cleo Collects’ stunning antiques are coming to a lush new Subiaco … – Perth Is OK!

While her collection of antiques is timeless, it was only 18 months ago that Bronte Taton started her passion project, Cleo Collects.

In that short time, the antique dealer has amassed a loyal following, not just of Instagram followers (of which there are many), but of high end interior designers and antique collectors.

Later this month, shell be expanding her operations to include a stunningly curated Subiaco showroom. Located within one of Hay Streets heritage shopfronts, the front of the showroom is a dreamy space flooded with sunlight, and houses a thoughtful selection of furniture, homewares and artworks that range from 70s Italian chrome to 17th century French tapestries.

To the rear, a pleasingly creaky, winding staircase leads up to a second storey one with some cosy nooks ready for curation (one room will be devoted to Gabriella Crespi-inspired bamboo pieces, another is clad in hot pink and features an entire wall of Murano glass sconces). Overlooking Hay Street, a spacious gallery-style room is awaiting a container of larger pieces from Paris.

When I was looking for spaces, I really wanted something with good bones, something that tells a bit of a story. For people to walk in and be able to go from room to room and era to era, Bronte tells us, leading us through the upper level.

Were representing a few artists as well, so its going to be a bit of a gallery space up here too, which will be cool. Im in chats with Lums next door, were hoping to do some wine and design nights, maybe quarterly, maybe host some workshops with artists upstairs as well.

I guess a lot of my clientele is in the western suburbs, given the price point. But Im also really attracted to the grunge of the city I grew up in San Francisco and in Paris, and I love that city life. I want it to feel like a terrace, almost like a Sydney vibe, with a lot of foot traffic.

I think Lums is also a big drawcard, the fact that there are some cafes and some like-minded creatives and stuff around. I was like, Cool, this is a good spot.'

After so much success working almost exclusively online, were curious what prompted the move to a brick-and-mortar location.

I was trying to style things in my house, and I dont mind sharing photos of my house, but Im quite a private person, so I also just wanted to really separate work and home life. So I think that was a real driving force for me. Also just being able to style pieces obviously it helps to sell, but it also helps to tell the story too.

Ive had good feedback since Ive come into this space and have started taking more videos and photos in the space. And people are walking past! Im starting to enter that Perth market, which was really hard to crack into the online sales were 90% Sydney, but I think there are people here that are equally interested in antiques and vintage.

Tatons own love of antiques goes well beyond the establishment of Cleo Collects, with her formative years spent between Perth and Paris.

My family is French, so they moved to Perth from Montmartre in the centre of Paris back in the 80s. I think when youre from those Mediterranean places its always ingrained: art, food And I never realised that until I met my husband and he was like, Gosh, everything in your life is so French!

I relocated with my parents to Paris to do my high schooling there, and then I studied fine arts. So that was just a really beautiful world to experience everything was there! Like an excursion was going to the Louvre, things that you just totally took for granted at the time. But thats really stuck with me, and my moms always had a really huge appreciation and Ive always gone to galleries with her, so its been instilled for a long time I just didnt quite know in what capacity it would eventuate.

I moved to San Francisco in between Paris and Perth, when I came back I did study architecture for a year and thats how I met my husband, he used to be a heritage architect. I always thought that Id live in Paris again, I think when you have those two cultures your heart is always split.

Ive just tried to be really true to myself Ive always loved vintage music and film, and I just wanted to build a really strong brand around that and not be afraid to use pops of colour. Just be really different from other brands, and I hope its come across in that ways, but I think Ive really stayed true to myself.

Fittingly, the designers veer very much to the European, with an Art Deco and midcentury focus. Think 1950s buffets, cabinets and more from Guillerme et Chambron, the aforementioned Crespi-inspired bamboo, Charles Dudouyt, and rope pieces from Audoux Minet. Glassware and lighting is also a focus, with brands like Barovier & Toso and Mazzega well represented alongside technicolour contemporary pieces from Danish designer Helle Mardahl.

So how do you make the leap from loving antiques, to becoming a full-blown antiques dealer?

It was a learning curve for sure. Im very lucky that Ive got family still in France and they do a lot of on the ground sourcing for me, but it was about building an aesthetic that I liked. My auntie works for me, so she goes around all the antique places and finds things that arent necessarily listed online.

Probably for the first half of the collection I was very, very, very, very involved. I still am very involved, but in terms of being on the ground, I went to France to find those pieces.

Whereas now Ive also got an agent who is in Milan she finds a lot of antique and vintage lighting for me, and she knows what I like. So thats been a really efficient process. But I still went to the antique fair in Venice last year, and its still good to be on the ground.

The sourcing I really enjoy obviously it takes up a lot of time, but when I do find a piece that Im like Oh my god, this is so good We found this big brutalist sideboard from Belgium thats really hard to find and we found it for a customer, its like a treasure hunt, like I found it!.

Its really nice that now that Ive built up a bit of a brand, people are more trusting with the process too, particularly with art, I found that thats an area that I really love which I think kind of stays true to my education in Paris as well.

Starting online, I had to market myself in a different way to other antique dealers. Obviously there are a lot of Perth antique dealers that bring in really amazing things, but theres not that many that are bringing in these specific designers. I just want to be able to style it in a nice way and kind of show how you could do it at home, and amongst newer pieces.

Im passionate about it, too Ill talk your head off about this stuff! I want to like give a little bit more information on the provenance of each piece: whether thats in the form of stories or, for instance, upstairs were putting a projector thats going to have the designers talking about their pieces and their background.

So yes, its an investment but you can also share that story when youve got the piece in your house. Theres something really nice about that.

Cleo Collects is located at 435 Hay Street, Subiaco, and is currently open by appointment.

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Cleo Collects' stunning antiques are coming to a lush new Subiaco ... - Perth Is OK!