Making the Impossible Possible. Carla Sobrini on Acierta’s Approach.

Shop Drop Daily
Sep 14
3 min read

When it comes to delivering world-class brand environments, few agencies balance creativity and precision quite like Acierta. With studios in London, Paris, and Valencia, the design and production house has spent nearly two decades shaping extraordinary retail, event, and hospitality experiences for clients including Burberry, Loewe, Selfridges, and Farm Rio. At the helm is Carla Sobrini, one of Acierta's Managing Directors, whose leadership has helped them build a reputation for fearless problem-solving, artisanal craft, and seamless global execution. In this interview, Carla shares how the team thrives under pressure, why craftsmanship and detail remain central to their DNA, and what excites her most about the evolving future of experiential retail.

Carla Sobrini, one of the Managing Directors at Acierta, running the London and New York studios.

SDD: Carla, Acierta has built an incredible global reputation for seamlessly blending creativity with production expertise. How did the studio’s multidisciplinary approach come to life, and what do you think makes Acierta’s process so unique in this space?

CS: At Acierta, we simply do things differently. We do. We learn. We grow. We do better.

We’re a high-performance team of professionals who are also genuinely great people—passionate about what we do. With that combination, it is hard to go wrong.

We rarely will say no to any proposal as we are enablers at our core, and we love a challenge.

Dior Window Display

SDD: With clients like Burberry, Loewe, and Farm Rio, your work ranges from beautifully crafted flagship moments to highly technical retail installations. How do you approach a project where innovation, precision, and storytelling all need to align?

CS: We start by listening, truly listening, to our clients. From there, it’s about staying flexible, embracing change, and being open to innovation. We put huge effort into adapting to ever-changing briefs and challenges. In our world, projects don’t run on weeks or months, they evolve hour by hour.

Every minute counts, and making the right decision at the right time is what makes a project succeed.

Loewe / Farm Rio / Coach / Hermes

SDD: Acierta isn’t just about ideas, you manage the full journey, from design to logistics to global installs. How do you keep that creative spark alive while also navigating the realities of large-scale production and international delivery?

CS: This is the magic of our work. It’s not the complexity of the project, it’s the circumstances in which they are conceived, planned, and brought to life.Sometimes it’s an orchestrated team of 90 people working from concept to completion, and every link in that chain is critical.

Creativity doesn’t stop at the idea, it’s woven through every decision, every problem to solve, every last-minute change. That’s what keeps the spark alive.

Not everyone is built to perform under these circumstances let alone to like this, but we do, we love it.

Jacquemus x Nike Pop-Up

SDD: Craft and materiality seem to play a big role in your projects, and your network of artisans is clearly a huge asset. Why is that level of detail and material integrity so important to the work you do, especially in a fast-moving retail world?

CS: Craftsmanship and artisanal production have always been part of Acierta’s DNA.

We value attention to detail, innovative material use, and the ability to bring local knowledge into the global retail arena.

Our clients’ vision has pushed us to evolve, and we’ve strengthened this side of the business by growing our in-house craft capabilities. This ensures we maintain quality and creativity, no matter how fast the retail world moves.

Bottega Veneta / Dior / Skims / Dior

SDD: Looking ahead, what excites you most about where experiential retail and brand environments are heading? Are there any creative or technical shifts you're particularly energised by as Acierta evolves with the industry?

CS: What excites us more is always the uncertainty of what is to come! We have been working on internal strategies and re-structures to be better, faster and more sustainable. Whilst also planning a WW agency development, growing our vision and teams by expanding into new geographies.

We’re soon launching Acierta Objectes, our own line of products, to take our expertise and craft beyond client briefs.

Yes, we’re in uncertain times for the high-end retail world, but that’s exactly what makes it interesting. Change shakes things up, opens doors, and forces us to imagine differently.