We caught up with Russian-born, London-educated designer Marina Makaron while she was on vacation in Italy, a brief visit to celebrate, she says, her mother's birthday. Makaron seems to be comfortable in any country and it shows in her designs and growing company. If any businessperson defines our new global economy and worldview, its Makaron whose lovely printed scarves and other accessories can be found in boutiques in the U.S. and Russia.
Makaron recently spoke to us about how the collapse of the Soviet Union affected her family; her decision to leave high finance to pursue her passion for design; the creative impulse behind her painterly, brightly colored scarves and the fashion industry giant she plans to model her company after. Read all about Marina below and find out why it may be a good idea to buy one of her scarves now before they reach Hermes-esque proportions.
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Spreadsheets
I was little I always wanted to be a designer but my family wanted me to get a real job,” jokes fashion designer Marina Makaron talking to us from Italy where her family has gathered to celebrate her mother’s birthday. Following her passion, however, has paid off for the burgeoning designer who today is on the verge of breaking out big with two silk scarf accessories collections – Silk Fantasy and Vintage Chiffon - that are being carried in five boutiques in the Philadelphia area and four boutiques in Moscow. Not bad for a designer who struck out on her own just two years ago after deciding she loved the colors associated with formulating her analyst spreadsheets more than crunching numbers.
One can understand why Makaron decided to pursue a career in business first, however. Education has always been important to Makaron’s parents, who in the midst of the collapse of the Soviet Union, whisked their children out of Moscow believing they would be better educated overseas. Makaron, who graduated from Philadelphia’s Drexel University at 20 and then got post-graduate degrees from the prestigious London School of Economics and the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, always had a head for business but her heart was in design.
Huts on chicken legs
Her line of colorful silk scarves weave together Russian culture, folklore, and fantasy. Although she’s lived in London, Paris and Philadelphia, Makaron says it was her native country that influenced the core imprints of her whimsical scarves. “So many big cities look very similar because of international global brands,” notes Makaron, “but there is so much beauty in Russian village life. Even that is fading away, however, and I wanted to maintain it somehow.”
Her inspirations are the folkloric images that define much of the architecture and art of the villages – woven shoes, huts on chicken legs - but one can also see that Moscow’s Red Square with its can’t-miss-it-from-a-distance golden church spires and turrets and red, green, blue and yellow painted buildings have definitely influenced her work as well. “There’s more to Moscow than snow and vodka.” As for future plans? "I want to be as big as Prada one day. Instantly recognizable. When you see a scarf, I want someone to say, Oh that's a Marina Makaron." Visit www.marinamakaronmoscow.com to learn how you can purchase a scarf from one of the new collections.
