We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Marie De la Roche. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Marie below.

Marie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. The first dollar your business earns is always special and we’d love to hear how your brand made its first dollar of revenue.

Well, when I started the brand, Instagram was picking up

Nowadays its crazy to even consider doing a business without it, but back then it was the wild west, it was all photos with cocktails, strange filters and even stranger poses, it was all good fun and many were learning to use it

I didn’t have a personal one (nor do I today) but friends who own a marketing firm advised me to share the brand on IG, and while at it I found this dapper gentleman that was probably one of the most stylish men I have ever come across.
He was the buyer for what would be our first retailer, one of the most well known historical luxury department stores.

So i became a super fan of his style, and one day I worked up the courage to go to the store and see if I could run into him and introduce the brand. And thats what i did, im very shy but i felt if I dont push the brand and myself out of my comfort zone no one will so lets do it!

I entered the store, ran into him a few minutes in and started a conversation with hey i follow you on instagram, he was super nice and i asked him if i could show him our work. He said no promises but i like what you do, ill help you get a meeting with the department buying team and see if they like you.

Not only did the store become our first client, but they supported me unconditionally and went above and beyond to push me as an emerging designer.

Im so happy i decided to walk boldly that day, and from them on I haven’t shied away from stepping out in courage and try, worst thing that we can hear is a NO.

Marie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Marie and i’m the creative director of the brand Marie De la Roche.

We focus on building beautiful handcrafted bags in Europe while being conscious of the opportunity we have as a fashion platform and using it to create positive social and sustainable impact.

Our pieces are made in Portugal using heritage techniques and made by hand by very passionate artisans; single mothers and heads of family utilizing premium Italian materials.

We aim to provide in every collection pieces that embody our latin spirit, combined with excellent craftsmanship. Pieces that set trends rather than follow them, that make you feel empowered and bold whenever you step into the world.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

A great opportunity for us has been trunk shows, we have been very blessed to be able to do them as tests for new stores we enter as well as in private spaces and/or as collaborations with other brands.

Whenever we have done this type of events, its a beautiful opportunity to not only connect in person with clients who have purchased online or offline in that area, but also meet their friends and new people that join the experience as we get to share the inspiration behind our classic as well as new pieces, as well as getting to know them better and know why they chose to purchase an MDLR bag.

Its my favorite thing to do and helps us shape the MDLR woman as she evolves.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Our brand is a dream i had many years ago, and so every time we welcome a new team member I want to make sure that they understand our brand culture which is based on empathy, excellence and out of the box creativity.

Our brand is ours as it doesn’t move forward without all its working pieces, so i’m very lucky that every single member loves the brand as their own and have the same values that we started with which are based on how we can make a difference from beginning to end of our production processes, how we treat people as well as the brand social impact projects.

Contact Info:

• Website: mariedelaroche.com
• Instagram: marie.delaroche
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/homemariedelaroche/
• Linkedin: https://sg.linkedin.com/in/marie-de-la-roche-739397132