We were lucky to catch up with Mascha Lina Borodin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Mascha Lina, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

In her early years, the native Salzburger Mascha Lina Borodin founded her own label and quickly gained recognition in the jewelry industry with her luxurious designs under the synonym Maschalina. What began with personalized creations for friends and acquaintances evolved into a well-known brand for exclusive jewelry. The collaboration with the renowned jeweler Valenta expanded the horizon of the young designer on a professional level. In a joint gemstone collection, she could unleash her potential and acquire a lot of technical knowledge. Another significant experience in her career was the collaboration at the Chanel “Métiers d’Art” Fashion Show in Salzburg. In the backstage organization, she got to know the professionalism of the industry up close through Karl Lagerfeld and the Chanel team. The designer also worked in the backstage organization at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Berlin and the MQ Vienna Fashion Week, interacting with emerging designers such as Annelie Schubert or Marina Hörmanseder, gathering valuable experiences for her business. The development of the collections incorporates inspiring elements such as architectural details and cultural focal points of visited cities, as well as the color interplay of nature. The Maschalina style is characterized by emphasizing feminine individuality.

Mascha Lina, 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?

From the very beginning, it was important to us to have our jewelry produced regionally, in contrast to large jewelry companies. That is why we have been cooperating with various social workplaces in Austria from the very beginning. This not only enables us to maintain personal and warm-hearted contact with our seamstresses and the production facilities, but also to support social groups that have a hard time on the labor market. Regional production and inclusion of minorities in the labor market correspond to our ideas of responsible production.

Female empowerment is MASCHALINA’s motto. As a female founder, it is particularly important to designer Mascha Lina Borodin to empower women*! With MASCHALINA statement jewelry, we want to emphasize the uniqueness of every woman* individually! Our motivation is to do justice to the diversity of people who identify as women* through our wide range of jewelry. We also want to emphasize the individual beauty of every woman*.

Through charity events, MASCHALINA also supports organizations such as Frauen* beraten Frauen*, which fight violence against women* and offer protection to victims. The designer is also keen to get more women* into management positions and support them in the job market. The entire MASCHALINA team is made up of very special personalities who all identify as women*.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

Handicrafts have been one of my great passions from an early age. What began as handicrafts in the children’s room became the successful Austrian jewelry company MASCHALINA years later. When I started making earrings, I simply wanted to design pieces of jewelry that looked unique but by no means homemade. High quality gemstones and pearls have always been very important to me from the very beginning. As more and more friends and acquaintances wanted to buy my pieces in 2012, I decided to become self-employed at the age of 20 and founded my company Maschalina.

I am a young, passionate entrepreneur who has successfully built up an international company from scratch. Unfortunately, you occasionally come across people who can’t understand something like this in their world view and are therefore puzzled by it.

In 2014, I was acquired for a collaboration with Chanel under the creative direction of Karl Lagerfeld. At Schloss Leopoldskron in Salzburg, I organized backstage operations for the Chanel Métiers d’Art fashion show and coordinated the photo shoots for the collection for Vogue on location.

I gained further experience in casting and fashion shows at both Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin and MQ Vienna Fashion Week in 2015.

A short time later, I presented my statement earrings made of Swarovski pearls and semi-precious stones at Milan Fashion Week. The Artistar Jewels by Vogue Accessory exhibition presented my designs. Alongside 140 other international jewelry designers, the MASCHALINA jewelry pieces were also published in a book.

Women* from politics and business to international celebrities and bloggers now wear the sophisticated handmade MASCHALINA earrings. At the 2019 Oscars in Hollywood, Anna Ermakova wore a MASCHALINA couture design created especially for her using expensive gemstones.

Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?

[Vienna, November 2023] – MASCHALINA, the name that has stood for handmade statement jewelry and timeless elegance for over ten years now, is pleased to announce an exciting partnership with Marionnaud! From now on, 65 unique MASCHALINA jewelry designs will be available in 31 Marionnaud stores across Austria, including classic ML bestsellers as well as a jewelry line designed exclusively for Marionnaud.

The collaboration with Marionnaud fills us with pride and anticipation as we can now bring our fashion jewelry creations to new jewelry lovers across Austria. We are looking forward to presenting our unique designs in selected Marionnaud perfumery stores. The collaboration is a great opportunity for us to celebrate and share our love for jewelry design and our company philosophy. It embodies our belief that true beauty lies in attention to detail, self-empowerment and individuality.

At an exclusive opening event in Vienna, jewelry designer Mascha Lina Borodin welcomed a very special guest: Malina Ngai, CEO of the A.S. Watson Group (Asia & Europe), the world’s largest sales group within the beauty industry, took a personal look at the MASCHALINA jewelry pieces selected for Marionnaud!

Malina Ngai, CEO of the A.S. Watson Group since 2019, has established herself as an outstanding leader. She studied in England and Ireland, among other countries, and has been with the globally recognized company for many years. Under Malina’s leadership, the Watson Group places particular emphasis on diversity and inclusion. Her commitment to female empowerment extends both on an internal, organizational level and to empowering women, the main target group of the beauty industry, to feel confident and positive and thus strengthen their self-confidence. The meeting between Malina Ngai and Mascha Lina Borodin was not only a brilliant event in itself, but also a celebration of the success of women* in business. It highlights the inspiring story of two women pursuing their dreams through hard work and redefining the fashion and beauty world in their own individual ways. At a time when equality and diversity are becoming so important, encounters like this are an encouraging sign for the next generation of women* taking their place in the business world.

Whether you are looking for the perfect accessory for a special occasion or simply want to pamper yourself, the collaboration between MASCHALINA and Marionnaud offers you the opportunity to experience unique beauty and elegance.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://maschalina.com/collections/statement-ohrringe
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maschalinadesigns/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maschalinadesigns
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/maschalina/

Image Credits
all photos belong to ©maschalinadesigns