We were lucky to catch up with Odile Corso recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Odile, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

My mother was a wardrobe costumer in the motion picture industry, and my aunt was a fashion design teacher at Los Angeles Trade Tech., which had a great influence on me when I was young. My sister and I loved dressing up and creating costumes and putting together little shows with our friends for my mother. I was around 10 years old when I decided I wanted a career in fashion and the arts.

Odile, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

MarVia Square started rather organically. After my stepfather passed away and my mother retired from the motion picture industry, she felt a void of creative emptiness. Nearly 40 years of being one of the greatest costumers every film & television designer wanted to have on their team, to having to adjust to much more time on her hands, while having a deep desire to create. Knitting and crocheting have been incredibly therapeutic for my mother while coping with the loss of her husband and sister, as well as satisfying her creative needs. My mother has quite a collection of yarns, vintage embellishments, including lucite (handbag) handles, and decided to create some crochet bags. She never imagined they would become such a success.
I have met many more women like my mother, who also have creative outlets to help with their stress, anxiety, and depression. Several of them had discovered hidden talents they weren’t even aware they had, and some simply loved to create to help support their charity foundations. A community of creative women began to form. With my background in marketing from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising and nearly 40 years of modeling around the world in the fashion industry, I created a platform to showcase these amazing, talented women and their creations. The name, ‘MarVia’, I created with my two daughters’ names: Marlena and Olivia, mashed together. They, too, have been an integral part in this beautiful endeavor, which, now, going into our second year, continues to thrive and inspire.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

In our community, we have people supporting our artists and artisans by donating the materials they need for their art or craft. For example, a woman I met at the gym mentioned her mother-in-law had passed and that she had a large container of vintage buttons. She asked if they could be of use to my mother, who crochets the handbags on MarVia Square. My mother was so happy to repurpose the buttons as embellishments and closures for her vintage-style bags.
All our artisans work sustainably, as well as support and inspire each other with new and innovative advancements to enhance our creative ecosystem.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me, the most rewarding aspect of being a creative, is seeing the joy and purpose my platform has brought to so many women… and children. Our youngest artisan is 15 and our oldest is 85.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://marviasquare.com
• Instagram: mvsartisans
• Facebook: marviasquare
• Youtube: MarVia Square
• Other: TikTok – marviasquare