MARIE, TELL US WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOUR JOURNEY WAS LIKE BEFORE YOU LAUNCHED YOUR BRAND?
My name is Marie Martens, and I'm Belgian. I've been living in Paris for almost 20 years, 13 of which have been in Versailles. I'm the creator of the Marie Martens leather goods brand, which bears my name. I launched the brand alone in 2014, during a career change. Today, we're a team. My partner, Valérie Toché, is the general manager and handles the brand's overall management, including leadership, human resources, operations, and financial management. As for me, I focus on the artistic and creative side.
Before launching my brand, I grew up in Belgium and studied political science focusing on international relations. Originally, I thought I'd pursue a career in diplomacy or Belgian/international politics. I worked as a parliamentary assistant and even participated in politics for a few years. At 26, I felt the need to leave everything, including Belgium, and came to Paris to resume my studies in communication. I opted for a master's in Business Communication at ESLSCA, with courses in English, which allowed me to improve my proficiency in the language. Even living in France, I continued to perfect my French.
During my communication studies, I worked in public relations at a small agency, and then, unexpectedly, I landed a position as Marketing Manager at a bank. I managed the commercial and marketing division of Société Générale Corporate and Investment Banking (SGCIB), where I oversaw the Benelux region. This was thanks to the variety of languages I spoke: Dutch, French, and English. I worked on complex financial products, explaining almost rocket-science financial concepts in a simple, popularized way.
Then, I had my first daughter, Juliette, and I was promoted to Head of Communications at Lyxor Asset Management, a subsidiary of the investment bank. I held this position for 5 years, focusing on international communication and brand image. After 5 years, the financial crisis hit, and working in banking became less enjoyable. Although I had exciting opportunities, such as working on brand image, the new website, and organizing the 10th-anniversary Gala evening at the Opéra de Paris, I felt the need for a change. After 7 years in the financial sector, I realized that staying on that path wouldn't allow me to fully thrive. I was lucky to have an understanding boss, passionate about communication and marketing, who gave me a lot of autonomy.
HOW DID THE MARIE MARTENS BRAND COME ABOUT?
I wanted a change, so I decided to launch my own jewelry brand, Marie Moi. It was costume jewelry, colorful and fun, which I made myself. In the early days of Facebook, I organized trade shows myself, and I loved it. But after a year, I realized that the more demand increased, the more intense production became. I quickly grew tired of repetitive manual work; making 100 identical earrings was less appealing to me.
Despite this, I always saw myself evolving in the fashion accessories sector. As a self-taught individual with no training in fashion, management, or design, I've had a creative side since childhood, nurtured by crafts, sewing, and customization. For me, fashion accessories represented an entry point without needing to design clothing silhouettes or manage collections with varied sizes and measurements. Accessories were simpler, and in my opinion, they allowed one to assert their style with a simple touch.
Working in the banking world, where everyone dressed in black or grey, I always added a touch of color for fun, with neon blue bottoms, jewelry, or an unusual handbag. People always noticed my handbag. I realized I could stand out by conveying my desire for fun and colorful details while remaining chic. Being in Paris, I was lucky to have this creative freedom, and supplier trade shows like Première Vision, Salon du Cuir, and Who's Next Première Classe seemed accessible to bring my project to life.
At these supplier trade shows, I spent a lot of time talking to many people, and that's where my project took shape. I wanted to create beautiful, well-made handbags to adorn women and allow them to assert themselves with a touch of daring or color, regardless of their professional environment. That's how I met my manufacturer, with whom I've been working for 10 years now. I launched my first collection in 2014, with 3 bag models. That was the beginning of the Marie Martens adventure. I really wanted to bring my little touch of audacity or extra style that could transform someone's outfit, under the hashtag #nomoreboringbags. A bag can be black, but it must have a pink lining, a neon zip... a touch of fun, you know.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PIECE?
My favorite piece in the current collection is the 9000 camel fanny pack from the Hello Kitty capsule collection. We created this capsule collection in collaboration with Hello Kitty, with an official license from Sanrio.
YOUR LATEST CREATION?
My latest creation is the Smile line. I started with the Smile model, then came the Baby Smile, which for me takes over from the fanny pack because it can be worn like a baguette, but especially cross-body, adapting to the shape of the body. The summer collection will be available soon in February, introducing the Micro Smile, a micro-bag with the same silhouette as the Smile, also cross-body with a short chain.
YOUR TYPICAL DAY?
My typical day doesn't exist, and that's what makes this life as an entrepreneur and creator so great! With our two boutiques, one in Versailles and one in Paris, I spend most of my time in Versailles, in our office where my creative studio is also located, with all the leather samples and materials needed for my creations. Our communication and marketing team and the girls who help me with design are also based in Versailles.
I really don't have a typical day. When I'm immersed in an intense period of creation, I need to isolate myself in my small personal office, equipped with large screens and all my samples, a place where I can let my mess run wild and where I'm the only one who can find things. Otherwise, we're all together in the office, in an open space, where we're constantly exchanging. The girls who create, manufacture, execute... present their ideas, and we brainstorm from morning to night.
My days vary constantly. There are intense periods of creation that can take two and a half months before a new collection is born. Right now, we're in the middle of presentation season. We'll soon be participating in the Who's Next trade show, and I'm there for the stand setup. Sometimes I get help from Jessica Vargas (Witchcraft Studio), the person who also designed the boutique, for the stand design, sometimes not. I'll be there on the first day to meet some clients and contacts, then the sales team will take over.
YOUR BEST MEMORY SO FAR?
The best moment, which is perhaps also the most recent, was the opening of our boutique in the Marais. It was on September 23rd, a very nice opening night where everyone was dressed in pink, even the street opposite was decorated with banners on the park fences. There was a small band playing music, a food truck on the sidewalk, small tables, everything was pink and the street was colored in the same way. It was a really nice evening, and the most striking memory is simply the opening of this boutique. I am very happy with the result and very proud of this boutique.
YOUR UPCOMING PROJECTS FOR MARIE MARTENS?
2023 was an intense year, marked by the launch of many projects. In 2024, far from resting, we will realize these initiatives. With now 4 showrooms representing the brand, our focus is on consolidating and building strong relationships with these showrooms. We are doing everything we can to boost our Marais boutique, by organizing events where we invite other brands or people who want to address their community in a nice place.
This year, we will strengthen our presence in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Our collaboration with Hello Kitty, announced at the end of 2023 to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2024, is at the heart of our projects. The Olympic Games in Paris and Versailles will bring many visitors, requiring a strong presence and commercial animation on the ground.
Among my "crazy" projects for 2024, there is a bullet point on my to-do list: a project in the United States with the boobs. For now, it's not concrete, but I'm waiting for the creative spark to awaken one day. The American women who come to the boutique are crazy about the brand, and that gave me the idea to develop something there.
The opening of the boutique in the Marais in September 2023 was a stroke of luck, an opportunity seized after visiting a leather goods store that was closing. We fell in love with it and opened the boutique on September 23rd. Our roadmap for 2024 is to consolidate everything we built in 2023.
In terms of product development, I'm always working on 2 or 3 new products to come, especially in the boobs collection and the main handbag collection. In 2024, we also want to talk about the brand more boldly, distinguish ourselves more with color, and highlight the know-how of our artisans and suppliers. All our products are made in a short circuit, with carefully selected leathers, but we don't highlight them enough. We want to reassure our customers by further emphasizing the quality of our products.
Find the Marie Martens brand on their e-shop https://marie-martens.com/ and in stores in Paris, at n°6 rue du Parc Royal 75003 Paris and in Versailles, at n°7 rue des Deux Portes (Cour) 78000 Versailles