Marna Ro: Fashion With Function
Marna Ro is a new, sophisticated yet wearable, contemporary line created for the modern man and woman. The collection, made from premium fabrics, incorporates intricate design details to offer a high-end feel at an affordable price. Created by founders Nasarudin Nasimuddin and his wife, Marion Caunter, the collection takes inspiration from European collections and the couple’s travels abroad.
Los Angeles designer Pegah Anvarian serves as creative director for the brand. Daniel Lee, a former design assistant at Richard Chai and Band of Outsiders, designs the men’s line. The collection launched its women’s line at the recent Coterie in New York, and the men’s line debuted at ENKVegas in February. So far, the line has been picked up by e-tailer Shopbop, Treasure & Bond in New York, Des Kohan in Los Angeles, and international accounts in Tel Aviv and Japan.
The collection is designed to be fashionable as well as functional. Anvarian created the women’s collection with the lifestyle of the busy, on-the-go person in mind. “When I was designing, I was really designing looks—not items. I really thought about where the girl was wearing it—if she could wear it to work,” Anvarian explained. A dress and blazer can be worn for a day at work and, later, the dress by itself for the evening. Pieces range from basic fashion tees and draped jersey dresses to leather jackets, tailored blazers and flared pants. Made from fabrics from Japan, Italy and Portugal, the look is luxe. Details include raw edges, statement trimmings and reverse knitting on sweaters. Darts create edgy design lines on the back of a leather jacket.
Anvarian also adds her signature mixing of fabrics to the collection for a hard and soft look. For instance, a leather bodice is combined with a parachute silk skirt to create a dress, and leather is used on the sleeves of a knit cardigan. A chic black A-line dress has leather details on the shoulders. “I try to put a little leather throughout the collection to tie it in throughout the deliveries. I think those specific pieces make the line stand out,” the designer said.
Wholesales price points range from $39 for tees to $152 for a chiffon feather-print dress to $215 for a sweater with leather detail and $300 for a leather jacket.
The men’s line is made with the same detailed construction, quality fabrics and European design inspiration. It’s designed for the man who cares about how he looks and wants sophisticated yet wearable clothing. To create the collection, Lee utilized his experience in knitwear and tailoring gleaned at Richard Chai and Band of Outsiders and as a designer for R44 Rogan Standard Issue. He focuses on pushing the fashion edge while touching on key trends such as the ever-popular American heritage look.
“I like bringing [the European look] into the American market because it’s so saturated right now with the whole heritage feel that it’s nice to retain a little bit of that but also move it forward,” he explained. Made up of easy yet sophisticated styles such as herringbone blazers, chunky-knit sweaters, and standard and slim-fit pants, pieces can be layered and interchanged with each other. Basic items are upgraded with design details and premium, imported fabrics. For instance, a cotton plaid shirt has a leather placket, raw edges are used for the seams of a sweater, and a baseball jacket is made from a cotton tech fabric from Japan. The classic moto jacket is made from a fine washed lamb leather, and sweaters are made from Merino wool for an upscale look. Wholesale prices are $69 for a plaid work shirt, $85 for a Bedford cord casual pant, $141 for a wool shawl collar pullover and $303 for a leather motorcycle jacket.
For information about the women’s collection, contact Em Productions at (213) 614-9292, and for the men’s collection, call the Kascade Showroom at (213) 612-4509.—N. Jayne Seward
