Featured Maker // Maragold Designs
Julianna Cassata
Maragold Designs
Julianna designs and creates everyday luxury accessories from leather and Burel wool. She uses both a traditional hand-stitching technique, called saddle stitching, and her sewing machine to make each piece to-order from her small home studio in London.
Originally from Boston, MA, Julianna is now based in the UK and feels very happily at home in London, especially with the creative communities.
Julianna became a designer after a career in digital marketing in which she felt discontented and unfulfilled. To get back in touch with herself meant reconnecting with her creativity. Soon after leaving her job in 2018, Maragold Designs was conceptualised from a trail of breadcrumbs she’d left herself years prior!
It started as Julianna was clearing out an old computer and came across a business plan for a leather goods brand that she’d written while studying in Florence, Italy in 2012. Julianna thought nothing of it in the moment but a couple of weeks later, unable to sleep in the early hours of the morning, she had a lightbulb moment and something clicked.
She immediately got to work researching everything there was to know about leather - the history, how to work with it and what tools she needed, how it’s made, where to find the best quality and how to construct bags and wallets.
Her research brought her to a wallet-making workshop with a local leatherworker and to Lineapelle New York, a prominent international exhibition in the leather industry. Both experiences furthered her excitement so she got to work teaching herself how to hand-stitch leather, asked her Mum for sewing lessons on the machine she’d had since she was 13, and began creating the first Maragold styles: the Clutch Wallet, Geometric Card Holder and Tassel Keyring.
Here Julianna tells us a little more about her career path, her inspirations and her latest collection.
What do you make and what materials do you use?
I make everyday luxury accessories including tote bags, wallets and card holders, clutches and keyrings. All of my leather pieces are hand-stitched whereas I use my sewing machine on the wool styles. I love the texture created from the combination of materials and stitching techniques and really do enjoy both types of sewing.
Every piece is made-to-order or handcrafted in small batches in keeping with slow fashion practices that limit waste and overproduction. Using high quality materials is a priority for me; when you buy better, you consume less and more intentionally because things just last longer.
A majority of my leather is vegetable tanned and is a by-product of the food industry, produced in a family-run tannery in Tuscany. It’s deliciously supple and a dream to work with! Vegetable tanning uses natural substances from trees and plants (no chemicals) and is the oldest method of leather production in use today, dating back to around 6000 B.C. This is the type of leather that gets better with age as it develops a beautiful patina unique to the wearer.
Burel wool distinguishes my pieces and comes from a small, recently revived factory that went bankrupt in the 1960’s due to the rise of synthetic materials. The burel is made on original looms with patterns from the 19th century in order to preserve traditional techniques. I love not only the gorgeous texture of Burel but the story behind it and everything that the factory stands for in it’s respect for nature and the indigenous sheep, zero-waste policy, preservation of an ancestral craft and revival of the local village through the creation of jobs.
Tell us about your inspirations.
I’m very much influenced by my surroundings and places I’ve visited. I always find myself taking mental notes of what’s around me like textures, patterns, colours, shapes and the way a place makes me feel. I’m drawn to the way that even the smallest details can make a big impact and really elevate the design and balance out a piece. There is so much goodness in the small things!
Tell us about your latest collection.
My current collection is inspired by the endless golden hour, pastel-accented villages, sun drenched countryside and lively markets of Provence, France. The collection features soft and neutral pieces with a pop of whimsy just like you’d find wandering the villages of Provence.
“I’m drawn to the way that even the smallest details can make a big impact and really elevate the design and balance out a piece. There is so much goodness in the small things!”
Are there new ideas or collections you’ve been working on during lockdown?
During lockdown, I released the snake-print collection using an embossed blue and white snake print leather that I’d had on hand and felt inspired by. It’s playful, bright and happy. I paired it with denim-coloured wool and taupe vegetable tanned leather accent so it has a bit of a summer seaside feel to it, too.
Expanding upon the idea of pieces to accompany, elevate and simplify your everyday, lockdown has also inspired and challenged me to think beyond wearable accessories and bags. I’m currently working on some leather and wool ideas for the home!
I’m also releasing a sunglasses sleeve on 11th May, just in time for summer! I’ve had this idea for a long time and am excited to finally give it life. Burel protects against scratching and is very durable so will keep your sunnies safe and scratch-free.
What inspires your design process?
My design process is very much inspired by handling the materials and thinking through how I can deliver value to someone’s everyday life in a way that is unique to Maragold. I tend to suss out ideas for a long time in my head before moving to the workbench. Working with leather is challenging and takes a lot of forethought because once you cut or punch a hole for sewing, you can’t go back.
I tend to skip the step of sketching everything out ahead of time because I work best by diving right in and figuring it out as I go. I’ll keep my sketchbook close by as I work though, noting down things that did/didn’t work until I land on the final design.
Do you have a favourite colour or colour palette you like to work with?
I love neutrals and soft, natural tones accented with a pop of colour. A great example of this is the confetti Burel. Every time I look at it my heart skips a beat - it’s a rich, creamy wool with colourful speckles throughout. It pairs beautifully with the taupe leather for a sophisticated yet playful look.
What do you find most enjoyable about running your own creative business?
It’s the culmination of so many of my interests and the possibilities feel endless and exciting! I love dreaming up ideas, bringing them to life with my own two hands and then seeing them incorporated into my customer’s everyday.
I love getting lost in the making where I’m able to truly be in the moment. I also enjoy being able to call upon my background in digital marketing for the more analytical parts of my business behind the scenes. Designing and sewing require as much creativity as they do lots of calculations to figure out measurements, construction, etc. and I enjoy both sides of that.
Vistit Maragold Design’s website: maragolddesigns.com
Follow her on Instagram: @maragolddesigns
