Markisha Marie opens up about her comeback collection

Markisha Marie is not your typical luxury footwear designer. The Bronx native spent a decade searching for a manufacturer who would take her seriously before finally connecting with an Italian factory that understood her vision. Now, after taking a two-year break to focus on her health and complete her college degree, she’s preparing to launch Diamonds Are Forever, a collection that represents both her resilience and her refusal to dim her creative light. Marie’s designs are bold, glamorous and unapologetically extra, crafted for women who want to make statements rather than blend in.

Did your background as a stylist influence your approach to launching M.Marie?

Absolutely. Before I started my brand, I’ve always been into fashion. My family is very fashionable, I’m very fashionable, so I would just put looks together on my phone, like collages, and over the years I would style my friends. Then they would have other people reach out to me, and I would style those people. Then I got a chance at styling influencers and celebrity clients, and that is what kept me going to start my brand. It just was taking some time. I literally was trying everything, but that did it for me. It’s a big part of my brand. Very big part.

What unique challenges do you face as an independent designer?

I was trying to find a manufacturer for about 10 years. I always knew I wanted to design shoes, and I would consistently search up manufacturers, search up how to do this. I specifically wanted Italy to start off with, because that is the mecca of shoes. You can’t get great shoes if you don’t get them from Italy. So when you are looking in places and you don’t find people like you who can probably point you into the right direction, it’s extremely hard. 

Reaching out to people through email, Instagram, and you’re realizing they’re not responding to you. I have my email read on, so I used to know when people were reading my email and just opening it, and then they’re not responding. To be a Black woman that’s trying to come into something that’s predominantly not our line of work or our field, the constant struggle of just trying to get your foot in the door is crazy.

And then when you get your foot in the door and they see your designs, they feel like you should just be a shoe designer and sketch your designs or sell your designs, because you’ll make more money, and you shouldn’t have a brand. 

So the hardest struggle is that. Being told no because I like crazy designs, that’s a struggle for me. Like, “no, you can’t make that design,” “we can’t do that, that’s too crazy.” Just getting there and getting out there.

Tell us about the Diamonds Are Forever collection. What can we expect?

I had a lot of things going on in life, just overall, so many changes like moving and health and just things life throws at you. I decided to name the collection Diamonds Are Forever because no matter what I go through at any time, I’m one of those people who my confidence is so high, and it’s so high because I have a lot of self-love, and I speak to myself, and I know that no matter what I’m going through, we get over them. 

So I’m like, I’m gonna name this collection Diamonds Are Forever because I’m a diamond in the rough, and nobody can take that from me. I don’t give out my launch dates, but it’s coming really, really soon, like January, February. Everything is so nice. I have a shoe called Wild Side, I have Bezel, I have Baruch. I have so much, and I’m excited for everyone to see, being that they didn’t get to see any designs from me throughout these current years. 

It’s an amazing collection. It’s so glamorous, it’s stones, it’s feathers, it’s ruffles. It speaks to me, and I think that’s what’s most important, because I am very glamorous, extra and crazy and all over, but I’m still very calm, classy and elegant, and I think this collection embodies all of that.

What emotions do you want a woman to feel the moment she puts on a pair of M.Marie heels?

When a woman puts on my shoes, I feel like you gotta be fearless, because I don’t think I make designs for the everyday woman. I make designs for the bold, want to stand out, very open type of girl. When you put my shoes on, I just want you to feel that self confidence, but I want you to feel that self confidence with knowing who you are, and you don’t have to be trendy all the time. It’s okay to step out and wear something crazy.

It’s okay to step out, because to me, I don’t really think things are ugly. If it’s ugly, 9 times out of 10, I want it, because I want to make it different. I’m that type of girl. So I want that confidence.

How has your two-year break to focus on health and higher education impacted your outlook as a designer and CEO?

For me, I feel like we all need breaks. Sometimes we don’t do them when we should, but one thing is our body will tell us when to break, or most importantly, God will tell us when to break. If you don’t take care of you or make sure you have the necessary tools to be able to get up, create, be able to work and do the things you have to do, trust and believe you’re gonna have a pause.

Growing up, I’ve had health issues, I have an illness, and it’s gotten a little worse as I’ve gotten older. For me, the most important thing was finishing school, and I graduate in January. This is one of my biggest goals ever. 

I’ve done everything I wanted to do, and I still have more things coming, but school is something that I would do part time. I started full time, and then I would have to stop because I’m always working and doing things. My goal was to finish, so I have a collection that comes out in May called Bloom, and that’s another collection that embodies self love and me growing, and this flower has naturally bloomed, and it’s a graduation collection. As a CEO and a business owner, I’m a person, and as people, we need to make sure we take care of ourselves. We have to.

Why do you believe it’s so important for Black designers to be visible in the fashion and luxury footwear industries?

Because they need to see who we are. We don’t have to be the placeholders or the people in the background. They gotta see us at the forefront. We have to be seen. When I started my brand, someone told me it would be better if I did not show my face and just have my brand because I would sell more because of my sketches and designs. I used to take pictures but not as much. I used to crop out my face and post my outfits, because that’s what I cared more about. 

When I was told that, it actually put a change on me, but also when my customers started coming to me more and more, they would say, “hey, post yourself more, we want to see your face, we want to see you.” They like to see people that are relatable. My sales skyrocketed when they started seeing me, but most importantly, again, people need to see people. They can be like, I know who this is, or I too can do this. 

As Black people, we need to make sure they see us, we need to make sure we are loud about it, and no one can literally change how I feel about any of that. People will tell you, “you gotta make sure when you’re in these rooms, you…” No! I’m gonna make sure I come as me, because I want people to understand who Markisha Marie is, and I want people to respect me and my brand as a whole.

What impact do you hope your leadership has on the next generation?

Showing up unapologetically you. I feel like I am doing things so the children and the little girls know that “I don’t have to try to be a shoe designer for 10 years if I want to. I see Markisha do it.” My plan and my goal is to make sure I’m opening the doors so they won’t have to go through the hassle that I’ve been through. I hope for longevity, and I plan to be around for a long, long time. 

Outside of just planning to be around, I want to make sure I have the right team and people behind me that’s pushing me. Leadership is just not you. It’s about the people you have around you and the things you’re doing with yourself. My friend group, my tribe, is so amazing, and we all push each other, and I found my people, and that’s important. I have a new PR group, and I feel like they are so helpful, and I can see us going so many places. You gotta be around other leaders to be a leader.

Can you share a pivotal moment or campaign that helped M.Marie reach visibility among celebrities and fashionable tables?

I started my brand, and it was doing okay. I feel like for the first 3 months I didn’t get one sale, but I knew that was gonna happen. I dropped a second pair of shoes, and my shoes are very bold. This shoe had FU pay me on it. That shoe went so crazy. My third pair of shoes came out. It was a reverse cowgirl boot. That did amazing. I started growing it organically, and the best thing about it was I wanted it like that. 

I didn’t have a PR at first. I had people just genuinely coming and building with me, and then I built my cult of my girls who like my brand. Most of my customers are returning customers, they have a lot of shoes. But everything went bananas when I went on Diet Prada. One of my designs was stolen from another brand. That set the tone right there. I sent them the proof, I showed everything, I was posting on their page. 

The amount of celebrities that followed me, the amount of people that followed me, it took it places that I couldn’t imagine. It was like a gift and a curse, because it was so hurtful to see something I worked so hard for be stolen, because I don’t really have the option to wake up and say, “hey, I can put this shoe in motion,” especially then, because I’m self funded. All the hundreds, thousands and all of that comes from my pocket. 

I get up, I go to work and I do what I gotta do. I don’t have the option as a big brand to just have something in the works immediately. I got a PR within 2 weeks that took the brand to another level, so it was that moment that something unfortunate happened, but it turned into a blessing for me, and now I’m here, and I’m still making shoes, and they didn’t stop anything.

What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs, especially Black women looking to break into industries where they’re underrepresented?

I know we always say don’t give up, but it’s important that we continue to say that, because it’s so many times you’re gonna wake up and you’re gonna wanna be like, this isn’t for me, I can’t do it. But you could do it, and it may not be the way you’re trying to do it, but God is gonna make a way. It’s certain things that I wanted, and it was like I can’t get it done this way, but we’re gonna do it another way. 

I’m gonna be completely honest, I never, ever had a moment where I wanted to give up or I said I don’t want to make shoes no more. I just looked for another angle. If plan A didn’t work, we gotta figure out plan B, how to make A work. I did have moments where I would just sit in my bed, though, and I’ll just be like, I know if I had these tools to do these things, this would work out better. So now I gotta make sure I get these tools. 

Just stay consistent, keep posting your work, keep sharing your work, doing exactly what you need to do to make sure your brand is out. I also think that as Black women, we so talented, we could be the jack of all trades, and there’s truly nothing wrong with that. I will say, though, find one thing, get that out there and build from that, because sometimes we try to have our hands in so many things, we get caught up, and then we get overwhelmed. And that’s where we make ourselves a little tired. So get that one thing and sell that one thing, and then it opens the door for everything else.

How do you see the future of luxury evolving, and what role do you want M.Marie to play in that transformation?

I am the future of luxury. The queen is here to stay. I have to shout out some other Black shoe designers. Nicolette Nichelle, that’s my girl, she’s from Texas. Please shop with her. It’s so many other Black footwear designers that so many people don’t know about, and they are trying, and they are consistent, and they are showing up. 

I just want to make sure, moving forward, I place myself at the forefront, and I’m showing up to these events, and I’m going to these places, and my name is being spoken about in rooms that I’m not even in, because if I can continue to do that, I know that I’ll be around for a very long time.

I know we are so supportive of one another, and a lot of times we try to support each other in ways where we possibly can. When you’re having these fashion shows and you’re having these things going, go get Black shoe designers. Use us. We can use it, because that way we build together, and we make sure we all stay apart.

Where can we find M.Marie and connect with you?

My website is www.bymmarie.com. It’s currently being updated with new products. My personal Instagram is @bymarkishamarie, and my business Instagram is @mmariebymarkishamarie. My Twitter is @bymmarie. My shoes are only on my website at the moment. Diamonds Are Forever collection launches next year at bymmarie.com, so please go check it out. Stalk my website, stalk my page, because you gotta see what’s going on.