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Mariel Manuel

Creative Design Consultant / Concept & Design by Making. Founder of Mariel Manuel, an independent brand of travel-inspired handcrafted pieces
Portfolio website
About

Fashion design & consulting. Concept & Design, by Making With more than ten years working in design studios alongside creative directors, I have expertise in a wide range of products, from chainmail, to flou to jersey, swimwear, leather and experimental textile development. I work with brands and creative directors directly materializing concepts and ideas I to prototypes. I have been making and selling one of a kind pieces under my own label since 2019. I have worked in India, developing innovative and artistic embroideries and textiles with craftspeople across India. I work with an extended network of local artisans. I have led and lead workshops at Head Geneve, Raffles Milan, Academy of design Colombo, IICD I Dian institute of Craft and Design Jaipur. Most of my work is around sustainable solutions and being creative with less. That’s the most creative challenge!

Previous Brands
1017 ALYX 9SM
BALENCIAGA
Close Up Films
Coperni
Design
Grand Théâtre de Genève
Haider Ackermann
KOCHÉ
Meryll Rogge
Paco Rabanne
Première Vision
Pro Helvetia New Delhi - Swiss Arts Council
Work Experience
Design consultant
Sep ‘22 - Mar ‘23
Paco Rabanne

Design Consultant on the summer capsule, pre collection and ready to wear. Design for jersey and flou mainly.

Costume design and art direction
Dec ‘21 - Feb ‘23
Grand Théâtre de Genève

Costume design and art direction on stage accessories for Monteverdi’s opéra Il ritorno d Ulisse in patria, premiered at Grand theatre de Geneve feb. 2023. Directed by Venice silver Lion winners FC Bergman.

Oct ‘21 - Dec ‘21
Design

Freelancer
May ‘21 - Jun ‘21
Meryll Rogge

Concept and design on a graphic flou group of asymmetric dresses with lace inserts

Creative Design consultant
Apr ‘21 - Jun ‘21
Coperni

Concept and design for flou and rose draped jersey pieces

Design Consultant
Mar ‘21 - Jun ‘21
KOCHÉ

Concept and design for runway, creation of key image volumes and drapes.

Costume design
Mar ‘20 - Jun ‘21
Close Up Films

Costume design for award winning movie FOUDRE by swiss director Carmen Jaquier. 1900 era costumes of a family living in remote mountain region of Switzerland. Selected to represent Switzerland at the 2024 Oscars.

Trend forecasting
Mar ‘20 - May ‘20
Première Vision

illustration and trend forecasting for Premiere Vision website. Definition of trends and textile illustration for key season silhouettes

Artist in residence
Nov ‘19 - Jan ‘20
Pro Helvetia New Delhi - Swiss Arts Council

3 months Artist in residence with the Swiss Arts council of New Delhi, India. Tutoring, workshops and conferences for fashion students in Bangalore, Jaipur and Colombo Sri Lanka. Meeting a wide range of local fashion designers and craftspeople across the country.

Design consultant ,F/W 2022
Aug ‘19 - Sep ‘19
Paco Rabanne

Creative Design consutlant on S20 WRTW collection
Sep ‘18 - Apr ‘19
Haider Ackermann

Creation of concept and prototypes for a theme of jersey plissé dresses for runway

Creative Design consultant on
Jul ‘18 - Sep ‘19
1017 ALYX 9SM

Concept and design: setting up the womenswear image and derived commercial products. Working with the design and June 2010: MoMU award, Mode Museum Antwerp. development team in Italy. June 2010: Coccodrillo award, for the best shoe design

Senior WRTW designer
Nov ‘13 - Jul ‘17
Paco Rabanne

Creative design research and direct materialization of ideas in 3D. 2016: L'Officiel Suisse: «Poesie am Kleiderbügel» July 2016: Novembre, issue 10. 10 page illustrations centrefold

Oct ‘10 - Nov ‘13
BALENCIAGA

Assistant designer
Sep ‘10 - Mar ‘14
BALENCIAGA

Under Nicolas Ghesquière and later Alexander Wang, assistant to the experimental pieces designer. Mostly making experimental projects and leather pieces for runway. Additional sketching and developing of commercial show collection on leather products.

Languages
English - Native
Tamil - Basic
Italian - Fluent
Dutch - Fluent
German - Work Proficiency
French - Native
Education & Training
Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts
‘09 - ‘10
MA
MA
Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts
‘06 - ‘09
Bachelor
BA
Geneva School of Applied Arts
‘05 - ‘06
Foundation
course in fashion design,
Lausanne, Switzerland