Maria Savva graduated at the age of 22 from Colchester School of Art & Design. During and after her studies, she worked for various leather accessory labels including Rebeldogg and since graduating has worked for fashion designer, Hannah Marshall.
With a niche for leather craft, texture and surface, she is a lover of vintage and adapting garments to exaggerate a vintage and distressed appeal.
Her collections exploit leather to maximise the potential of its random surface and pattern. By using a range of processes, including embossing, laser-cutting, studding, tooling and distressing, Maria has explored and contradicted her ideals. She has designed a range of women’s wear that provides the wearer with strong sense of self as well as conveying a hint of sexuality. The chunky zips, brass popper fastenings and studding recall the era of bikers and the timeless appeal of leather jackets while the natural earth toned colour palette and lighter weight leather interprets that image in a more feminine way. Each garment piece prides itself on being equally unique and maintains great craftmanship.
By combining strong boxy shapes with body conscious lines, emphasising the female form, Maria softens the harsh imagery of leather by attaining a fusion of body and clothing. The collection is designed to be suitable and adaptable for any occasion and many of the leather pieces are adjustable and detachable making the transition between day and nightwear effortless.
Events and coverage have included: Graduate Fashion Week 2007, New Designers 2007, craft magazine 'dress makers' article in sept 2007, fashion156.com article in Feb 2008, and verge showroom exhibition (dates to be announced).
She is in the process of distributing her collection and has designed new additions to her current collection.