Molly and Katherine met at Stanford Business School in September 2000 and became fast friends. During their two years at school, the two co-founded Stanford’s Retail Club with another classmate, worked with faculty to expand the curriculum to include a course on the business of retail, partnered with the school to begin attracting leading retailers to campus for recruiting, and staged the school’s first major fashion show.

Molly and Katherine first conceived of the idea for MARKA while in graduate school. Having logged countless hours of travel with masculine, unwieldy, and impractical laptop bags in their prior jobs, they spotted the need for a fresh, fashionable and functional alternative. Though they shelved the idea initially in order to gain additional work experience, they never lost the “dream.” Still recognizing a void in the marketplace, they resigned from their jobs in 2004 in order to pursue the idea full time.

Molly and Katherine are each a rare mix of “right brain/left brain” skills, with equal loves for both design and business. Molly’s interest in fashion began as a young girl, with weekly allowances devoted to Vogue and Elle subscriptions and books on fashion illustration. As someone who still remembers what she wore on the first day of high school, Katherine shares the same passion for the industry and has served as an impromptu stylist to friends and family members over the years.

Molly’s design skills and extensive experience in strategy development are complemented by Katherine’s years of training in merchandising and eye for color. Together they have developed a line of luxurious, vibrant and comfortable handbags designed to meet the needs of today’s fashion forward, professional woman.