My Creative Cup of Tea

December 20, 2023

#InPartnershipwithMCCOT

DE MARQUET

Bern

Switzerland

Is our destiny - as many people believe - already written in the stars or do we have the power and the freedom to rewrite the stars and become the heroine or hero of a life story that we have chosen following our own inner voice? Grown up in a loving and supportive Swiss happy family which always had her back, surrounded by culture, Art and creativity, Geneva-born and Bern-based female entrepreneur and founder Raffaella Iten Metzger always had her head amidst the stars. Her parents, and especially her beloved late father, who was a brilliant and sensitive artist and impressionist painter, taught her and her sister to dream big and to believe that nothing was impossible to accomplish in life. So grateful for this positive state of mind that she has inherited from them, Raffaella has proudly and gradually become her own bold heroine. Chasing her personal and professional happiness only listening to her heart. After finishing high school, with no real career's plan in mind, she went to University to study Economics and Business and language. But as an intuitive person who is used to following her instinct first, and more than ever convinced that her true path was elsewhere, feeling no regrets, she quit after only ten days. "I immediately knew that I was out of place" she tells laughing. Very young and with no experience, only a great desire to learn, grow and make her way, she then entered the communication and advertisement field as a consultant in a Bern-based renowned agency which represented multinational companies specialized in the beauty and food industry. As a communicative person, Raffaella really enjoyed this first job and put all her energy into building a successful career, and turned herself from a self-taught communication & PR officer into a skilled multilingual (she speaks Italian, German, French and English) top manager. In 1996, happily married with her teenage sweetheart and soulmate and mum of two little kids, Massimiliano (today 23) and Virginia (21), she was awarded for her hard work and became the manager of Zurich's office. Back in Bern with her family since 2004, in 2009, together with a business partner, she co-founded a costume jewelry brand which unexpectedly became an IT brand. After this first successful experience in the Fashion and accessories industry, Raffaella felt the deep need of getting more involved in this market. After having sold her shares of the company, she wanted to invest her time and her money in a project that she 100% believed in. In 2017, she finally decided she was ready to go solo as an entrepreneur, founder and creative director and launched her own ethically 'Handmade in Italy' niche bag Maison. She called it DE MARQUET to pay a sincere tribute to her roots and family, and especially, to her father's grandmother, Emilia De Marquet who was a Viennese noble woman. This was the perfect way to give this new entrepreneurial project of hers a very special touch and a personal and emotional dimension. The business started small and local with the opening of an office-boutique (today the brand's headquarter) in the heart of Bern, her adoptive city. Then it took off, also thanks to the support of the first DE MARQUET girls . Strong, talented, loyal, powerful, active, multitasking, independent and picky women supporting each other and who fell in love with the avant-garde, versatile and very practical night & day bag and its innovative interchangeable covers. A one-of-a-kind exclusive and timeless super chic bag originally designed to solve a daily personal problem of practicality. As a busy working woman, always on the move between a meeting, a lunch, a dinner or an evening event, Raffaella knew exactly what women expect from a purse and, as a trailblazer, she was able to bring it to the market. Since then, together with her beloved daughter Virginia, who has joined force, a trusty creative and communication team based in Milan and talented and skilled Italian artisans based in Lombardy, Veneto and Tuscany, she is designing and producing collections of premium bags, one of which was named Signature bag due to its elegant monogram. In the most respectful way possible, putting human beings and a modern approach of sustainability first. For Lady DE MARQUET, supporting all the hard work behind the scenes is indeed a priority. As a business woman with strong values such as integrity and generosity, she absolutely wants to make a difference and be proud of the way her bags are produced. That is why she is committed, from day one, to work with passionate artisans and companies which celebrate real craftsmanship. Prices are also strategically attractive for luxury bags: A DE MARQUET bag should be a bag a woman can afford by herself as a well-deserved gift. A reward for her work. A must-have to mix-and-match with her day or night outfit. Open-minded and international-oriented, Raffaella enjoys sharing the creative process with talented artists from all over the world. Next february 2024 a new artistic capsule collection, designed in partnership with a Corean brand, will be revealed. Stay tuned.