Georgia Dant

The Coven is a regular content series profiling interesting, fun, intelligent women who Lucy admires and respects for myriad reasons. The Coven allows them to speak about their projects, their work, their passions; it also allows them to speak about their friends - their own Coven of women and in turn to offer those women a name, a voice, in a room of opportunity.

We kick off this inspirational series with Georgia Dant, Founder of the functional outerwear brand, Marfa Stance.

 

LD: To say I’m a fan of Georgia and her brand Marfa Stance is an understatement. Not only is she an amazing designer and creative but she has such generosity of spirit and is fully representative of the sort of woman I am lucky enough to have in my Coven. In the short space of time we have known each other she has been incredibly supportive of me, inviting me to join her at her trunk shows, wearing my jewellery and shouting my name in a room full of opportunity. Georgia has an infectious, fun spirit and she’s super inspirational to spend time with. I’m so thrilled to introduce her as part of this series.

Georgia, please tell us about your background and the moments that lead you to founding your brand, Marfa Stance.

GD: I had worked for about 15 years in the fashion industry as a designer living in both London and New York. In my latter years in the US I was constantly travelling across climates and environments and I was frustrated that I couldn’t find women’s clothing that combined both the style and function I needed for my trips.

I had the equally frustrating problem of packing too many items to accommodate different weather patterns and to satisfy attending a number of difference occasions - particularly on long trips. I was mid-air on one of my long haul flights when I came up with the idea to create a garment that could be adapted, reversed, converted and built to suit endless needs - both for function and style. I also started playing with the idea of personalisation within this concept through attachments - collars, hoods, sleeves etc and wanted to enable a playful and expressive element to the idea. One which would enable endless updates to a garment allowing it to continuously refresh and therefore allowed me (and others like me) to pack less.

The idea of renewability and creating a brand with social and environmental responsibility has always been important to me. In 2016 I took a trip to Marfa, Texas - I stood in Donald Judd’s architecture studio and studied a desk which had an understated, reductive and geometric aesthetic but with a multifunctional and intelligent design to efficiently use storage. At that moment I really visualised the products I wanted to launch the brand with. The word MARFA represents to me creativity and community - I added the STANCE to it to symbolise the values of social and environmental responsibility which are integral to our story.

Tell us all about what’s coming up this year - what are you excited about?

GD: We have so many exciting things still to come this year. New collaborations, a potential store opening, our global pop-up calendar continues to grow and of course so beautiful new Marfa Stance additions coming very soon.

Can you share some key learnings from your recent years in business?

GD: It sounds like a cliché but always trust your instinct and stay true to your original vision and mission. Don’t be distracted by what others are doing or compare yourself to other businesses. As a founder you know what you want, you might not always know how to do it and this is where you need to build a team who can help you do that whilst sharing the same laser focused vision with you. Accept and be ok with failure - once you accept this then you are free to try, test and be open to opportunities.

What are the peaks and the troughs of running your own business?

GD: Peaks and troughs co-exist in equal measure and occur simultaneously when running your own business. In the early years it feels like there is no equilibrium, the only constant is change and there is always this feeling of duality 0- fear and relief, success and failure, progress and obstacles, problems and solutions but this is what makes the journey so all encompassing, thrilling and dynamic.

"I want the Coven is a celebration of the relationships that define us - it’s a chance for us to highlight and to thank our crew that have been there for the personal and the professional moments. It’s also a way for us to support those to have supported us along the way. Can you tell me about the friends, mentors, colleagues, other founders that you’d like to share. What is it that they are doing that’s exciting or different. How have they helped you along the way? What was the advice they gave you? What are they doing that you want to “shout their name in a room full of opportunities” 

1. Teresa Tarmey - The Queen of skin!  Not only is she an expert leader in her field (and has the best products and facials in town), but she is also the most genuine, generous and supportive person.  She always has time to help, collaborate, listen and give advice.  She is a true supporter of women.
2. Georgina Cohen - a huge supporter, ambassador and champion of Marfa Stance.  She is an incredible connector of women and I’m so grateful for the instrumental introductions she has made, bringing us into her network and helping to propel Marfa Stance onto bigger things!
   
   
3. June Sarpong - I was so grateful to meet June earlier this year (an example of Georgina’s kind connections!). She is a wonderfully warm person, such fun company and a powerful trailblazer. I’m inspired by her female force and I’m constantly learning from her as a lading campaigner for diversity and inclusion issues.
4. Cathy Kasterine - I have been collaborating with Cathy (fashion editor at Large, Harpers Bazaar) on shoots now for around a yar.  We really align on our creative vision; I trust her implicitly.  It’s such a pleasure to work with her and she’s been key to introducing many of our Marfa Muses and taking our shoots to the next level.
5. Eiesha Bharti Pasricha - Eiesha has been another huge supporter of Marfa Stance over the years and endlessly generous.  She kindly hosted our Marfa Muses for an incredible trip to Gleneagles earlier this year.  She is an inspiration with her hospitality ventures, her amazing design and the experiences she has created as Gleneagles, Gleneagles Townhouse, Maison Estelle and the new Estelle Manor coming soon.  We are excited for continued partnerships later in the year.
6. Adam Brown - Adam is the founder of Orlebar Brown and was my first mentor.  He gave me the best piece of advice when I launched Marfa Stance - he told me that I should no longer think of myself as a designer but a sales associate, marketing expert, event planner, finance expert and an operations manager.

How does it feel when you’re with your Coven?

 

How does jewellery make you feel?  Can you talk us through why you were drawn to the pieces you wore?

GD: Jewellery is very personal and expressive; when it has both sentimental and symbolic value it makes each piece feel intentional and individual.  I like to wear a few statement but simple pieces of jewellery and I am always drawn to yellow gold and green stones (to match my green jackets!).  Jackets and jewels are my obsessions and I love that you can customise and layer Lucy Delius jewellery like Marfa Stance outerwear so that your pieces feel unique to you.

I wear the Signature Trombone link chain with black rhodium Diamond Connection and Emerald Pocket Watch Pendant layered with the Twisted link chain and white rhodium Diamond Connection.  I love the mixed metal feel.  I also wear the black rhodium Chubby Huggies with the yellow gold Twisted Rope Huggies.