I spent the last two decades working side by side with the most talented creatives in the industry, first as an editor at Conde Nast and later as VP Fashion Director at Barney's. I recently opened my own shoe brand, Larroudé.

Marina wears the Kiara Caftan

From my personal experience not only as a client, but working at Barney's and listening to clients on the shoe floor. They would fall in love with the most emotional colorful fashion shoe, but would say: “I’ll buy the black one, so I can justify the price.” So we created Larroudé based on that, to give woman what they want, high quality fashion shoes but at a price that won’t break the bank. 

I’ve been working in the fashion industry for over two decades and I’ve seen too many inefficiencies (in the industry). There are too many layers and agents between the factories and the client that affects final price. At Larroudé, we work directly with the factory, saving a lot layers that result in the final price to the customer.

I don’t take a minute for granted that I’m able to work with the most talented creatives in the world. I have been able to work side by side with so many legends. Working in fashion in NYC has been beyond a dream come true.

Follow along on Instagram, @larroude

Seriously, I don’t know how Ricardo (my husband) thought of it. He’s always been quite creative and forward thinking. During the pandemic, he saw how ubiquitous QR codes had become when our daughter said we should do business cards with QR codes. This made us realize that products don't have a good way to be tracked back to their owners for recommendations to friends next to them or online. He thinks peer recommendations are the key driver for growth and wanted to find a way to rewards our customers for that. He went further to patent the idea and the rest is history.

Persistence and resilience. They saw both their parents losing their jobs during a global pandemic and build a brand from scratch at the dining table. I hope they learned that they too could face pushbacks, but that’s part of life, so never give up, and keep on trying.

I’m inspired by strong females who lead their life with purpose, are strong and kind at the same time. To name a few: Michelle Obama, Jacida Arden, and JLo, who is a true multi-hyphenate woman that keeps re-inventing herself and so many others.

I would love to do some dresses! That’s been on my list ever since we launched the brand.

I love how feminine and special everything is. Their attention to the detail and the craftsmanship is beyond!