LIONESS WEEKENDER COVER STORY
Margaux Wong, a Burundi-based brand turning cow horn into unique luxury accessories
Margaux Rusita is the founder and creative director of the Margaux Wong international, multi-cultural jewellery and accessories brand founded in 2000 and based in Burundi, East Africa. Margaux Wong`s artisans transform discarded cow horn and brass into luxurious, beautiful treasure. Margaux is originally from Guyana, South America. She and her Burundian husband, Simba, and their 5 amazing children, have lived and worked in Burundi for the last 12 years. Margaux Wong's ethos is one which embraces responsible innovation and the brand aims to create its beautiful jewellery using locally acquired, sustainable materials. Margaux Wong is a true representation of Margaux`s cultural background and life experiences, spanning 38 amazing years, across 3 beautiful continents.
Margaux Wong`s jewelry product range includes earrings, rings bracelets, necklaces, body jewelry such as masks and lovely jewelry which embellish the feet, all made of high-quality cow horn and recycled or upcycled brass. Margaux Wong`s new collection has been expanded to include belts, four in one multi-use necklaces, as well as classily embellished formal pochettes. Their accessories are extremely unique and have a circular life cycle. Every component of each piece is reparable and can be upcycled or recycled without causing harm to the environment.
The company is very proud to be among the very few companies worldwide which produces predominantly luxury Cow Horn, brass embellished jewelry using traditional jewelry making and carving techniques, predominantly by hand. The major actor in their production is the very rare cow horn which admittedly appears of very little value, until graced by the hands of Margaux Wong`s artisans. The Margaux Wong team often describes the cow horn material as their gold. This brings a great sense of comradeship among them, as their great value of the raw materials provides the drive to manifest their true nature in all its glory, through the artisanal perspectives and skills.
Margaux Wong is quite a unique company and was established out of a need for Founder Margaux Rusita to meet a personal need for artistic expression, which provided much needed personal therapy for the artist. Today, the brand’s clients attest to feeling a great sense of joy and lifted spirits when adorned with Margaux Wong jewelry. Margaux Wong believes that this sense and their core value surrounding total wellness and its connection to living a sustainable lifestyle, has brought them to this point. Margaux Wong`s clients feel beautiful, loved and valued when they wear their jewelry and are constantly sharing that joy with their loved ones by purchasing Margaux Wong jewelry as gifts for them.
Margaux Wong’s design ethos inherited its organic realization from the Amazonian lifestyle of Margaux’s fore parents. Growing up in Guyana, she was trained to live a lifestyle of zero waste. She learnt from an early age how to use a coconut for everything that it’s worth. They drank the deliciously refreshing water directly from the coconut shell, used the coconut meat for food, the husk of the coconut for scrubbing pots and the shell for making jewelry or even as a drinking utensil. This way of living applied to so many aspects of that Guyanese life and has shown itself quite the typical African way of living as well. Honoring the environment by utilizing natural resources responsibly and following basic values instilled by the elders, form the basis of Margaux Wong’s ideals as a sustainable creative company. The love of nature and being able to create beauty from somewhat mundane everyday elements and findings has given Margaux Wong’s CEO and Creative Director the foundation to be a leader in the sustainable fashion sector. Innovation is deeply embedded in the identity of the company and they are consciously anchored to the connection between the environment and creativity as a team. Margaux says, “We cannot associate one without the other.” These are among the competitive advantages which give Margaux Wong it’s authentic identity and which will ultimately make this brand an international success. Margaux Wong intends to continue to explore more innovative ways of utilizing their raw materials to create more impacting and lasting wearable art. They are currently exploring the use of varying sustainable materials, which would add greater value to their evolving design concepts in order to become a brand of legacy with a beautiful impacting story for generations to come.
The Margaux Wong creative team consists of Cow Horn Sculptors, Brass Artisans, Designers and Illustrators. The administrative staff consists of a Store Manager, Accountant and Operations Manager. The business also employs tailors and basket weavers who manufacture the packaging. The Margaux Wong team has changed and continues to evolve depending on the needs of the company but also the personal needs of its employees. All employees of Margaux Wong are Burundian.
Speaking about her entrepreneurial journey, Margaux says:
“I do not come from an entrepreneurial background but observed the moms of my neighborhood and school friends. I was inspired by those moms selling snacks at the school canteen, corner shops, operating their own mini bus businesses or having their little stands on the street offering homemade sweets and treats. I desired to be independent, as they were and found my way into entrepreneurship at the tender age of 18.”
In terms of future plans, Margaux Wong`s growth strategy for the next 12-18 months includes launching an E-commerce store on Shopify, attending trade shows such as Pitti in Italy and She- Trades in Dubai as an exhibitor. The company also plans to engage and partner with new brand ambassadors and Influencers who love Margaux Wong jewelry. The company intends to become known and accessible worldwide and to continue to grow in impact throughout Burundi as well as Guyana.
Speaking about what gives her the most satisfaction being an entrepreneur, Margaux says:
“My work brings pleasure to many who have the opportunity to wear it. This I say humbly and as I observe, it brings me great joy and an intense sense of purpose. My desire is for the wearers and admirers of Margaux Wong to feel transformed and to be transferred to a place of beauty and fantasy. Many clients have commented that they feel a sense of royalty and luxury when wearing my jewelry. It is in this spirit that I create jewelry. The message is that true wholesomeness can only truly manifest when the source of the object comes from a place of purity and good intent. I hope that through the entire process, from conception to design to production, the spirit of creating beauty from what seems worthless remains true. I aspire for my designs to represent transformation and elegance. I would like Margaux Wong`s clients to know and sense that their value is intrinsically attached to not merely where they are from but more so who they are becoming in the process of transformation.”
Margaux’s biggest piece of advice to other women looking to start-up is as follows:
“Take time to observe yourself in order to discover the things which bring you joy and peace. Do those things, if you can or as much as you can in order to unleash your true potential. Consider the things in your community or family which upset or annoy you. You may very well have the solution to those issues. Be solution oriented. Never allow anyone to dictate what you are and are not capable of doing. Love yourself and the people who you are blessed to have in your life.”
To find out more about Margaux Rusita and her business, Margaux Wong, send an email to: hautemargauxwong@gmail.com or visit the website http://www.margauxwong.com or on Instagram http://www.instagram.com/margauxwongart/
Photographs courtesy of the Ethical Fashion Initiative in collaboration with the European Union
