Marfala is making brands that look like themselves

Based in New York and Bogota, sisters Maria and Rafaela Echeverri are joined under their collaborative practice, Marfala. Founded in 2020, the creative studio came together over the pair’s common interest in the corner of the creative world where “design, conviction and culture meet”. Four years down the line, with some incredible brand identities under their belt, the pair have proved that visual world building is their trade and “immersive, obsessive thinking is how we work,” says Rafaela. “We like creatives, unusual thinkers and authentic collaborations.”

Finding thoughtful strategies through an approach underpinned by rather “methodical” research, the creative duo aim to simply “make people look like themselves. Never copy or crib,” says Maria. “We find that essence, articulate it, and build confident brands that are saying something no one else can say [...] What we love most are designs unique to our clients, their personalities and visions. Each destination has to be “one-of-a-kind”.

Working in a sibling duo is a balancing act — a ying and yang kind of thing, the designers tell us. Whilst Rafaela is a minimalist, Maria is a ‘more is more’ kind of person. So their styles and influences are always in conversation — allowing them to look at projects from quite a few different angles. Although, since studying in Milan together while growing up, Maria and Rafaela have both always had a bit of a thing for Italian design, admiring “how Italian designers honour the old with a taste for the new, in everything from architecture, clothing, furniture, to lighting”, explains Rafaela.

Over time, the pair’s field of inspiration for their design work has slowly moved toward objects: “shape, colour, texture, function, provenance; there is always something to spark an idea. To that end, we look through a lot of archives and museum collections. Vintage auction catalogues are a gold mine for us,” Maria tells us, with archival treats and treasures often populating their mood boards (we loved their spring inspiration board on bread, earlier this year). More recently, alongside their thoughtful graphic work, the pair have started to study lighting and set design, “and that has been a really fruitful new source of inspiration”, says Rafaela.