Permanent Vacation

Marongiu prides himself on the fact that his clothes are 100-percent French in production. The sample collection is produced in his Paris studio but is manufactured in the Vendée, retail prices are very reasonable for a designer label. As well as clothes, the company has diversified by producing a small line of accessories, shoes, necklaces, belts, boots, bags, and hats, all in the distinctive Marongiu style. As Paris is the base of Marongiu's activities, he is now established as one of the city's leading young designers. He looks set to expand his business further, because Paris, as he describes it, is a present-day city, full of energy and romance.

Marongiu reached the breaking point with Swedish backers in 1996 when he vacated his contract and reestablished his firm with Japanese backing. Within two years, he opened a Paris boutique on the exclusive rue Saint-Honoré and established his first vendor in Nagoya, Japan. In his ninth year in the business, he debuted a first collection of leather goods. In support of the Swedish fashion maven and his impact on world tastes, Stockholm's Design Museum honored him with a retrospective exhibit.