bio

About mishqua...

Born and raised in the beautiful country of South Africa. Here I gained valuable experiences of life and culture. Growing up in South Africa I learned and witnessed the family business in action, as my grandfather worked in the fashion industry doing pleating for many major clothing lines. It was here in South Africa that my desire to become a designer was born.

I moved to the USA when I was 10 years old, and with me I brought not only my South African accent, but my desire to blend what I liked from fashion in other countries, to fashion from the USA. I have had the phenomenal opportunity to travel to many different countries where I was exposed to numerous cultures and many new fashion concepts. Through the different trips, I selectively picked the things I liked and didn't like from each culture to find my own interests and my own designs.

I have taken on great responsibilities interning in a corporate, "high end" fashion house, as well as working directly with independent fashion labels. These insights have given me the opportunity to play a direct role in the small scale production of independent designers, to the large scale coordination in a corporate production setting, watching the magic happen from pencil to product.

To be honest with you, mishqua actually started because I graduated from college during the beginning of the recession and could not find a job for months! I was so worried that I just was not good enough for the fashion world. I began to give up all hope of working in fashion. As my head was down and I was pouting, my husband says, "Mishqua, you love bags, why don't you start with embellishing old handbags that you have in your closet? Try to sell them to our community!" Just then, a massive light bulb went off in my head- so, that's how the Viableux line began and people started asking me for custom handbags. I started only working with a few clients doing personal design meetings and producing one-of-a-kind pieces for their lifestyle. I loved it! Then, another light bulb went off in my head- "HEY, why don't I just start my very own line of leather and lamb skin handbags?" TA DAA- the mishqua line was born!

One of my MAJOR life goals was to always continue to play an essential role in the fashion industry and as a result I always hoped and dreamed to someday run my own business. Now, I am actually doing what I wanted to do my entire life!!!

Thank you so much for visiting this site and most importantly, thank you for your support!

xo mish