Today in New York: Marie Khediguian

Founder and designer of  Markhed, Marie Khediguian, is an architect and an inspired critical thinker, capable of bringing her singular design signature to each cherished piece she produces. Her vision is to offer affordable, hand-crafted designs created to become life-long treasured pieces. But Marie is a shopping expert too, and she is revealing you where one of Manhattan best hidden and uber famous (discount) shopping location is…

:: Why and when did you started Markhed? I started Markhed last year as a side project to my day job as an architectural intern. I have been silversmithing for five years as a hobby and absolutely love it. I love using my hands to create beautiful pieces. Seeing my ideas become reality in a couple of hours is amazingly satisfying. Architecture, although very creative, can be frustrating in that  the end product is so far removed from the creative process, it can take months, sometimes, years, for building to go from conception phase to built form.

:: Where do you get your inspiration from? I  get inspiration from many many places! I follow a lot of design blogs, I enjoy reading and following fellow designers from all sorts of disciplines. I get inspiration from everywhere, I try to keep things fresh and different and not get ideas from the same place everytime.

:: Who is your ideal buyer? My ideal buyer is someone I know will cherish their piece of jewelry. When I make a piece, I put my heart and sould into it, so I want to know that it won’t be completely forgotten at the back of someones drawer! I want to know that my clients know how much love and hard work goes into all my jewelry creations.

:: What is your favorite NYC place? There are SO many places in NY that I LOVE! It’s hard to choose just one. One of those places is MoMa of Museum of Modern Art. It  rerpresents to me a very creative and inspirational center.

:: Do you think New York can still considered the place-to-be for young creatives? It is hard in NYC because living can be very very expensive in NY, so that does not really make it easy for young artists to thrive. However, what makes up for this is the abundance of opportunities there are in New York. Every where you turn, New York offers original and exciting opportunities for every artist you can imagine!

:: Where do you shop in NYC? I shop A LOT! One of my favorite places is Century 21, near Ground Zero, (it’s a large department store which carries brand names but at amazing;y discounted prices. You have to be patient, and be prepared to look though racks of clothes, but sometimes you get rewarded with a great deal!

:: If I say Italy, you say…? LOVE, beauty, history, fashion. I love Italy with all my heart, I’ve been there two times in my life. It was the place I went to when I was 23 and ready for an adventure by myself. I set out all alone, with a back pack and a camera and went to Milan, Florence, Venice and Rome. That trip was one of the best times of my life, everyone I met there was so nice and I learnt so much about Italian culture, history and art. My favorite place, hands down, was Rome. There’s something very exciting about that city. It actually reminds me of New York but with an amazing history embedded within it. I hope to go back really soon.

Francesca Masoero