Marija Ivankovic Jurisic – textile designer, NGO activist and entrepreneur, is the founder of Marija Handmade brand.

Marija fell in love with fashion as a little girl watching her grandmother make textiles by hands on an old-fashioned weaving loom.

Later, she came to Belgrade to study design, and graduated at Belgrade University as an engineer of a Tecnology of Design. Then came the big challenge facing every aspiring fashion designer – how to turn her ideas into reality, and her skills into production.

She founded her own small Artworkshop Marija Handmade with her mother. Her NGO activities have started at the moment of founding her small bussines when she became a member of the Association of Bussines Woman Serbia-ABWS. After a while she started employing Women and became a menthor to some of them throughout many projects of ABWS. A talented improviser, Marija wove everything together in an innovative way. She saw she could make original textiles from natural fibres like wool, silk and linen – and combine them with details like leather and fur, to make distinctive women’s clothing and homewear. Step by step, the business grew. In 2010. she opened her flagship store in Cumic design district, in downtown Belgrade. Along the way her designs have featured in international fashion shows in cities like Chicago, Bern, Amsterdam, Den Hague, Paris and Sydney. Fashion shows in Holland hapened in a collaboration with European Entrepreneur Network and Australian fashion shows of Marija Handmade were a part of the official Days of Serbian Culture at this continent.

Every collection by Marija Ivanković Jurišić for Marija Handmade comes from Serbia. It is made of pure & authentic Serbian Wool from snowy white to off white tones, and the rest of basic colors from spectrum.

Consists woven coats, knitted overcoats and sweaters, dresses, skirts, shirts and accesories as caps, socks, scarves, belts and special necklaces made of wool.

Who we are, and how to connect our past with our future are questions that Marija Ivankovic Jurisic passionately wants to find an answer to, with every piece of textile she chooses to create the handmade Haute Couture of the Balkans. Marija Handmade philosophy is that the best material is the one that your skin will thank you for wearing. Material that feels soft, lets you move, let’s your skin breath, feels comfortable and looks undeniably incredible. These are the only types of materials that are good enough for our creations.

„In Marija Handmade we are making clothes by hands that are in tune with Your heart and soul.“