Time flies
It’s five years since we first worked with Mali Marciano, the creative visionary behind the re-birth of Le Kasha.
Mali was born in Paris into a family that had long specialized in knitwear. As a child exploring factories with her father all over the world, she developed a passion for travel from an early age. Her curiosity for cashmere was piqued as she learned about the material firsthand.
After graduating from business school, she plotted a course across the hotel and knitwear industries, dividing her life between Paris, New York, and London, while also travelling the world and discovering its delights.
Founded in France in 1918, Le Kasha was part of a revolution in the way the women of the 1920s dressed. An innovative fabric made with Kashmir goat hair blended with a revolutionary new fiber, here was a fabric that looked elegant and was comfortable, while still being easy to care for, maintaining its shape and style even with constant use and washing.
Supplied to prestigious French Haute Couture houses such as Jeanne Lanvin and Jean Patou, Le Kasha was notable for the beautiful way it draped. Coco Channel cemented Le kasha's reputation forever, when she used it to create her first suit collection. The spirit of freedom and adventure of the 1920s persists today, and with it the enduring values of Le Kasha
Le kasha's mission is to make beautiful, timeless pure cashmere clothing suitable for every place and every season. Clean lines, high quality pure cashmere, light fabrics, and neutral tones combine to create a relaxed and functional elegance. Made from cashmere fiber sourced from the Alashan and Arbus regions of Inner Mongolia (Eco Label factory), acknowledged as the foremost region for producing the highest and finest quality cashmere fiber, each piece is both light and long-lasting, making it the perfect fabric for the world's wanderer. The Cachemire de Voyage collection is a complete wardrobe. It captures the romance of travel in a universal and refined look that the curious and cosmopolitan traveller will want to keep close and take everywhere.
The best creative relationships are a two way conversation, Mali interviewed our Creative Director Georgia Fendley for the Le Kasha travels with series...
MM: If you were a mode of transportation, which would you be?
GF: horse. I have ridden all my life and love that you can’t hurry a journey, it’s also the best height for wonderful views above hedges and for sneaky peeps into peoples houses. I often think about a time before other modes of transport and how slow travel would effect your perception. When I ride I am so aware of the seasons, I notice the smallest details and I feel the world slow down
MM: The hotel you would chose to live in for one year…
GF: The Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc circa 1924 when it first opened for the summer season, ideally dining with Sara and Gerald Murphy each evening with their entourage; Picasso, Hemmingway and Fitzgerald
MM: If you could teleport yourself to a place for lunch, which restaurant would you pick?
GF: I would pick the plains of Argentina with Francis Mallman cooking – not a restaurant but an ultimate food experience
MM: You never travel without..
GF: Books, real ones, I love to read, for me time to read is the greatest indulgence
MM: What do you most like to steal from hotels?
GF: Ideas and overheard conversations
MM: A movie that inspires you to travel…
GF: I love Fellini, the drama, the attitude – I can’t pick a favourite. I also love the Peter Sellers Pink Panther movies, one of my favourites is the one with Claudia Cardinale at the ski resort, so chic and funny
MM: The last sentence of a great postcard…
GF: stolen from Kurt Vonnegut: 'I told her one time, “I worry about women.” She said “Don’t”.'
MM: Your dreamy lost at sea situation…
GF: I’m actually frightened of the sea so for me this is a nightmare, it’s too big and powerful and hidden and dark. I like to swim in the sea but would hate to be lost with no horizon in sight
MM: A place you never wanted to leave…
GF: Home. Because I travel so much I really love to be at home with my children, my dogs and my garden, for me this is paradise
MM: A beach where you would like to swim naked…
GF: I would head to the Brecon Beacons and swim in the pools around Ystradfellte Waterfall, not a beach but magical, beautiful and private
MM: Your dream world tour, in five spots..
GF: all the places I haven’t been – India, New Zealand, the orkneys and shetlands and the Swedish archipelago
MM: A place for a romantic breakfast…
GF: my bed! we have the most amazing view of our garden with Solsbury hill behind, ancient yew trees and horses grazing
MM: Which iconic person would you ask for a tour of their city?
GF: Marcus Aurelius, Rome
MM: Which iconic person‘s home would you most like to rent for a unique holiday?
GF: Peggy Guggenheims Venetian home during her lifetime
MM: Which piece of the Le Kasha would you most like to travel in?
GF: I love the aspen arm warmers, so cool and the ultimate between season life saver