This story is part of Inno on the Road, a BostInno series that explores innovation communities around New England. This week, we’re in Western Massachusetts, and next week we head north to New Hampshire. Last week, we explored Portland, Maine.
Massachusetts’ fastest growing company might not exist if Siyana and Andy Huszar didn’t meet on a blind date in 2012.
Siyana came to the United States from Bulgaria to attend Columbia College in South Carolina and then worked in finance for a decade in New York City. But on the side, she had begun to design and sell clothing through an Etsy shop. Siyana said she was inspired by her grandmother, Marcella, who taught her about fashion, design and entrepreneurship through her own work during communist rule in Bulgaria.
“I wanted to experiment with the concept of starting a company that would allow myself and millions of other women to build a capsule wardrobe that would allow them to solve a problem, basically the small closets and big bills problem,” Siyana said. “And build essentially a capsule wardrobe that would be high quality with exceptional, unique design and would not break the bank.”
When Siyana met Andy, she said he encouraged her to pursue this venture. Andy also happened to be looking for a new adventure. He’d spent his career working for organizations like the U.S. Federal Reserve, Morgan Stanley and RBS Greenwich Capital.
In 2017, Siyana and Andy quit their day jobs to build Marcella, an ethical women’s fashion brand. Six years ago, the pair brought their company with them when they moved to Northampton. In the last few years, the business has taken off.
For the last three years, Inc. Magazine ranked Marcella as the fastest-growing company in Massachusetts. Marcella was 47th overall on the Inc. 5000 list in 2023. The company reported a three-year growth of 8,445%.
Just-in-time production model
While Siyana and Andy are now based in rural Western Massachusetts, they said the brand is inspired by their time in New York.
“We started in New York, so it very much was at the heart of the aesthetic. Sort of monochromatic colors, a lot of day to night versatility in terms of the wardrobe, a lot of black,” Andy said.
At first, Andy and Siyana worked on building Marcella’s Etsy store. Andy said they became the number two grossing fashion brand on the Etsy platform.
“That’s kind of when we had the confidence to think, okay, this is potentially a scalable business and we started hiring more people and we really launched our website at the end of 2019,” Andy said.
Beginning in their early Etsy shop days, Andy said Marcella adopted a production model that allows them to reduce clothing waste and keep costs relatively low. Andy and Siyana have bootstrapped Marcella thus far.
“We’re actually making clothing and accessories to meet the demand as it arises,” Andy said. “We have a four to six week production cycle mainly. Basically we don’t really make clothes and accessories that we can’t sell. What that means is we can be very efficient with our capital and very efficient in terms of the economics of our business.”
Siyana said for each collection they estimate a two-month supply. Within a week of launching a collection, they use their analytics tool to predict how much they need to restock to meet demand for the next four months. Siyana said they run these calculations every week for new and existing collections.
Andy said while this approach is complicated, it is good for the planet and for the company’s bottom line.
“We sell over 90% of what we make at or near full price, which in fashion is unheard of. What that means is we’re not making a bunch of clothes we can’t sell, and that means we’re not putting a lot of money on the shelves that will never come back to us,” Andy said.
Marcella also partners with the NGO CAMFED (Campaign for Female Education) to support girls' education globally. The company estimates they’ve supported over 750,000 school days for girls, helping cover costs for things like transportation, sanitary pads and school uniforms.
‘A very aggressive growth strategy’
Marcella has an office in Florence, a village of Northampton, where 12 employees work in customer experience and marketing, Andy said. Bulgaria is home to Marcella’s logistics and production operations. Andy said they have a few employees in Boston and one in New York. Overall Marcella employs about 60 people.
The company’s website accounts for the vast majority of sales, Andy said, but they still operate an Etsy shop. Marcella opened its first brick-and-mortar store in San Francisco in May. Andy said they’re also starting to work with boutiques and specialty stores to sell their clothing.
“We’re immersed in a very aggressive growth strategy,” Andy said.
The co-founders attributed the company’s growth to its combination of unique clothing designs, ethical approach to fashion waste and mission to support girls’ education.
“We feel like the product and design resonate with our customers more than anything else. But I think having the sustainability aspect to it and the cause behind it makes it even more so desirable, something that people feel proud to wear,” Siyana said.
Within three years, Andy said Marcella aims to be a $100 million brand that has supported over five million school days for girls.
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