Marielle is from and lives in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland.
Growing up as an island girl, surrounded by dynamic seas and ephemeral skies, her imagination was richly nourished and captivated by the magical beauty of nature she has continued to observe throughout her life.
Marielle began her career with an HNC in Fine Art from Orkney College, she then moved to Glasgow and completed an HND in Fashion Textiles at Cardonald College. She continued her studies at the Heriot-Watt School of Textiles and Design in the Scottish Borders and graduated first with a BA in Textile Design, followed by an MA in Fashion Textiles.
After graduating from HW, and on returning to Orkney, Marielle launched her brand and continued the preparation for her signature collection, James Sinclair Flora.
Inspired by plant species recorded by her ancestor, Botanist James Sinclair from Hoy, Marielle studied closely and sketched from his collection held at Edinburgh’s Botanic Gardens. These early hand drawings were carefully developed to be fully realised and revitalised as the brand’s first collection of printed textiles and scarves.
For Midsummer 2025, Marielle reimagined a selection of these earlier designs into a contemporary capsule collection which will soon be available on the website.