© Damiani Publications

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“Maripol: Little Red Riding Hood”
Her accessories line can be found at Marc by Marc Jacobs

403 Bleecker Street
New York, NY

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Creating the Material Girl

Hillary Clinton says it takes a village to raise a child. But to turn that child into an iconic superstar, it takes a village of producers, publicists, and most importantly, eccentric stylists.

Gaga may have Nicola Formichetti. But first, Madonna had Maripol.

French-born stylist and designer Maripol came to Manhattan in the late 1970s. She took the city by storm, befriending Andy Warhol and Deborah Harry and quickly became an icon of the downtown club scene. It was often said that a party wasn’t a party until Maripol sauntered in, dawning her latest outrageous outfit.

In the last days of disco, if Maripol could not be found at Studio 54 or Danceteria, she was in her NoHo boutique, hard at work creating the rubber jewelry, custom crucifixes and other accessories that completed the iconic look for Madonna at that time. The design maven was known for pushing the boundaries of tasteful style, but her precocious aesthetic paid off in time; Maripol’s eye for provocative design is still considered by many to be what initially propelled the Material Girl into stardom.

More than twenty years later, Maripol is still at it, teaming up with Marc Jacobs to create a line of accessories that reflects the “look” she made famous in the 80s. But rather than embracing that period by digging up your old slap bracelets or embracing the Silly Bandz trend, we suggest you visit MJ’s Bleecker Street store to purchase a piece of Maripol’s modern pop history.

In conjunction with her accessory line, Damiani Publications recently released “Maripol: Little Red Riding Hood,” a collection of photographs, design drawings, and memories from Maripol’s archives. The book provides glamorous and gritty personal insight into Maripol’s career and her early work with Madonna, much of which has never been published.