Strip & Knit With Style

A native New Yorker, Mark spent two years studying at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, after he graduated from high school. He has been in both the front and back of the house as chef, sous-chef, and maître d', and in 1983 was awarded an honorable mention for his bread sculpture at the 114th Annual Salon of Culinary Arts. Half a decade later, Mark chose to pursue his second career in menswear and attended the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). Mark's innate color sense and use of patterns and textures were rewarded during his years at FIT with a number of scholarships and the Designer's Critic Award at graduation. In 1989, Mark had the opportunity to design neckwear for Hermès, and was given a two-week internship at the design studio in Paris after winning the Comité Colbert L'Art de Vivre award for menswear, and redesigning the uniforms for the NYC Staten Island Ferry crew. After graduating from FIT, he took a position as an assistant designer for a thriving New York-based sweater company and headed the private-label division for five years. A textile project for a friend led to a design position at a major fabric converter, where he was responsible for merchandising customer and licensee accounts as well as designing for the open line. Next it was time for Mark to start his own business ventures, and in 2002 he was awarded Cotton Inc.'s 21st Annual Cotton Incorporated Textile Designer's Award for outstanding contributions to innovative design and styling in the Prints - Home category. Mark is the creator of the Mirror Ball Dot and Rock Candy fabric lines. His Fairy Frost fabric line has sold over 2 million yards to date. He is currently licensing his designs on cotton to two New York-based textile companies for quilting, crafting, and manufacturing. Recent projects include the self-publication of his first novel, Shag (www.shagthemammoth.com); his collaboration with a documentary filmmaker/producer and animation studio as artistic director on an original concept for a television series; and plans for his own line of neckwear.