Maria Varela graduated from Columbia College Chicago in 2020 after earning her BFA in Fashion Design, and in September 2022 she obtained her Masters in Textile Design from Bath Spa University in England. She has a love for both fashion and textile design, and her recent work blends the two worlds together. She has been sewing her entire life, and has always loved designing. She loves bright colors, anything floral, and mixing prints in her designs. Her main goal is to make people smile when they see her work.

Maria spent a year abroad while pursuing her Masters, and her travels have been influencing her work greatly. She is now back home in the states, and hopes to find work as a womenswear designer, or as a textile designer for the fashion industry.