Maria Smirlis and her family have been product developers and manufacturers in the fashion industry for 5 generations in Europe and for the past fifty years in Australia.
After completing a formal design education Maria Smirlis began her career working as a pattern maker grader for the MGT group of companies and has been employed over the past twenty years by leading corporations such as Holeproof , Clarks ,Pacific brands and most recently Country Road for 6 years up until January 2006. Even though Maria Smirlis was offered a place in the Victorian College of the Arts she chose Fashion Design and Textiles as her preferred courses. Painting and illustration
was still a passion and she in lengthy periods throughout the past 30 years developed
skills with the above.
Maria Smirlis has performed various roles in design and product development throughout her carrier and at Country Road as a senior footwear and accessories technologist.
As a young girl whilst still attending primary school Maria showed a keen interest in fashion and commenced designing and manufacturing in her mothers and fathers factory after school and on weekends.
From thirteen years of age Maria established her own clientele making eclectic designs of her own for rock bands , small retailers and local community fashion shows and also held her own shows consisting of up to 36 models at venues such as Royal Brighton yacht club in Australia and other prominent venues throughout Melbourne and Sydney.
Even though the H A R A H name was established at Byron Bay NSW Australia in early 2006 the hand made limited addition and the one off products have been available to an existing client base for several years.
H A R A H designs is always in touch with current fashion trends in London, Paris,
Milan, Tokyo, NewYork and with an added individual edge creates a unique eclectic product.
All H A R A H products are designed by Ms Smirlis and all manufacturing is controlled and supervised by the same in Australia.
Maria has been painting prolifically from 2013 to 2017 and has successfully sold her painting in London ,Paris and all over Australia. A large client base has been established through social media and many have started their personal collection of her original paintings.
