Mother's Day Gift Idea: Build Her A Company

mother-son-soap-3
1
mother-son-soap-2
2
mother-son-soap-1
3
mother-son-soap-3
mother-son-soap-2
mother-son-soap-1
mother-son-soap-3
mother-son-soap-2
mother-son-soap-1

Mother's Day is on Sunday, and if you haven't gotten Mommy Dearest a present yet, consider this: David Foote built his mother, Marianella Febres-Cordero, a company after she started making soaps (really incredible soaps, to be fair) in her spare time. Now their line is sold at Space NK and Net-a-Porter. Children of the world, take note.

'She was giving me all this soap that I started giving away to friends,” David said. “Then I started getting all these calls saying, 'My skin cleared up when I started using this soap—how can I get more?'' At that point, Marianella had moved from Caracas to Dallas. “So I said, 'Mom, why don't we start a company?'' A J.Crew partnership and six years later, Jabonería Marianella has expanded into a whole bath and body line with more to come.

The mother-son tag team works like this: Marianella takes care of all of the fragrance while David picks up the packaging side of things (he's an fine artist, illustrator, and director, and he just debuted a 65 ft. mural in the new Hanro of Switzerland Meatpacking shop). The entire line is inspired by their family (from the crest on the bottle to the Aura Elena fragrance, named after Marianella's mother). The fragrances are complex—inspired by memories more than anything else—and based on the principle that everything goes together if you like it. Dama De La Noche, named after its floral inspiration, is the star here—marrying the flower's scent with apple and lemon. Also worth a mention: The whole line is 100 percent natural—no additives, no preservatives, nothing. Even in its SLS-free state, the body was has a lather David repeatedly calls “insane' (he's right).

So next time you're crafting with your mom, maybe keep this in mind? Could be the most financially prudent gift you ever give...

—Emily Ferber

Photographed by Tom Newton.