It’s rare for high school sweethearts to survive the prom. It’s even rarer for them to start a successful business and have it become a household name for more than 30 years.
But that’s the story behind Myka Designs, a Vancouver-based jewelry brand created by high school sweethearts Michael and Maja Bremer.
After high school, the pair moved to Toronto together to study fashion design at Ryerson University. Michael was more interested in design, while Maja was more into the marketing side of the program.
One day in 1986, in their second year, Michael had a project in which he visited John Bead to source sequins and beads for an evening wear piece.
“When he came back from John Bead, he told me about all the materials he found there to make jewelry,” Maja recalled. “And he said, ‘Why don’t we make jewelry and sell it at craft shows and vend it on the street to make some cash?’”
And that’s exactly what the duo started to do. Each invested $50 of their own money and went back to John Bead and bought beads, crystals, wire wrapping, and leather cording – everything they needed to make jewelry that was all their own.
“We never made it to sell as a vendor on the street because, in the fashion program, there were lots of women to sell to,” Maja said. “I’d pack up my backpack full of jewelry and take it to the lounge at school and we would sell out right away. Even our teachers loved it.”
In the years that followed in university, Maja and Michael branched out and started selling their jewelry at local craft shows. Professors helped them get their business off the ground, by getting their GST information in a row, and helped them register their business name (Myka is a blend of the founders’ names – Michael and Maja).
Once they graduated, Maja was working at Escada at 555 Richmond in Toronto.
“And I’d always wear our jewelry to work,” she said. “And one day I was wearing some of our items, and one of the agents who worked in a showroom in the building asked where it was from. When I told her, she asked if we would be interested in putting a line in the showroom. And so we did.”
In the meantime, Maja was getting orders from buyers and store owners – some of which had higher-end clientele – she would meet at her job at Escada.
And then in 1992, Myka Designs had its big break when Ports International placed an order for its 75 stores across Canada and the US.
“We had met the buyer through word of mouth, and we did a private label for them,” Maja said. “That was our first big order. It was a massive undertaking and learning experience for us. And then after that, we got into Holt Renfrew and Nordstrom, and we caught the tail-end of the booming economy in Ontario. It was a great time for us.”
In 1996, the pair decided to move its business back home to Vancouver and has been in B.C. ever since.
Today, Myka is known for its signature, clean, modern jewelry design. Each piece of jewelry is handmade from pewter and finished with Swarovski crystals, semi-precious stones, and/or other glass and crystal beads.
The Bremers are also stronger than ever and say they are living their dream.
“We have such a good partnership,” Maja said. “Some people, especially my friends during this whole COVID-19 lockdown have asked me how I work with my husband. But the truth is we’ve never known anything else. We’ve worked on Myka together from the business and we both see it as our business, together.”
To boot, business is doing great, she added.
“We are in the mature phase in our business and we are really comfortable in what we are doing and we have amazing clients behind us,” Maja said. “We are excited for the future.”