The District Chronicles

Issue date: 11/1/09 Section: Cover

Media Credit: Robert Eubanks/Staff Photographer Terrell successfully lobbied for the bill to make DC a fashion center

In the fall of 2002, Mariessa Terrell sat on the curb of her former office building dumbfounded at the loss of a job she had grown to love for over three years.  She had been a young lawyer for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Virginia.

Her mind wandered to a recent article she had read in The Washington Post lamenting that butterflies had disappeared from the D.C. area.

Then out of nowhere, a beautiful monarch butterfly fluttered up to and circled around her.

"The butterfly hovered and fluttered and at times even perched on my leg," she said. "It stayed with me for the 30 minutes while I sat on that curb."

For months, Terrell would continue to have encounters with monarchs, notwithstanding the Post's claim of absence of butterflies in the Greater Washington area. Those butterflies became the catalyst of the new company, Simone's Butterfly at 3422 Brown St., NW.  It's a legal services company Terrell operates right out of Apartment 202, her residence.

"Simone comes from jazz musician great, Nina Simone," said Terrell. "I grew up listening to her music and I have always been a fan." Just as she influenced the creative minds of such greats as Mary J. Blige, Alicia Keys and Lauryn Hill, Terrell got inspiration from Nina Simone in naming her company Simone Butterfly.

"Butterfly comes from my 2002 butterfly sightings all around D.C.," Terrell said. Simone's Butterfly works with companies on everything from brand, trademarks, copyright and contracts.

But Terrell also has another love - fashion. Growing up in Southeast D.C., Terrell has always been fascinated by the city's diverse styles.

"D.C. really has a little bit of everything: punk, go-go, Embassy Row, Little Ethiopia, accountants, lawyers, hipsters, local government workers, Maryland and Virginia travelers," she said.  "Each group has a unique style, not better or worse, but unique. I was always impressed with the diverse styles of Washington, D.C."

Terrell sees her interests in law and fashion as complimentary. "Growing up with my mom, I learned a real appreciation for beautiful things," she said.  "I learned how to barter and bargain and to go after big labels in a creative way. I think that helped me get into trademark because the thing with trademark and licensing is that you have to have an eye already as far as quality."

Continued...

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