Marianne Leveringhaus was born in Aalesund, the beautiful art nouveau city of Norway. She was born into a merchant family which her grandfather founded, Ola Stöylen. After working many years in different departements in Fashion and Interior design companies, in Norway, Denmark and England she studied Interior Design at the NKI Interiörskolen in Oslo. In 2006 she founded her own company Mare – design & Dekor in Germany. In 2011 she founded Nordic Design together with her husband.