ALUMNI PROFILE

Do you take this man?

Alumna Cathy McSweeny and Mario Costantini, Arts ´77, stood before Dr. Curtis Carter’s philosophy class as the bride and groom in a mock wedding ceremony.

By Sarah Painter Koziol, Arts '92

But it was a lesson in linguistics not love. Could any witness have predicted the randomly picked strangers would actually tie the knot? Mario calls it dumb luck, but it kicked off a storybook life celebrated this year with their 25th wedding anniversary. After Mario graduated, he planned to study medicine in Argentina where he had lived with his family until he was 10. But prior to his departure, he received a draft notice from the Argentine army and opted to stay in the states. He and Cathy opened an interior design company instead.

After a few years in business, they focused the company on designing and manufacturing an heirloom-quality line of rustic furniture. Cathy recalls her skepticism: “How can we possibly make a living selling this stuff?”

Yet today their clientele includes Disney, Ralph Lauren, Oprah Winfrey and Barbra Streisand. La Lune Collection — sold only through interior designers, architects and in specialized showrooms — features 600 pieces ranging from cabinetry to tables, seating and bed frames. La Lune’s 30-plus employees handle every element of the furniture-making process, including collecting the natural construction material. Mario proudly proclaims they harvest and prune only fast-growing, sustainable wood, including poplar, sandbar willow and pine, making the La Lune line popular not just with clients but with environmentalists as well.