Margarita Levieva

Levieva was born in Russia, into a Russian Jewish family. Both of her grandmothers, as children, survived the siege of Leningrad during World War II. From the age of three, she began to engage in rhythmic gymnastics.

Levieva immigrated to the United States at age 11 with her mother and twin brother, Michael, and settled in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. Though she was accepted into LaGuardia High School to study dance, she instead attended public high school in Secaucus, New Jersey. In addition to working full-time as a fashion buyer, Levieva graduated a year early from New York University with a double major in economics and psychology and minors in philosophy, sociology, and Russian history.