Maggie Hewitt, founder of Maggie Marilyn, might still fall into the ‘emerging talent’ category so far as fashion designers go, but when it comes to building a sustainable business, she’s more seasoned than most. Launching her first fashion line in 2016, Hewitt founded her brand ‘to make a difference in an industry that was ready for change’.
Now, with the experience of multiple seasons under her belt, many conversations with jaded buyers in showrooms, pressure from wholesalers to deliver cheaper clothes that drive more profitability and the rapidly changing landscape of consumer behaviour, Hewitt is going back to the drawing board. Taking the learnings from her already impressive sustainability efforts with Maggie Marilyn, Hewitt launches Somewhere, a direct-to-consumer collection of seasonless wardrobe styles crafted from ethical materials at affordable prices.
Two catalysts–wholesale pressures and price point–galvanised the line of denim, shirting, tailoring and jersey hoodies, made from Responsible Wool Board certified, non-mulesed New Zealand merino wool, GOTS certified organic cotton from India and Turkey, and regenerated nylon from waste such as industrial plastic from landfills and oceans.
For MM fans wondering if Somewhere’s pared back style or lower price will cannibalise the existing higher-priced feminine fashion line, Hewitt confidently addresses that head-on by housing the line on maggiemarilyn.com, right up against her mainline collection. Vigilant about the credibility of every claim along the supply chain, traceability with suppliers and fabrics is her metier.
At an intimate dinner in New York this week, she cited Ellen MacArthur’s circular economy and closed loop system as inspiration. Somewhere will launch a collection system in 2021, to recycle well-loved items and bring them back to life. ‘Buy less, buy consciously, buy forever,' Hewitt toasted.
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