Maisonette 1977 its one of those impressive labels that has achieve a successful way into the fashion industry. That said, we have to mention its Creative Director and founder Jane Ibrahim. She has been the strong force that keeps the label on a high-level progress. Looking back in time, Ibrahim’s road started when she abroad her studies away from home in Hong Kong at such early age. Living New York City has had a strong influential presence throughout part of her personal and professional life, which is one of the reasons she decided to start Maisonette 1977. “Having worked for many years and many designers, I felt like there was room for my voice in the industry. I’ve always wanted to bring designer details and construction innovation to the contemporary market, and it felt like the timing was right.” she said in regard of her first steps on taking the big the decision to start her established label. Being from Hong Kong and having her life based in New York, its has obviously up as downs, but those were actually the ones who visioned the name of Maisonette, which means “little home,” as reference that she wanted something that could recall home and would have a strong meaningful power attached to the concept. As for 1977, is the year that Ibrahim was born. Both are remembrance of all her strong work this past years.
As inspiration for Maisonette 1977, Ibrahim told us “New York and Hong Kong are both vibrant, walking cities. They have a 24-hour energy that courts you and envelops you. My collections are very much designed with the thought of our girl moving in these urban environments.” – She’s very directional with the label’s philosophy since the beginning, and we found very interesting her fountain of inspiration, the 90′s grunge, scene that denoted a substantial period for fashion. “Grunge fashion in the 90s was a very bold movement to me. It was a breath of fresh air specifically in high fashion; a break from being defined by brand and logos. It changed the fashion of the 80s dominated by extravagance and ornateness. Grunge gave new focus to personal style and expression. I also loved the use of mix media, the juxtaposition of prints and patterns, and seemingly mismatched silhouettes. Grunge fashion will always be an important influence on my vision and on Maisonette 1977.” These are enough words to describe the real essence of the label.
Ibrahim strongly stands for the aesthetic of her impressive work. By that I felt the need to ask her, “who’s the women who wears Maisonette 1977?” – By which she answered; “Our girl sees the bigger picture, but pays attention to the details. She knows what she likes, and doesn’t likes, and can give you the reasons. She loves textures and prints and is not afraid to be experimental with her look. She’s never short of opinions, but knows tact and grace always wins the day. She’s a leader and her confidence comes from her accomplishments in life.”
EXPLORING, EXPERIMENTING & CHANGING:
In addition, Ibrahim believes in a natural process of developing new ideas and processing them into wearable statements for Maisonette, “I don’t have any specific ideas of being groundbreaking, I believe each collection is a representation of the designer’s experience and an expression of how he/she is navigating through this world. However, part of my inspiration and joy in developing a collection is coming up with new construction techniques and new treatments in my garments.” – As a womenswear designer, her natural process of achieving the label’s aesthetic lead her to approach some cool, yet edgy inspirations for each collection. “This collection was inspired by the turn-of-the-century American club baseball and traditional menswear fabrication. Accordingly, there are a lot of menswear-driven silhouettes incorporating baseball-inspired details in the garment. The challenge was to bring femininity into those silhouettes and finding the perfect balance between inspiration and stylishness. For example, one of my favorite pieces is trousers inspired by baseball uniform pants. Fabricated in pinstripe and glen plaid suiting fabric, the trousers feature a hip hugging, skinny cut that is undeniably feminine.” She said.
What about the details that define Maisonette 1977? “Every season is different and it depends on the inspiration for that specific collection. One consistent feature is the use of colors and the use of unique textures.” – Ibrahim always explores and experiments new details on her collections. And as she takes the risk by improving, we had to asked her: Having already years of experience working in the industry, what would you like to change, incorporate and innovate on it ? – ” I am noticing more and more that cycles of trends are getting shorter and shorter. Perhaps it’s a result of rapidly available information and social media. Fast fashion has become more important for many fashion businesses. I wish trends could slow down a little bit and instead getting just a surface taste of something that looks new and racing to the next trend, people had the time to observe, let things soak in, and appreciate innovation and craftsmanship.”- She also added, “The flip side of technology is that, as a new brand, we are able to reach our customers directly. We have fans from all over the world who have found us online. The challenge is to find ways to provide better information and “feel” for our brand and our clothes through our online presence.”
Ibrahim continues working on producing and creating new joyful pieces for their costumers and also new pieces to bring more fans to her table at Maisonette 1977. As for new projects, here’s a little scoop,”We are currently busy working on the next season, as well as a collaboration with a non-profit organization. We are also have some new ways to showcase the collection in the works, including video projects.” – We have million things to wish for Ibrahim & Maisonette 1977, certainly all of them include and are related with the word success.
Jhon Jairo Santos
Fashion Director USA
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