Maggie Marilyn

Use fashion to create a better world!

Summary

Graduating in Fashion and Sustainability from Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design, aspiring designer Maggie Marilyn envisioned building a fashion brand that champions transparency and ensures that people and planet are at the forefront of each decision. Rooted in these pillars she launched her eponymous fashion brand in 2016 with the most beautiful handmade apparel. In line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, today Marilyn’s direct-to-consumer fashion brand aims to have a regenerative impact by controlling water usage and increasing its proportion of locally made apparel and accessories.

History

Since learning about the detrimental environmental and social consequences of the fashion industry, Maggie Hewitt who is a native of a rural coastal region of New Zealand’s north Island, was determined to effect change.  Graduating in Fashion and Sustainability from Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design, Hewitt wrote on her website that she had “pulled back the glamorous curtain of fashion and saw an industry that needed fixing, and fast.”

Rooted in these pillars the visionary twenty-one-year-old launched her ready-to-wear brand in 2016. There was no looking back. All virgin sourced fabrics are OEKO-TEX® or Bluesign certified to prove they are free from harmful chemicals and all textile suppliers have signed her Supplier Code of Conduct. What’s more the brand only uses wool that is ethically grown- non-mulesed and ZQ or Responsible Wool Standard certified. By making such choices Maggie Marilyn has genuinely upheld the brand principles and achieved a remarkable 73 per cent reduction in the brand’s carbon footprint to become a climate-positive enterprise.

The eponymous fashion brand champions people and planet. Per Vogue: ‘After four years of studying fine arts, majoring in fashion, at Auckland, Hewitt knew “I had a point of view, I had something, and I wanted to start my own brand”. She graduated and immediately designed a collection that adhered to her principle of “liveable luxury,” which she defines as “beautifully executed clothes, in beautiful fabrics, that you can wear every day. You can run or dance in them – they’re pieces you’d never hesitate to grab.” Then she took her samples to Sydney, and Net-A-Porter came knocking.’

At 23, Hewitt was “the next big thing”. Most of the apparel is manufactured in Auckland in a factory that is pretty close to her studio while knitwear is made in Italy. With a fine business acumen, Maggie had decided right from the onset of her fashion career that she would adopt a four-drops-a-year model showing twice a year in pre-collection time frames in order to streamline the production.

Today the fashion brand is rooted in the pillars of People- Product- Prosperity. And looking to the future Maggie Marilyn’s focus remains fixed on regeneration to ensure that every aspect of the operations from the farms cultivating fibers to the final products experiences a net gain compared to their initial state. And in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the ethical fashion brand is now working towards having a regenerative impact from controlling water usage to making as much locally as possible.

Today Maggie Marilyn is hailed as a leading direct-to-consumer ethical fashion label. Her goal is to make it a circular fashion brand where all the pieces are made to last. When some of the pieces require repair, Maggie Marilyn will provide the service free of charge and when the apparel sadly comes to the end of its life, the fashion designer will recycle or compost it. With such stylish apparel and a business acumen grounded in sustainability and circularity is it a wonder then that Maggie Marilyn has A-list clientele ranging from Kylie Jenner and Karlie Kloss to the Duchess of Sussex?

Vision

The brand vision of direct-to-consumer fashion label Maggie Marilyn is rooted in the fashion designer’s belief that the future of fashion is rooted in transparency, circularity, regeneration and inclusion. An industry where clothing can be traced from farm to finished garment, where workers are treated with respect, and consumers understand the true value of their purchase. Her personal beliefs shaped the vision of a brand with three core values: People- Planet- Prosperity. So today the fashion brand has a climate positive status, commitment to its circular business model, and plans for a decarbonised and regenerative supply chain.

Mission Statement

To transform the fashion industry to one that is transparent, circular, regenerative and inclusive.

History

Hailing from a rural coastal region in New Zealand, Maggie Hewitt’s aspirations to protect our nature was ingrained since childhood. Graduating in Fashion and Sustainability from Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design, Hewitt wrote on her website that she had ‘pulled back the glamorous curtain of fashion and saw an industry that needed fixing, and fast.’ The young girl envisioned building a brand that champions transparency, empowers people and ensures that people and planet were at the forefront of each decision. ”I wanted to make beautiful clothes from an equally beautiful supply chain that would positively affect local communities and the planet. I strongly believe that style and sustainability can and should co-exist,” she told Eco-Age.

Rooted in these pillars, ready-to-wear brand ‘Maggie Marilyn’ launched in 2016 and experienced a stratospheric ascent. Following her showcase at Sydney Fashion Week, she was the first designer Net-a-Porter retailed on the strength of a debut she describes as ‘liveable luxury’ i.e. trans-seasonal raw silk dresses, ruffled skirts, denim jackets and cocooning coats handmade with organic cottons, ethically produced silks and recycled metal. Per Vogue, ”she visits New Zealand sheep farms to confirm the wool is sheared from happy, non-mulesed sheep; she ships her clothes in dissolvable bags made of cassava root; she holds her manufacturing partners to strict labor codes…” In line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, the brand is working towards having a regenerative impact from controlling water usage to making as much locally as possible.

Today, Maggie Marilyn is hailed as a leading sustainable fashion brand and has A-list clientele ranging from Kylie Jenner and Karlie Kloss to the Duchess of Sussex. Per Harpers Bazaar, “…what makes Hewitt’s label so different, each manufacturer has their story told and they have a real sense of family, rather than simply an unknown production process. “We shot our Resort ’20 lookbook in three of our factories in Auckland,” she tells them. “It was really special being able to share with our wonderful manufacturers how the clothes and the outfits all come together and what they look like once shot. Everyone watching the shoot had such an immense feeling of pride and that’s what I love about manufacturing in New Zealand: we’re all in this together.”

Products and Services

Maggie Marilyn womenswear includes outerwear, dresses, denim, T-shirts, singlets, shirts, blouses, tops, knitwear, pants, shorts, skirts, sweatshirts, track pants and sleepwear while the menswear has a selection of outerwear, denim, T-shirts, shirts, knitwear, pants, shorts, sweatshirts and track pants.

Awards and Recognition

The brand certifications include The Global Organic Textile Standard which is the worldwide leading textile processing standard for organic fibres and takes into account every step in the supply chain. This ensures the ecological status of textiles, from the harvesting of raw materials through environmentally and socially responsible manufacturing, up to labelling.

References