Looks from Maggie Marilyn’s Somewhere Man range. Images supplied.
Maggie Marilyn has two things to celebrate at the moment, marking five successful years in business and the release of Somewhere Man, the thoughtful new addition to the brand’s Somewhere range of circular, evergreen pieces. When founder and designer Maggie Hewitt launched the brand in 2016, it was with the objective of using fashion to create a better world and with each step along the way she has boldly crafted a label that wears its values on its sleeve.
“We are at a truly pivotal moment in history. This isn’t just about fashion. Here and now is where we decide what the world will look like for future generations,” says Maggie Hewitt. “We must adapt to a changing world. We must choose to be better than those before us. We must know our purpose and we must do everything in our power to be the change we wish to see in the world. The climate crisis demands a fashion revolution, and that means including everyone in the fight.”
With the successful release of Somewhere womenswear in late 2019, the range has gone from strength to strength and now makes up over 80% of the brand’s sales. It was a natural next step for Maggie Marilyn to add menswear to the mix and Somewhere Man is definitely a welcome addition to the current menswear offering in Aotearoa New Zealand.
For designer Maggie Hewitt, the new range presented a welcome challenge and she looked to a treasured circle of men in her life for inspiration. For Hewitt, “the ‘Somewhere Man’ is a person who walks the talk, and actively supports initiatives and brands that place people and the planet first.”
Much like Somewhere’s womenswear, the Somewhere Man range has been designed to simplify the task of dressing with a versatile wardrobe that offers style, comfort, and practicality. The initial launch collection includes a modern range of essential pieces including the perfect white tee, classic linen shirt, must-have track pants and hoodie, smart blazer and relaxed fit trouser. The colour palette features classic neutrals of white, black and bone that offer versatility and seasonless style.
While Somewhere’s launch required a serious investment in time and resources from the brand (Somewhere was two years in the making) the development and release of Somewhere Man has seen Maggie Marilyn double their market size with no increase in operational R&D or supply chain investment. The fundamentals of a circular, traceable line of affordable essentials were already in place with each piece created to Maggie Marilyn’s ethical and transparent supply chain standards.
The increase in production with Somewhere Man sees Maggie Marilyn able to actualise the brand’s goals around regenerative farming. With a doubled product offering, Maggie Marilyn has now secured orders at a farm level with the ZQRX Merino (regeneratively farmed NZ wool). This enables the brand brand to go beyond ‘sustainability’ by gaining a deep understanding about the complex interactions between farmers, climate, ecology and community.
Doubling Somewhere’s offering with Somewhere Man sees Maggie Marilyn able to make bigger steps towards creating lasting positive change with the goal to use only renewable, regenerative materials to power the future of Somewhere. Maggie Marilyn announced the intention to become a circular business when Somewhere was initially launched and each piece has been thoughtfully designed to be recycled or composted at its end-of-life cycle – for the designer this is a non-negotiable for producing accessibly priced essentials.
Somewhere Man is carefully crafted from traceable organic or repurposed fibres from New Zealand’s leading regenerative merino and cotton farms with customers able to find out more about the brand’s manufacturers and suppliers as well as how fabrics are sourced on maggiemarilyn.com.
Somewhere Man launches online today and is also available at Maggie Marilyn stores in Britomart and Newmarket.
Images supplied.