MJZ, the brand started in 2017 by former finance executive Michael Chang, focusing on exotic skin tropes, priced at 120,000 euros, is gearing up to venture into ready-to-wear.
After gaining fans among the likes of Scott Disick, who described a motif borrowed from the brand as a “Tom Ford and Herms elevated piece”, Chang felt there was room for pivot as well.
In the more than two pandemic years since the brand has expanded its luxurious men’s offering to include women’s pieces and participated in Paris Fashion Week in September 2019, entrepreneur and her business partner Irina Shabaeva, known as the American Alligator Perfecto Jacket And Neo was brought on board to launch. Alligator bombers for women, the masterminds of the new line.
“We were on the verge of COVID-19, but before that Irina and I were planning our next year’s major couture collection, which would again be purely exotic… so we talked and decided to go a little further, Maybe to start a new direction,” Chang said.
Although leather remains the core of the new line – “anything but exotics”, in Chang’s words – the collection, which is manufactured in France and Italy, where he said he found the best supplier, made a complete fashion statement from T-shirts. Offers more from skirts to dresses, coats and bags. “It’s a perfect lifestyle collection,” Shabayeva said, highlighting her dedication to flattering silhouettes and fits.
A glimpse of the MJZ ready-to-wear collection.
Courtesy of MJZ
This includes precious fabrics and materials ranging from cashmere, suede and sheepskin to Japanese cotton and cotton twill. “We really try to play with the material, with leather, to offer a slightly smaller, sharper vibe, more comfortable, it’s not ‘in your face’ as exotics are… It takes someone who really loves that type of material to pull it off, let alone that price point, too expensive,” Chang said.
The full leather jumpsuit for the MJZ ready-to-wear collection costs between €450 and €10,000, so is still talking to luxury consumers, a far cry from the 50,000-euro entry price.
Described as a seasonless wardrobe of Elevated Basics that will grow over time, the first fall is expected in late summer or early fall on the brand’s e-commerce, as “a soft launch,” Chang said. It is currently in talks with several retailers as it envisioned ready-to-wear primarily for wholesale and is targeting the likes of Saks Fifth Avenue, The Webster and Sense.
Asked whether she pivoted in light of the recent lukewarm reception to exotics, for example Chanel withheld use in 2018, as fashion adopted a sustainable-minded approach, Chang offered a different argument.
“It was a business move, because Irina and I were always discussing about launching some t-shirts, some simple leather pants, even before COVID-19 hit, without any exotics, but obviously The pandemic was generally due to people wanting to wear more comfortable clothes. We thought now was the best opportunity to launch this more chill, youthful, easy to wear, comfortable yet still very cool collection,” he added.
The couture, exotic skin component will continue on a bespoke basis and Chang said he doesn’t want to give up on the experiential component of tailoring a crocodile hoodie. “The brand cannot exist without the foreign part,” he said.
Originally published at Pen 18
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