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Happy bday! Mm is 1 year old

Let me take you through what happened. Continue to the gallery by clicking the next dot below.

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How it all started

  • As a kid I told everybody imma be a fashion designer, haha
  • Blogging about fashion at uni
  • But only started thinking about a brand realistically in September 2017
  • Because I believe that fashion has always had the potential to be revolutionary and bring about major changes

Also I just love clothes and making them

I was an employee in a corporate world, April 2017

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My lil studio, Autumn 2018

Getting ready to launch

  • November 2017
  • With zero savings, I started with a shitty plastic home sewing machine, a pretty basic second hand overlock machine and my humble studio – my living room.
  • After a rigorous application process, I was awarded the opportunity to attend a government sponsored coaching program for freelancers who want to start their own business. The same program also gave me a 12 month support loan, without which I think I’d have an extremely hard time.
  • My coach Vivienne helped me a great deal <3
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Launch of the brand

  • February 2018 launch
  • My first online shop sale was to my lovely grandma who ordered a velvet nipple piercing top and a pair of orange camo pants – she said she wanted something really extravagant so everybody would ask her where she got it from and she could say that it’s MM : )
  • My first ever stranger online shop customer became a frequent loyal customer
  • I was very excited, but also felt very out of my league

Launch campaign, February 2018

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Struggles

  • One of the biggest struggles (and this is hardly unheard of) was to grow my sales at the very beginning
  • After the government sponsored loan finished in February 2019, the struggle and stress was (and still is) mainly in my head, worrying constantly that I won’t sell enough to support myself even though I can and do.

Breaking even

  • When I started stocking in Enter, The Address Idea in October 2018

Low key falling apart under pressure, September 2018

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The word was out when…

  • I started to work with influencers in summer 2018

Alina Kossan by Jana Lou at SEEK Berlin, July 2018

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Internships

  • I started offering them in summer 2018, but I had my first intern Caroline already in spring, because she offered to do the internship herself : )
  • I love my interns
  • So grateful for and to them

Caroline in MM, June 2018

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The press pays attention

  • When INDIE magazine featured me as one of 4 up and coming designers in March 2018
  • Also more when stylists started borrowing garments from me for their projects and magazines

Editorial shot by Linda Pochinda & stylen by Zoe Facius, March 2018

Bleach Baby Chino wearing MM upcycled blanket cover coat shot by me & edited by Alina Mae Jones for MM Launch in Dandy Horse, August 2018

Collab opportunities?

  • This year (2019) has been very eventful in terms of collabs so far
  • The Black Markt, Stefanie Giesinger, Nike, Nosene, Nura, Adidas & many others
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Present day

  • Still hustling…

Dreamer, shot by Kärlis, June 2019

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What happened this year?

Extended version

 

Why i started my own brand

  • I am a creative with a degree in sustainable development and politics
  • In Berlin I looked for something I wanted to do instead of something I was qualified to do
  • Lack of interesting job opportunities made me go freelance and start a business on my own
  • I’m a self-taught designer learning from YouTube and books, but my degree helped me with the ethical aspect of my business
  • With an aim of making sustainable fashion more interesting

 

Based in Berlin

  • Berlin is an open space which can makes your creativity run wild, where being weird and extra is appreciated
  • Here, alternative lifestyles, start up culture (supported also by the government), the abundance of art and music inspire you to be whatever you want
  • My inspiration comes from everywhere, the street, mixing vibes of different people, recycled pieces themselves and the internet
  • But keeping up with the fast-changing pace of fashion is the hardest thing to do as an individual designer
  • Lack of self-confidence made the beginnings harder – especially the networking part, because I’m kinda shy

 

Ethical fashion

  • Ethical fashion should cover every process within the whole value chain, from suppliers to production to human resources
  • It’s really hard to establish an ethical brand at this price point
  • Making people understand the price of my product is even harder
  • Having no capital became a limitation, partly solved it by hiring interns, offering barters/exchanges plus use everything at my disposal to keep the costs and waste minimum

 

Challenges of running your own brand from your living room

  • I’m being misunderstood, that my clothing is only for thin people since mostly I model my pieces myself out of convenience, to save money and time (the 2 things I’m lacking the most)
  • Because the pieces are mostly one of a kind the piece needs to find an owner who likes the design, but also fits it
  • So inventory pressure keeps following me since the beginning
  • A thing I also learned is that stockists has way more selling power than a (fairly new) online shop
  • Time management, planning as much ahead as possible, set short term goal and have long term vision are very important
  • I tots appreciate interns coming to work with me, they helped me a lot with my timetable
  • How to balance between life and work? The answer is I don’t, work mode is always on
  • But it’s good to have something to look forward to (such as planning holidays)
  • Not a solution for everyone but you don’t mind if you love what you do

 

What my customers told me

  • My customers, they are young, open minded, extravagant and unique
  • Some of them really like the sustainability and ethical part, some like the design more
  • For the customer relationship building, I would love to know my customers more
  • I have been trying to make the whole purchasing process more special and personal for them by being easy to reach and giving feedback to them and being problem solving oriented
  • When there were conflicts, I made a few mistakes due to impulsive response
  • I learned always try to be rational, take my time to calm down to rethink and solve the problem, also asking for an opinion of the people around me always helps

 

Work life balance

  • This past year for my business I gave up most of my weekends, my social life and sometimes my mental wellbeing, because it’s very stressful too, there is little space for other things in my life
  • On the other hand, building your own thing is really exciting, makes you feel like there is a brighter future
  • If what I’m doing is affecting the society and the environment, even just a little bit, it keeps me going
  • I hope changed people’s view of fashion and inspired them to change their behaviour
  • I met a lot of new people, entered and explored new world, kept adding value to what I’m doing, got more people appreciating my work
  • Also can’t forget to mention I managed to survive the first year and keep the lights on

 

Advice for myself one year ago:

  • be more prepared to invest lots of time and energy,
  • don’t be afraid to ask for help,
  • of networking,
  • but most importantly,
  • believe in yourself more!

 

Fashion competition

  • As for competition, I believe that if we are working towards the same goal, we should collaborate more instead of compete and support each other to fight against the status quo
  • Aliexpress copying my design and selling it for a tenth of my price made me feel complicit in fast fashion, even though it’s illogical
  • I am grateful and appreciative of this year and surprised myself by how much I can do

 

I hope in the coming years,

  • I can pay people who work for me,
  • build stronger brand awareness,
  • grow my production capacity,
  • find more sales channels,
  • find a business partner and a mentor,
  • move to an actual studio
  • and have a day off when I need one!

 

 

 

 

 

Photos (from the top): Ivan Kašša shooting Sahar, Elena, and Eily MM lookbook (May 2019), Veronica and Alina at the MM launch in Dandy Horse (July 2018), me at the Yeoja Launch MM workshop (June 2019)

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UPCYCLING

is reusing (discarded objects or material) in such a way as to create a product of higher quality or value than the original.

is guided by the principles of sustainability.

is not a lifestyle, it’s a necessity.

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MM in the @vornfashionhub fashion show at @berlinf MM in the @vornfashionhub fashion show at @berlinfashionwe 👔🔦Very grateful to be represented 🫰Just one note - can we ditch “all-skinny-models” runways already?! Pls more sizes representation 👏!Look 1 Shirt @damurfashion Pants @maximilian.mogg Look 2Coat, top, chain @agnesnordenholz_official Shoes @maisonbaum Models: @philipmilojevic @sun.lee.sunny Concept & creative direction: @vornfashionhub @studiomm04 Fashion curation & styling: @juliusforgo @untilfull________ @basicsberlin Styling assistants: @rilljohanna @janaselinaa @mimimiiiri @emmaaxander Sound: @davidkurtkarlroth @noa.mfftt  @_paolovallejo @daschkey_ Photography: @joachimbaldauf Show production: @dressoclock Casting & choreography: @rmberlin Hair & make-up: @labiosthetiqueparis_pro Guest management: @muellerpr
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