Maggie Hewitt’s Overnight Success

“Within a year of her graduation, Maggie Hewitt’s fashion brand had gone global.” Patty Huntington spoke to the New Zealand designer about her fashion journey “from novice to Net-a-Porter”. She reports for the South China Morning Post.

“Obviously I was really lucky to be introduced to Net-a-Porter through (Maggie Marilyn managing director) Jo Knight, which I guess gave me a leg up. I had shot my first lookbook and showed it to them and they loved it, which was pretty incredible, so I was the first ever first season designer to be picked up by them,” said Hewitt.

Hewitt said her label also got “a lot of really amazing initial press”.

“That, joined with Net-a-Porter, kind of catapulted us to the global stage. And then I got nominated for the LVMH Prize and so it was kind of just this snowball effect from there.”

When asked about how she coped with her success she said:

“What I’ve learned, growing fast is exciting but you have to keep up the momentum – and I never want to lose the love that I have for designing. Any graduate reading this article, I wouldn’t want them to think it came easily. I was very fortunate but there was an extreme amount of hard work.”

On sustainability Hewitt said:

“We’ve been on the sustainability path as a journey and every season we’re implementing processes to be better. For me it’s about having a completely transparent supply chain, from where we get our zips through to using organic cottons and wools. We are actually doing a sustainability document to have on our website, so it’s more transparent for our customers.”

Hewitt has big dreams for her brand, but says “paving the way towards a more positive future for the fashion industry is” her long-term goal.

“I would love to have my own department stores across the world that house other sustainable and ethical brands.”

Article Source: South China Morning Post, Patty Huntington, July 12, 2018
Image Source: Maggiemarilyn.com