-
fashion
Q&A | Maiden Name

Written by

No items found.
![Maiden_Name_13817.jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56c346b607eaa09d9189a870/1573502092456-0Y1V4Y1MRQN6LLU42RVO/Maiden_Name_13817.jpg) ![Maiden_Name_13810.jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56c346b607eaa09d9189a870/1573502093478-QNR3093V6GMX4R80PZMR/Maiden_Name_13810.jpg) #block-yui\_3\_17\_2\_1\_1573483457321\_56040 .sqs-gallery-block-grid { margin-right: -10px; } #block-yui\_3\_17\_2\_1\_1573483457321\_56040 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid-slide .margin-wrapper { margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; } The contemporary retail concept, [**Maiden Name**](https://maiden-name.com/), is the brainchild of Alix Freireich, and David Lê. While the founders met at Vassar College, they reunited to bridge a gap in the interconnected realm of e-commerce. With assistance from Jesse Hudnutt and Susan Lee, the four embark on a journey to reconnect the roots which link fashion and fine art. Following a seasonal calendar, Maiden Name will organize its collections as an online, and interdisciplinary group show; showcasing exclusive artist collaborations alongside in-house women’s apparel. Like a chest full of curated gold, Maiden Name may hold the key to your future treasures. In a recent conversation, Flaunt spoke with the founders to discuss the start of this forward-thinking, art formed, and eco-minded community. **_Tell us about the genesis of your retail concept, Maiden Name._** Maiden Name really emerged out of our own sense that we didn't have a place where we loved to shop. It also came out of an acknowledgment that we spend a lot of time shopping and consuming media online, and those activities all seem to take place in the same dead, zombified e-comm context. So when we found ourselves with an opportunity to share work we love, made by people we love, alongside the apparel we make, it felt like there was an opening to use e-comm differently. We call ourselves "Maiden Name" because we want to highlight the people and stories (the "maiden names") that usually get erased when things enter the public sphere. And we wanted to keep this feminist gesture, insisting on a kind of independence, even as we credited those that came before us. Tihngs by Eric OglanderPhoto by David Behl ![Tihngs by Eric OglanderPhoto by David Behl](https://assets-global.website-files.com/62ee0bbe0c783a903ecc0ddb/6472bb169dd6d4b6fed209cf_image-asset.jpeg) Tihngs by Eric Oglander Photo by David Behl **_What are your thoughts on the link between fine art and fashion?_** We think about this a lot, in part because we need to protect the fine artists we work with, and an association with fashion can make their work seem trivial. That's just a fact, even though, by and large, we think it's bunk. We think of artist/designers like Sonia Delaunay, or photographers like Grete Stern and Ilse Bing, who all straddled the worlds of art and fashion and did great work (a full century before Sterling Ruby and Cindy Sherman!). That's why we highlight them on our Instagram [@maiden.name.store](https://www.instagram.com/maiden.name.store/). But we do recognize the need to let art and fashion excel on their own terms. We want to produce fashion that's technically perfect, that's beautiful. Our objects are freer, in some ways, to be about other things––they can be "about" history; they can be weird, or conceptual. What unifies everything is our sense of our customer's needs––they want beautiful, thoughtful, well-made clothes, and they want to collect beautiful, thoughtful, and well-made objects. **_What influenced the first womenswear collection?_** The collection draws on Alix's archival research, so it brings together 19th-century reference pieces and touches of the 1970s, modernized and rendered in high-quality materials. The Zoe Shirt, for example, is modeled on an Edwardian grandfather shirt that was still in great condition because it was made in silk. Ours is silk too, and we hope it also lasts a century. We describe the core concept as "70s Renaissance Fair," which sounds odd, but the end products are all meant to be totally wearable and versatile. We want them to be sexy and smart. And it felt like that was missing from what's out there now. ![Maiden_Name_13598.jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56c346b607eaa09d9189a870/1573501580974-YYB5F3A8LFCQH4RVAIE2/Maiden_Name_13598.jpg) ![Maiden_Name_13517.jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56c346b607eaa09d9189a870/1573501581452-SWXSD8L5O0O9H8UYN3UP/Maiden_Name_13517.jpg) #block-yui\_3\_17\_2\_1\_1573483457321\_30140 .sqs-gallery-block-grid { margin-right: -10px; } #block-yui\_3\_17\_2\_1\_1573483457321\_30140 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid-slide .margin-wrapper { margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; } **_How does sustainability play a part in your collections?_** Sustainability is core to what we're trying to achieve. We make everything here in NYC, so it's a local supply chain. We use deadstock material, and because our production runs are so small, the wastage is minimal. More broadly, we need to slow consumption down (which is an odd thing for a fashion company to acknowledge). But we want customers to buy less and buy better. Our next step is to scale up in ways that will allow us to ensure sustainability from raw materials to end product. That's a challenge, particularly when you're small. **_You feature collaborative work with Paul Arnhold’s hand-blown glass and Eric Oglander’s collection of 19th and 20th-century folk art. What prompted the choice of these artists for your first collection?_** Paul is a dear friend making very beautiful work here in Brooklyn. That was a no-brainer. We found Eric through his "Craigslist Mirrors" project ([@craigslist\_mirrors](https://www.instagram.com/craigslist_mirrors/)) his Instagram-based collection of images, sourced from Craigslist, of mirrors for sale. We thought that was brilliant. And his Tihngs project is too. Both Eric and Paul have such distinct points of view (and are making work that is almost diametrically opposed, formally). So they seemed like great partners to open the collection with. Indigo Vase by Paul ArnholdPhoto by David Behl ![Indigo Vase by Paul ArnholdPhoto by David Behl](https://assets-global.website-files.com/62ee0bbe0c783a903ecc0ddb/6472bb169dd6d4b6fed209d2_Indigo%2BVase%2B2Le.Glass%2B060.jpeg) Indigo Vase by Paul Arnhold Photo by David Behl **_What are your favorite pieces from your inaugural collection?_** We love the Tamara Top. It almost verges into historical costume, but doesn't, and ends up being so cool. We also love the Tramp Box, which is sculptural, and modern, and old at the same time, and the Graffiti Vase, which is kind of a twisted take on Paul's other work. And we love the framed set of Leung Kui Ting prints––they look simple, but the more time you spend with them, the more you like them. That's always the real test when you collect. **_How do you envision the growth of Maiden Name?_** I think first and foremost we want Maiden Name to build out the line beyond shirting. We also want to have more of a physical presence. It's hard to communicate something like the perfect fit, or the beauty of hand painting without having people see things in the real world. At the same time, we want to expand our digital presence and knit together a community, folding in our friends in Berlin (at the end of 2019) and then with more cities in 2020. ![](https://assets-global.website-files.com/62ee0bbe0c783a903ecc0ddb/6472bb169dd6d4b6fed209b4_image-asset.jpeg) * * * Photography by: Matt Grubb Styling by: Gabriel Held Model: Fiffany Luu