Hello-Hello, and happy middle of the week to you.
Today we follow-up on a story previously discussed, the launch of a retail endeavor from two young women familiar with fashion, more from the Daily Mail.:
Fashion entrepreneur Chris Burch’s daughters, Pookie and Louisa, have struck out on their own this week with the launch of their label, Trademark. The girls, 29 and 25, respectively, have been raised in fashion (they still call Tory Burch, married to their father until 2006, a stepmother).
Trademark
That story is headlined this way:
Is this the new J.Crew? Chris Burch’s daughters Pookie and Louisa strike out on their own with Trademark – an affordable fashion label full of fun, preppy goods
More looks via Style.com.
StyleFile Blog
There isn’t a huge selection of merchandise at this point, but you can certainly grasp the style aesthetic the young women are reaching for. Below, the Wright Dress in navy plaid, also available in citronelle plaid ($168.)
Trade-mark
Back to the Daily Mail story:
Part American preppy, part Japanese minimalism, Trademark offers pieces that have been created ‘to be worn as one’s own trademark,’ according to a statement issued by the label, which launched online yesterday following three years of development.
These modern art references manifest in Trademark’s color palette – an Albers-signature combination of natural tones like dark evergreen and rust, juxtaposed by brights and pastels including royal blue and pale yellow.
Trademark
A touch of the blues the Daily Mail talked about: the Scuba Cardigan ($198) in royal blue, white, and turkey blue.
Trademark
An unstructured jacket and skirt.
Trademark
StyleFile’s story references the duo’s background and early exposure to fashion.
Trademark’s aesthetic is an extension of the pair’s own collective fashion experience, which includes summers spent in Nantucket searching for the consummate sweater; scouring Tokyo or other exotic locales for inspiration (much to Pookie’s dismay, as she hates flying); collecting Breton-striped shirts (Louisa); or even eavesdropping on Chris or Tory’s phone calls during car rides from suburban Philadelphia, where they were raised, to New York.
A few more pieces are shown below: on the left, the Koorsgaard Shirt ($128) and the same plaid seen above is used for the Saleci Skirt ($158). The skirt is available in solid colors as well.
Trademark
Trademark has a crisp, casual vibe: there is very little clutter on the site and product images are hipper, clean of frou-frou embellishment.
Trademark
Trademark offers some basic wovens: the Cole Shirt ($148) and Eliot Tee ($108) are both made of cotton poplin.
Trademark
This is one of the stronger looks on the site, the Noddings Jacket ($188) and Mantinea Kilt ($168).
Trademark
The Daily Mail article mentions something yours truly noticed:
One of the more distinctive things about the label, though, is how not one of the looks in its promotional images have been styled with heels.
In fact, Trademark is solely offering two flat sandal styles (from $195 to $225) as its introductory footwear designs – each one appearing as tapered riff on classic Birkenstock styles.
Read more:
Below, the Pajama Sandal ($225) in brown, navy and honey. While not my cup of tea it looks über-comfy. The other shoe is the Cadiz Sandal, $195, not shown here.
Trademark
The brand also carries bags and jewelry; we show a selection of bangles.
Trademark
Referring to the company’s styles as preppy does a disservice to the brand. By and large the looks are not “preppy,” a term being used more and more to define a fashion interpretation far removed from its original loose definition. Many items in the Trademark line may, and will, appeal to those who also appreciate a Brooks Brothers shirt. But the company really targets a trendier, more youthful clientele. There are wonderful wardrobe basics one can build an entire look around and the pricing doesn’t seem outrageous, presuming the quality is excellent. StyleFile addresses the quality issue:
Their stock will be replenished with new styles every month, and is comprised of beautifully constructed garments that reflect the girls’ reserve and practicality.
This one will be fun to watch.
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Also today, fashions created by someone much younger than the Burch sisters.
@2Sisters_Angie Instagram
Say hello to Mayhem, the 4-year old style child shown above. Here is more from the Huffington Post:
It became clear Angie’s daughter (she calls her “Mayhem”) was more interested in fashion than the average 4-year-old. Mayhem shunned her store-bought princess dresses and started wrapping herself with scarves and sheets creating her own styles.
Then one day Angie got tired of finding her clothes in Mayhem’s toy box and suggested they make a dress out of paper. Mayhem loved the idea and they haven’t stopped creating paper dresses since.
Writer Ilana Wiles of Mommy Shorts says the dresses started out this way, as relatively simple ‘fashions’ …
2Sisters_Angie
But they soon blossomed into far more complex designs.
Via @2Sisters_Angie Instagram
As for the supplies Mayhem uses? Back to Ilana’s HuffPo story:
We use a lot of construction paper, but we also use tissue paper, wrapping paper, and gift bags. We have also used silk scarves, tulle, and aluminum foil. Basically, if we can find it laying around the house and it’s pliable, it’s fair game. Clear packing tape and glue are our adhesives of choice
Seeing these two frocks my immediate thought was, “Oh, dresses for St. Patrick’s Day and Mardi Gras”.
Fashions by Mayhem @2Sisters_Angie Instagram
As for the question of how much is done by mom and done by daughter, the dress above right was created entirely by Mayhem with no help from her mother whatsoever. Below, Mayhem at work.
Fashion by Mayhem
The story about Mayhem that Ilana Wiles wrote for HuffPo brought an awful lot of attention to Mayhem and her family:
First, we can’t begin to tell you how humbling it is to have so many people reaching out to us and sharing that our story of making paper dresses has either touched or inspired them in some way. The kind words have brought smiles, laughs and at times, even tears (the good kind). I’m literally still shaking my head and saying “but we’re just hanging out at home making paper dresses…”.
Sometimes Mayhem channels a haute couture piece.
2Sisters_Angie Instagram via Huffington Post
Mayhem’s mother wrote about the pressure of the notoriety:
…we put the brakes on. And stopped panicking about the hundreds of emails labeled “Urgent”, “Immediate Response”, “Oscars”, “Red Carpet”, “Exclusive” and “Extremely Time Sensitive”. We stopped answering the phone. And we started asking questions like: How do we keep Mayhem safe? How do we keep this fun? How do we maintain our integrity? How do we manage all this? Do we want something else to come from this? Which opportunities could we embrace and still have the kind of family life that is important to us? So we made phone calls and put some things in place to make life a little more manageable.
The Fashion by Mayhem site offers more than just photos of Mayhem in her dresses, there are tutorials and tips. Below, a look at the finished project for the “Anatomy of a Project Runway Dress“post.
Fashion by Mayhem
Here are the elements of the dress.
Fashion by Mayhem
Mayhem (with help from Mom) came up with a number of Oscar-related frocks this week.
Fashion by MayhemWe’ll leave you with two more of my favorites: a pink and green style accompanied by this caption: “Because yesterday she learned what “flip your hair back” means ;)” The other just shrieks ‘spring,’ something desperately needed here in The Great Midwest and elsewhere.
Fashion by Mayhem
That is one creative duo. If so inclined, visit Fashion by Mayhem or follow the Instagram account here.