About Mawi
The Company
With the majority of her formative years spent on the move, Mawi has found herself continuously immersed and in transit between a vast number of diverse cultures, taking with her a small piece from each of them as she has moved on – artifacts, experiences and influences that remain with her until this day. Tim, the son of an Antiques Dealer grew up surrounded by a trade that would teach him to become an avid collector and appreciator of vintage from childhood. Brought together through a shared love of collecting, Mawi a Womenswear Designer and Tim a Television Producer met thirteen years ago in London. A city that would become their home, their inspiration and the place where the Mawi brand would receive it’s first break.
Long before the brand became a reality, using her skills learnt in the craft of Womenswear design, Mawi created a small collection of handbags that would experiment with a plethora of fabrics from vintage remnants and those picked up at car boot sales. Polaroid pictures of the collection hanging from trees in a local park would create a look book that once sent to boutique The Cross in London’s Notting Hill, would see the whole lot snapped up. Not bad for a collection made entirely on Mawi’s home sewing machine. However, it wasn’t long before Mawi had to go back to the sewing machine after the collection was called upon a second time. Enter Simon Longland, an influential individual with some serious clout in the fashion industry, and the man who helped propel Mawi into the big league. Simon saw the potential in this fledgling collection and took a risk, placing Mawi’s creations on the ground floor at Selfridges to fight it out amongst global giants in the accessories world. With a serious pat on the back from a department store du jour, Mawi began to turn her focus towards accessories of another kind.
Collecting vintage trinkets had become a passion of Mawi and Tim’s, and a continually growing repertoire of over a thousand made for ample material for inspiration, experimentation and customization. No longer simply a hobby, the idea of playing around with jewellery became very real when Mawi launched her brand in 2003 becoming a paid exhibitor at London Fashion Week. A daunting time that can make or break a designer, the Mawi stand was inundated with interest so much so that the then rather small team of two were unable to deal with the influx of orders. Store owner and daughter of movie legend Jack Nicholson was so keen to get her hands on the Mawi line that she took a seat on the floor and continued to write out her own order. The British Fashion Council certainly sat up and took notice at this point, awarding the New Generation Award to Mawi for her equally successful sophomore collection and for two more consecutive seasons thereafter…who knows how many more of these titles Mawi may have been awarded since then had this not been the limit.
So, since the extremely successful collection of 2003, Mawi has no stood still. Described as having a life of its own, the Mawi brand continues to attract interest through it’s seasonal metamorphosis whilst managing to stay true to the designer’s signature. A skill that has enabled the brand to evolve with time yet still remain recognisable, Mawi’s pieces are those that are bought, worn, collected, cherished and at times passed on. Transcending seasonal whims and appealing to those of all ages and tastes, Mawi has well and truly captured a niche in the fashion market for contemporary costume jewellery.
Now in it’s sixth year but with plenty of growing yet to do, the Mawi team have settled in Dalston, East London in a studio that reflects the brand to a tee, even if it is literally bursting at the seams. The brand is appreciated both at home and around the world – with a dedicated following, some interesting projects in the pipeline and designers queuing up to collaborate. This really is an exciting time for Mawi, we think you’ll agree.
The Designer
Click on the image below to read the full interview:
Missy the Mawi mascot
The Queen might have a troop of Beefeater’s guarding her crown jewels, but here at Mawi we have something a little cuddlier. Meet Missy, our three year old Beagle, resident hoover and guard dog to the biggest jewellery collection east of Buckingham Palace.
Hailing from pedigree stock in the Welsh valleys, Missy owes her Crufts-worthy looks to her Grandfather, known better as Sir Cliff Richard in dog breeding circuits; whilst a heritage in hunting means that Missy is a natural at fending for herself when it comes to food. Seeing that these skills aren’t really required here in London, Missy the city Beagle has acquired quite a penchant for the remnants of fried chicken (apparently a local delicacy here in East London), and unfortunately the round tummy to match. Poor Missy, like most with a slight weight problem, things can fluctuate depending on what’s going on in her life, what grub Mawi’s visitors have in their handbags or sadly how much fried chicken finds itself here on the pavements of Dalston.
With an entourage fit for a diva, Missy has a nanny, a personal trainer (that’s a dog walker to you and me), and a personal stylist in the form of Mawi herself. Always rocking the latest in accessories, Missy can often be seen sporting the Mawi look long before it hits the shops. Lockets, medals, ribbon, diamante and pearls…this dog certainly knows how to accessorize, even if we do have to use steel wire to prevent any wardrobe malfunctions.
Like any good sniffer dog, Missy is a pro at the statutory bag check. However, if you are carrying anything suspicious you need not worry about it, this sniffer dog is after one thing and one thing only-FOOD. No bag is safe whether you’re a member of the Mawi team, a guy from DHL or a visitor from the world of fashion toting the latest ‘It Bag’; Missy is familiar with all well-known brands and can find her way into even the most exclusive of fastenings.
So, there you have it…the Mawi mascot and in-house security team all rolled into one. A trendsetter amongst the canines and a devil when it comes to an open handbag.
Keep checking our blog for more adventures from Missy. It really is a dog’s life.
