Interview with the founders of Maverix.

Is this current career one you always wanted to pursue? 

Madi: It sounds cliche and I'm about to do that spiel but I have always admired the fashion industry since a young age. It started with thousands of magazine cut outs displayed across my wall (much to my mothers horrors) which then evolved into spending hours late at night saving thousands of up and coming fashion designers' websites to my laptop. I knew eventually I would go down a path within the industry — I just wasn’t sure how owning my own business would be possible.

Ellie: For me, the path I’m on right now makes sense for me. I’ve always dabbled in multiple careers and different work avenues across varying industries, but I always had a side hustle going on from production, through to consulting. There’s something about owning your own business and wearing multiple hats daily that I absolutely love. It’s exciting and challenging and you never know what the day will bring. I’m a passionate person, vision lead, and I love being on a journey to create something unique and good for the planet. I’m honestly living my dream everyday. The fashion industry is creative, complex and plays a massive role in shaping society, and we have the opportunity to influence the world for good — in my eyes this is the best career path I could ever imagine.  

What do you love about this pathway you’re on?

Madi: For us it’s not about following in the traditional fashion industry’s footsteps. We want to carve our own lane, that’s much more about how we can make people feel good and not contribute to destroying our planet. It’s been an exciting challenge for us and I love that we follow our own hearts instead of doing what we think fashion industry experts want us to do.

Ellie: As Madi said, it’s not about joining the masses, we’re using our unique experiences and backgrounds to shape the fashion industry from a different lens. I think our naivety in areas of the business can be challenging when facing scary decisions, but we also see it as our greatest asset as there is nothing and no-one is shaping our direction but us. 

How would you describe your personal style - how has this evolved over the years?

Madi: I am not the girly girl type, I often think about the pant suit I might wear down the aisle one day. I definitely have that element of streetwear style with a mix of quite bold patterns and unique pieces. I think when I was younger my style was heavily influenced by my peers and often not what I truly wanted to wear. Whereas now I love being different, like, hell yeah I’m going to rock up to a fancy party wearing checkered pants.

 Ellie: Much the same as Madi, my style is a streetwear, classy hybrid. I’m a huge fan of op-shops and oversized jackets, like your menswear bomber or football jacket. Pair that with a classy shirt and pant set or dress with boots, that’s a bit of me in my element! I also love to be bold, I have no fear when it comes to colour or patterns, I will happily be the loudest in the room. 

Who is your favourite designer?

Madi: I love everything about Paloma Wool. I discovered them years ago just as they were in their infancy and it’s been amazing to watch them evolve into a brand that’s very inspired by art and culture, there's no such thing as trends they stay true to who they are and the unique aspect of their pieces means it’s never out of style.

Ellie: I would have to say Charlotte Simone. If you haven’t seen these vegan coats, wowee take a look! Everything about them is just breathtaking. They’re extremely bold and unique, limited edition, and scream ‘the streets of London’. You would bury me in a Charlotte Simone coat.

How do your Made by Maverix pieces make you feel? Do they inspire a feeling, time, memory?

Madi: I don’t know about you guys but I HATE spending hours figuring out what I want to wear for the day. That’s why we created good quality basics that can pair with literally anything you already own and not have to think too hard about it. Basics are a no brainer for a good outfit and are the foundation of a wardrobe.

Ellie: The Made by Maverix pieces in my eyes are the absolute perfect wardrobe staples and it makes me incredibly proud that we hear this exact feedback from our customers of different shapes and sizes who own these pieces. This was our first fashion line and a really challenging journey to embark on, from design through to production as we both (naively) had never done anything close to this before. Everyday was a learning but an extremely rewarding process and experience to go through.

Why is sustainability important to you?

Ellie: We can’t just sit by and ignore the information about global warming. It’s frightening to think about future generations who will have to deal with the impacts of our actions, and not only that, it's just not fair. Madi and I said to each other, honestly if we don’t do something about educating sustainable change, who will?  

Madi: Right. It’s very easy to turn a blind eye to what’s really going on behind the fashion industry scenes. We felt, as a business, we had a moral obligation to do whatever we could to educate people on how their choices matter and to provide sustainable options that were more accessible. We have to lead change for our future.

What are your intentions for the future?

Madi: To continue to challenge industry practices and to put a voice behind sustainability. Even if every brand could be 1% better than they were last year that would make a huge difference. 

Ellie: Build on the foundations of our sustainable ethos in a meaningful, innovative way that lifts the industry standards. We want to build a community of changemakers this industry desperately needs.    

What are three actions everyone can take to make their fashion consumption more ethical and sustainable?

Madi:

-Rewear your clothing. Repeating outfits and getting creative is half the fun.

-Buy less, buy right. Think about longevity of an item and whether that actually fits into your current wardrobe.

-Look up fabric information before buying. If you're going to buy a cotton t-shirt try to scout out brands that use organic cotton instead. You wouldn’t believe the impact cotton has on workers health & the environment as a whole.

Ellie:

-Look for quality. Ask yourself will this item last for years to come and surpass trends.

-Care for your items as you would any valuable possession. Care instructions are such an integral part of item longevity. I’m guilty of accidentally putting a white top in the wash with blue jeans and guess what ended up in a landfill…

-It’s easy to turn a blind eye to this, but I urge everyone to dig deep and reflect on what you actually value and care about, and hold those values close when you shop. If you care about eliminating slave labour, animal cruelty, climate change, then do your part in changing the future path of our planet through buying with consciousness. 

MY FAVOURITE THINGS

 Summer or winter?

Ellie: I love the long nights of summer, but when it comes to choosing an outfit the Auckland humidity makes it extremely hard to look cute when you become a sweaty mess! I think NZ has the best of both worlds with seasonality and temperature, but you can’t beat a layered winter look. 

Madi: This is an incredibly hard one. I love both. Nothing beats a long, warm summer day BUT I adore winter fashion and rugging up for a snowy day.

Currently reading?

Madi: Atomic Habits by James Clear.

Ellie: Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss.

Playlist you’re loving right now?

Madi: If you stalk my Spotify I have a playlist for almost every mood. So depending on how I am feeling I will pick one of those.

Ellie: Same here, I’m a real audible, podcast type of gal so my Spotify is usually crowded by inspirational poddys. Otherwise, I honestly love my daily mixes — Spotify has nailed it for me.