Fashion designer Maggie Hewitt spent level 4 lockdown at her family home in Kerikeri. Photo / Supplied
Northland-born fashion designer Maggie Hewitt talks to reporter Jenny Ling about having four years of sustainable business under her belt and what Covid-19 has done for the industry.
Maggie Hewitt seems to have a love-hate relationship with the fashion industry.
On one hand, her global clothing brand, Maggie Marilyn, has earned her a place in the spotlight, amid the glitz and glamour of high fashion, dressing the likes of Michelle Obama and Meghan Markle.
Yet the 26-year-old isn't afraid to talk frankly about - and even condemn - the industry she has worked in for the last four years.
Throughout this interview she repeatedly describes it as "awful".
Which is where Hewitt's desire for change comes in.
The Auckland-based fashionista runs the business she launched fresh out of design school with a big focus on sustainability.
She is striving to be a leader in an industry notorious for unethical practices and poor working conditions.
"It's not a nice industry," she said. "I want to create an industry that feels optimistic and empowering.
"How can we make a tangible impact on peoples' lives and empower hundreds of people through Maggie Marilyn as a business? That's what gets me out of bed in the morning."
Hewitt was born and raised in Northland, doing most of her schooling in Kerikeri before a stint at boarding school in Auckland as a teenager.
Her interest in fashion started when, feeling miserable at boarding school, she'd pop to the shops to buy glossy magazines as a way of escape.
"I decided I'd love to be in the fashion industry. Little did I know what I was getting into. It's not about glossy magazines at all - it's a pretty awful industry actually.
"It masks a lot through beauty and clothes and fashion magazines, but the environmental and social toll it takes is awful.
"The people involved in making those clothes, how little they're paid and the impact from fibres, has a negative environmental impact."
There's also waterway pollution from chemicals used in dying, tonnes of clothing sent to landfill, and massive migrant exploitation.
Hewitt didn't know that at the time, of course, and went on to pursue a fine arts degree at Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design, graduating in 2015.
She studied fashion and sustainability and, as the reality of her profession became clear, decided to do something about it while creating a name for herself.
The same year she won the Whitecliffe College Fashion Show for outstanding and sustainable design.
Her clothing label, Maggie Marilyn, was launched in September 2016, and the following year she was shortlisted for the LVMH Prize by a panel of judges including Karl Lagerfeld and Marc Jacobs.
Her first collection was snapped up by Net-a-Porter, then featured in Vogue.com and at Paris Fashion Week.
Hewitt has been on the cover of New York Times Style Magazine and has met the likes of US Vogue editor-in-chief of Anna Wintour.
2018 and 2019 were standout years for the brand: Michelle Obama wore a mint green suit at an event in Canada; the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, donned a Leap of Faith Blazer Dress; and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern appeared on the cover of Next magazine wearing Hewitt-designed clothes.
As well as her store in Newmarket, her label is stocked in over 50 stores worldwide.
She's doing pretty well for someone who says she is "not much of a fashion girl and more of a country girl".
"I've got huge ambition for what we want to achieve, not only in the fashion industry but inspiring other leaders in other industries to adopt a circular model as well.
"It's been a pretty exciting journey but one we feel is nowhere near done."
GROWING UP in Northland has "hugely" influenced Hewitt's work.
When designing, she likes nothing more than getting out of the city and heading to her family home in the Bay of Islands.
"I grew up in a household where mum and dad didn't let us sit inside and watch TV all day, we had to be outside doing things.
"I was lucky to have grown up in such a beautiful environment.
"There's a freeness to my clothing, probably because I felt I had a very free upbringing.
"I'm more of a country girl at heart, it helps to recentre me when I'm getting too stressed."
Until Auckland lumbered back to alert level 3 on August 12, Hewitt had been spending a lot more time in the Far North because of international travel restrictions.
She spent level 4 lockdown at her parents' place in Kerikeri.
"It's an important place for the family. I still feel a very strong connection to the Bay of Islands.
"Every time I go up there I think how can I run the business from up there. It's such a magical part of the county and I feel blessed to call that place home."
Hewitt's connection to the North is so strong she even named her second clothing line after the family home called Somewhere, located down a tiny gravel road on the outskirts of Kerikeri.
Hewitt describes the Somewhere line as an "everyday essentials line for those craving a simpler life".
"It's about coming back to basics," she said. "The line is what I grew up wearing: oversize T-shirts, merino jumpers and ripped jeans.
"What we're now working on is making it accessible for people. Why should clothing be a luxury? It should be something everyone can buy into."
Even so, a blazer in the Somewhere line will set you back $650, a hoodie $240 and a cardigan $295.
But since the garments have been consciously designed, they have the ability to be recycled with the aim of creating a waste-free, landfill-free fashion system.
The price tags are significantly less than the main Maggie Marilyn line, which includes the $1200 I Would Do It All Again Dress and the $1795 Call Me Cruella De Vil Coat.
"That was a line to let my creative juices flow; it's whimsical and feminine. It's about every woman that puts on a piece feeling really empowered."
FOR HEWITT, sustainability isn't just a word, it's a whole language.
Her website even has a glossary of terms to educate customers in a bid to be transparent.
Ethical working conditions, environmentally friendly manufacturing, pesticide-free farming and ethically sourced materials are all part of the lingo.
"Words commonly used like sustainability and ethical fashion have been misappropriated so many times. For us it comes back to how can we empower every person through our supply chains."
Suppliers are asked to sign a code of conduct outlining standards relating to animal welfare, chemical and water use, greenhouse gas emissions, living wage, working conditions and waste management.
And while items are shipped around the world, the company works with Toitu Envirocare to measure and reduce its carbon emissions.
Hewitt's company is now carbon-reduced certified.
"We know what our carbon emissions are and are working on a reduction plan for the next 12 months.
"Whatever we can't reduce due to factors like shipping and airfreight we will offset that through carbon-sequestering initiatives."
As for the fashion world post-Covid, it's pretty much business as usual for Hewitt.
For much of the industry though, it's a mixed bag.
"Sustainability is the biggest buzzword out at the moment," she said.
"Covid put some of that on hold for some businesses which is a shame.
"On the other hand, the global pandemic has been a reset for our industry.
"It's allowed designers and creatives to step off the treadmill and reassess the industry moving forward.
"We've been charting in this new direction for a couple of years now so it doesn't affect us that much. Sustainability has been at the heart of Maggie Marilyn since we launched."
HEWITT IS currently working on a project aimed at creating jobs in Northland.
While she won't reveal the details yet, it's part of an apprenticeship programme to help foster the next generation of talented makers and is expected to be launched before the end of the year.
"Everyone feels a sense of connection to where they come from," Hewitt said.
"Northland gave me so much, it made me the person that I am.
"It feels natural to be able to continue to invest back in New Zealand as well.
"We benefit so much from heroing the country on a world stage as a brand; it's only right we invest back in creating jobs for Kiwis."
Even with its flaws, Hewitt still believes in the fashion industry and in the power of clothing.
"A lot of people think fashion is a frivolous industry but I think the world needs creativity and beautiful things to allow people to dream and feel inspired.
"When a customer comes in and their eyes light up when they put something on, it allows them to be best version of themselves.
"If we can do that for our customers and reinvest back into our supply chains, then we would have done our job right."
Biggest business lesson:
Always follow your gut and be guided by your intuition. Having a purpose and a mission-led brand has also helped us get through the tough times.
Biggest challenge:
Being a leader. Being at the helm of a brand. Being responsible for peoples' livelihoods and also inspiring them. Also having tough conversations with staff and learning as a woman to be assertive and to not apologise for knowing what you want.
Biggest highlight:
Making a tangible impact on people's lives and empowering hundreds of people through Maggie Marilyn as a business. That's what gets me out of bed in the morning.
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