MUUS Lena Maksimova: Basic outfits with frills and ruffles

WONDERZINE PRESENTS YOUNG DESIGNERS and tells where and how you can buy their things. Our heroine this week is Lena Maximova, the founder of the brand of the same name.

Under the heading "New Brand" we try to tell not only about the intricate design ideas and sophisticated clothes, but first of all the collections of simple, understandable and universal things that are not worth a lot of money. That is why we often opt for second lines of young brands, like nuBEKH or Base Forms. The second line is the ability to make clothes "for life", always focused on a wider audience than the main one. The same applies to the democratic MUUS line Lena Maksimova, a young designer Lena Maximova, originally from Yakutia, whose design career can be called rapid.

Lena graduated from the State Architecture and Art Academy with a specialization in "costume design" in 2013 and after moving to St. Petersburg, she managed to work as a merchandiser in the DLT. Her portfolio also includes an internship in the team of Dmitry Loginov Arsenicum. It was this experience - participation in the streamlined production process - that pushed her to create her own brand of clothing. In order to promote it, the designer decided to follow the path that many talented young Russian designers have avoided, and has relied on domestic fashion weeks. The debut of the brand happened at home - in the framework of the Yakut fashion week. This was followed by Aurora Fashion Week and MBFW.

At the end of 2015, the brand split into two lines: UOT Lena Maksimova and MUUS Lena Maksimova. And if the first is expensive and conceptual clothing, often designed in a single copy or available on pre-order, then MUUS is comfortable things of a free cut, distinctive, but also available to much larger audience. It is easy to notice that the summer collection of MUUS Lena Maksimova was created in accordance with world trends, while delicately and without direct quotation. The designer supports the “new comfort” course, promoted by Rosetta Getty and Trademark: shirts with ruffles, ruffles, combination dresses, a kimono-like trench coat — you want to wear all these things here and now.

Now there are four people in the staff of Lena Maksimova: the designer herself, the brand manager, the graphic designer and the tailor. On the threshold and during fashion weeks, of course, the team is growing - tailors and assistants are involved in the case. At the same time, the brand does not cooperate with large-scale production, since "the brand team relies on reasonable consumption and tries to organize its work so that things can serve its owner for many years."

As for retailers, the brand prefers shops that can give financial guarantees, but they are also similar to the brand in concept. At the moment in St. Petersburg it is 8 Store and Fligel Store, and in Moscow - the showroom Kursovoy. In addition, things can be bought directly in social networks - in particular, through the brand instagram.

Now, while working on a new collection of the UOT line of Lena Maksimova, I light up from every new idea, experiment, try and not be afraid to burn myself. The situation with MUUS Lena Maksimova is different. Since this is a commercial line, you have to devote more time to non-creative activities: to weigh everything, to calculate, to ponder - so to speak, to cool your passion. It is good that I can entrust part of this work to my team and devote the time taken to the realization of my ideas.