Maje, modern and offbeat.
French brand Maje creates collections of clothing and accessories for women aimed at women "who pack a lot more than 24 hours into each day", brilliantly combining a casual daytime wardrobe and evening wear so that evening dresses, skirts, shirts and cashmere jumpers can be mixed and matched. The creative director is passionate about details, and designs simple quality pieces with meticulous finishings, accessories and leather goods. Inspired by the ethno chic trend at the time of its launch, the brand has adopted a more urban style over the years, and added to its offering of blazers, trench coats, reefer jackets and other classics of feminine fashion.
From Maje to M.
Maje is an acronym translating designer Judith Milgrom's affection towards her family: M for Miligrom, A in reference to Alain, her brother who has been at her side since the brand was launched, J for Judith and E in tribute to her sister Évelyne Chetrite, the director of the ready-to-wear label Sandro. After spending her childhood in Morocco, with her mother and grandmother who initiated her into the crafts of sewing and embroidery, Judith Milgrom moved to Paris. She spent five years learning the ropes in different feminine fashion houses, before founding Maje in 1998. Success came immediately. The label is today distributed in over one thousand points of sale in France and elsewhere in the world including big multi-brand department stores like Harrods, in the centre of the British capital.
From clothes to accessories, Maje is an all-rounder. Some of its creations have over time become must-haves pieces, like the M bag, which has become a real It bag. Launched on 3 March 2016, this bohemian-inspired fringed piece originally came in a choice of seven colours and two materials, leather and suede. On the back of this instant success, the Maje M bag is wearing new colours this year and is now available in different sizes. This ethnic influence that the brand holds dear is also obvious in the leather or canvas Maje belts; once they've been tied around the waist, they'll enhance any outfit with an offbeat touch of fantasy. As for the minimalist-shaped jewellery, it is either adorned with Swarovski rhinestones, or symbols representing the different signs of the zodiac, which can be found on the necklaces, for example. Final touch to the Maje silhouette, a scarf tied loosely around the neck completes the elegant look.
Risk-taking and engaged.
When first launched, Maje was only available in multi-brand stores, today however it is sold in a huge network of dedicated boutiques, in France and internationally. Very quickly, Lou Doillon and Alexa Chung imposed themselves as muses of this eclectic ready-to-wear. Judith Milgrom loves growing collaborations and experiments and is always ready to open up her world to other brands, for example the collaboration with K-way, rainwear specialist, which gave rise to modern, technically innovating pieces. The brand has also collaborated with personalities such as New Yorker Vanessa Traina and the duo of French disk jockeys the Putafranges, who have all managed to wow the fashion world with the ready-to-wear brand, for the time it took to design capsule collections where print dresses, jackets, knitwear or coats elevated the company's established codes and reinvented themselves in a way that was ever-more original. The label also works hard in favour of Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque, and asked Vanessa Paradis and Inès de la Fressange to create wool or silk Maje scarves, which are sold in the boutiques especially for the association. In 2011, Judith Milgrom won the prestigious gold women's trophy in the category "woman of style".
Key pieces that alone convey Maje's universe: