Welcome to the latest episode of our Podcast series "In Conversation" where we bring you inspiring stories, retail insights and conversation from fashion's most influential business leaders.
Fashion Week is about to get underway in London once again and all the focus will of course be on the designers and the looks they send down the runway. But who actually produces those clothes? In many cases the answer will be MAES London, a fashion manufacturing business established by entrepreneur Diana Kakkar in 2018.
Diana trained as a fashion designer and has worked across Australia, the US and the UK gaining extensive experience in garment construction and design development.
She headed up the production development at London-based luxury label Erdem where she recognised the opportunity to establish a local manufacturer, that designers could trust and with whom they could develop a long-standing relationship.
MAES London has grown from a 500 sq foot space to a 4,000 sq foot studio in the short space of three years is now working with some of fashion’s biggest names including Erdem, Christopher Kane, Molly Goddard, Emilia Wickstead, Acne Studios and JW Anderson to name just a few. It also works with newly established sustainably focused labels, Berjoan and LR.D.
Diana talks to Lauretta Roberts, Editor in Chief of TheIndustry.fashion, about what it was that encouraged her to take the plunge and set up the business, what the response has been like, how it fared during the pandemic when fashion shows were cancelled, and what her vision is for the business moving forward.
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