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Mieego
Young snowsports enthusiast Philippa Lacey had had enough of what she saw as poorly designed gear for women - so she decided to do something about it. The result is Mieego, a smart range of tees and vests made in the UK that appeals to a broad cross section of female customers; menswear and more follows. Read on...
Philippa Lacey created Mieego to fill a need for clothing for active women that could be both practical and feminine - and of course, stylish. The bonus for most shops that stock Mieego, for example, is that it's not a well-known brand; for everyone that wants the ubiquitous branding of sporting giants, there is a differently discerning customer who wants quality clothing that looks good, and perhaps doesn't advertise a global brand name. These customers want to be in on the ground floor of something relatively individual, and Mieego's attitude and designs will appeal to those customers. It might not be classically outdoor clothing, but it has a crossover appeal; if your outdoor store stocks boardsports gear, a small brand like Mieego - which is getting a lot of coverage in niche press - could give you both kudos and extra sales.
SGB - Sports and Outdoor found out about the plans for the company from Philippa, and how from humble beginnings, there are plans to go far.
SGB: Why did you decide to form Mieego? What motivated you?
Philippa Lacey: After University, I decided to set up my own business where I was combining art and something that I'm really passionate about - clothing and snowboarding. Eventually, we'll hopefully get into snowboard clothes, the technical wear. When I decided which direction I wanted to go in, I thought I'll go and do another season on the snow just to make sure that's what I wanted to do, and it was like my last year of freedom, I suppose, and no responsibility. So I went back out. I initially had thoughts about getting into snowboarding perhaps professionally, because many people I've snowboarded with have said that they're surprised I don't do it. I started winning a few competitions, just little ones, and then I had a really bad injury, broke my back. So I was thinking well, obviously I'm a bit too old to do this now professionally. But I still want to be really involved in it, so that's why I've set up Mieego.
SGB: All of the Mieego line is British-made, isn't it? Why is that?
PL: There are so many people that were pattern cutters, for example, and they're now working in an office because there's no need for them because we don't have any factories in the UK any more. And I'd love to help bring that back, because where I get my stuff made up in Leicester, they're all there and it seems like a brilliant atmosphere to work in. I'd like to try and bring that back to this country, even in a small way. Everyone I've spoken to has been really behind it.
The one thing I believe with selling British-made goods is like, it costs me more than obviously getting it from Turkey or China or whatever, but it's not that much more. It's only adding couple of quid on the retail price, and if people know where it's from and have a clear conscience when they're buying it, I don't think a couple of quid makes a difference; if you're going to spend £30, then £32 isn't that much.
I think the public are getting fed up now with so many imported goods and so little made in the UK. I think people want to know that it's well made now, and know where it's from. I think in Britain especially the English are getting a bit more proud about their country, about getting things back here. I know I am and I know a lot of my friends think that, and I am the younger generation, so we'll see.
SGB: Where does your inspiration for designs - and for the company - come from?
PL: Basically, I got my inspiration from looking at everybody else's stuff out there thinking that it was rubbish and that I could do better. That's probably where my main drive comes from. If I'm feeling a little negative about things, I only have to go into town [Nottingham] and walk into Ark and look at certain T-shirts and think, 'oh my God, how do they sell?' I go straight back to work and rattle off ten designs really quick - but they're ten times better for me personally.
I find it difficult to shop sometimes, because there's just nothing I particularly like, just for day to day and casual wear, vests or T-shirts. Other clothes, more high fashion stuff, it's easier to buy, but T-shirts and more casual stuff, they just seem very limited and not very creative and I think there's a massive gap in the market there - not necessarily with the men's market, but with the ladies and girls, for some decent designed prints.
I think the guys have got some good stuff, but I don't know who designs women's and men's but they seem to forget about the girls' stuff a little bit. I've got two different ranges of designs, the men's and the ladies', but I'm also crossing over some designs, so you can get what you can get in both, slightly differently but near enough the same design. You see, whenever I start talking to girls my age or a bit younger, they always moan that you walk into a shop and you see - especially with snowboard clothes, in the Alps - a wicked jumper with a cool design on for the blokes, and then you look over to the girls side and it's got flowers or butterflies on it, and it's a stereotypically girly thing. You don't have cars on the guys' designs, so why do you have to suddenly have to go into girl mode? Yeah, it's nice to have flowers on certain things, but not in snowboarding, which is a unisex sport, so why shouldn't the clothing and fashion reflect that?
This year I bought a new snowboarding jacket and a new pair of snowboarding pants. My jacket is ladies' but my pants are men's, just because the way they fit, everything, there's more style to them. The girls' are so generically fitted; they go in in the leg and you can only wear them one way, so I bought men's small. And when I did last season, loads of girls just bought guys' jackets but in the smallest size. OK, they looked a bit big, but they said: "Well I'm not buying that, it's pink and flowery!" Of course, I'm not saying every girl thinks like that...
SGB: How many shops is your stuff in, currently?
PL: Right now I'm just in a couple. I've spent a long time sorting out the web site [http://www.mieego.com/] and my samples, and now it's time to get Mieego out there. I'm in a good shop in Newcastle, alongside Diesel, Paul Smith and the like, and in a record store in Soho, London called Uptown Records. With budgets and buying seasons, it's a bit of a waiting game as well. I went to Amsterdam for New Year and I went to four different places, two shops and two galleries; one gallery is more than happy, he's going to take some stuff on, and another really cool shop that supports local graffiti artists, said, yeah, definitely - but when we've got rid of this stock, speak to me at the end of February. So it's one of those things, you just have to wait.
SGB: What does the name mean?
PL: Mieego? I'm trying to be ironic with the whole Mieego thing and having it branded on the clothing. There are certain brands that are being churning out and people just buy them because of the brand name. I'm not going to mention any, but they're plastered all over and it's not actually that good. So I thought, well I'll have the name that's not well known not exactly plastered on it, but it's quite big, it's quite bold. Calling it Mieego [my-ego] it's trying to say that it's not the brand ego, it's the person who's wearing it's ego, but it could be taken any other way. And having something decent on it rather than just the name.
For more information about Mieego, visit the web site at http://www.mieego.com/ or email info@mieego.com
