A Conversation with ... Maria Liu
Photography Logan Preste
Maria Liu is a Gold Coast based designer who began mid-2015 crafting handmade lingerie under the label Miss Liu. In the following years she released a number of collections as well as making appearances in local magazines and shows, as well as diversifying her collections to include swimwear and streetwear-style cut-and-sew pieces.
But following the release of her late-2018 collection, the 22-year-old designer took some time off to redefine herself, and her brand.
The new MLIU collection released on the 24th of February this year, entitled Chapter One. The collection features an interesting mix of cuts and fabric across 5 pieces, each of which is available Blank or Marked, an allusion to the ‘dichotomy between a guarded or an exposed heart’.
The Blank pieces present relatively minimalistic, only adorned with the label’s new logo, an anatomical heart. Contrastingly, the Marked pieces feature a variety of diary-entry inspired emotionally evocative phrases like “BREATHE”, “I’M NOT MAKING SENSE”, and “WHY IS THIS ME”. Customers are also encouraged to include phrases of their own to be added to the garment during the purchasing process, adding a layer of individuality to the already unique garments.
Perhaps what’s most striking about the brand’s re-emergence is the response to it. Beyond the words on the clothing itself, people who interact with the brand are taking the time to open up about their mental health and personal struggles, whether that’s through social media posts about the pieces, or through Maria’s new collection of interviews with models about their mental health experiences.
Maria herself remarked on the amazing response to her collection, acknowledging she’d had some doubts about her new direction until she realised how many people were opening up about their mental health in response to it.
In turn, I’ve asked her to open up about how the brand got to where it is today.
BYO: Would you mind introducing yourself and your brand?
MARIA: My name is Maria Liu and I'm the founder and creative director of MLIU.
MLIU is a women’s fashion label dedicated to showcasing 'What's Real'. In a society obsessed with only showing the highlights we felt that it was important to highlight the dark times, the struggles and what's real.
MLIU is heavily centred around the topic of mental health, I felt that it was important to start an open dialogue around this topic because of the standards that society places on women. Speaking about mental health and being able to open up about it (which I'm only starting to learn) is important because like many other women I've had to deal with these issues alone. My goal is to express myself within my clothing, to share my story and hopefully help others share their own.
BYO: When did you first become interested in clothing?
MARIA: Fashion has always been a part of my life. My parents met in Japan and were drawn to each other partly because of their sense of style. So I grew up with fashion constantly in my life, especially luxury given that my father has worked in luxury boutiques most of his life. I first started designing lingerie, which then turned into creating swimwear, and soon after I started sewing jumpers and leotards from my garage. Skip to now and we're manufacturing our garments in Portugal (which is crazy to even think about).
Photography Sam Nozuhur
BYO: How did you learn to make clothing? Are there any designers you looked to, or still look to, for inspiration?
MARIA: I first learned how to sew in high school during 'sports' class, then started sewing at home, after a while I went to college to learn more about creating garments but ended up skipping most classes and dropping out. So, I'm mostly self-taught but definitely had some help along the way.
I don't necessarily feel inspired by other designers' clothing, I feel that when I look to other designs for ‘inspiration’ I'm trying to force the idea and it doesn't feel authentic. Usually the only way I'm inspired by other designers is because of their mindset. How they think, how they go about crafting their clothes, their perspectives, their past struggles with mental health etc. That's how I'm inspired by other designers. Other than that, inspiration for me definitely stems from a feeling.
BYO: Did you ever consider a different path, potentially another creative one?
MARIA: I was weighing up between either architecture or psychology, I guess that's a mix of my interest in design and the mind. But then I realised I definitely didn't want to go to university. Since then fashion has been my only option, any other wouldn't feel right.
BYO: For a lot of people, styling themselves is already a sort of creative outlet. What inspired you to go beyond that and design clothing? and how would you distinguish the two creative outlets?
MARIA: I agree, styling yourself is a form of expressing who you truly are. For most of us, the clothing you wear is a reflection of yourself, your interests, your beliefs and your personality.
For me, creating the clothing from beginning to end is in a way a sort of meditation, I find that I zone out of what's around me and focus my energy on crafting my garments. I guess the reason I started designing clothing was because it was an outlet. Since I can remember I've used things like drawing, painting and writing as outlets, so in retrospect given my love for fashion, designing clothes to focus my energy just made sense.
BYO: Meditation is an interesting way of putting it. In that case, how do you perceive the previous MLIU collections (and meditations) in the context of this current ‘Chapter One’ collection? Do they serve as a sort of Prologue? Or are they completely separate?
MARIA: I guess you're right, in a way the previous collections were a prologue to myself as a designer and also to MLIU. It was me figuring out who I am but also steadily evolving the label into what it is today. The reason we decided to name this collection 'Chapter One' is because it's the beginning of me telling my story but also the start of what MLIU should've been from the beginning, a reflection of the heart.
BYO: What was the transition like, going from your previous collections and into Chapter One? Was this kind of direction something you had already decided when you finished up with your previous run (I think early 2019)? What inspired the change?
MARIA: There was a big gap between my previous collection and Chapter One. A lot changed in such a short time, I’ve had to reflect a lot on who I am and my life up until now. The goal had always just been to create my pieces and at a point in my life where I had lost track of that a bit, my current partner came back into my life, believed in what I was doing and committed himself to helping make my dreams come true.
So no, I wouldn’t say the direction was planned but I would definitely say it is the right direction for me and for MLIU.
BYO: You’ve chosen to share your name with your brand, obviously this isn’t anything out of the ordinary in the fashion world, but I was wondering whether you distinguish between yourself and what the brand represents?
MARIA: Well, MLIU is based on me so I feel that the two are instinctively intertwined. In my past and even in my present I've had to deal with my own mental health, which is directly reflected in what MLIU stands for. If MLIU wasn't closely tied to my heart, it wouldn't feel authentic, it wouldn't feel real. MLIU saved me, without it I don't know where I'd be.
BYO: Since your brand is a reflection of you, and this sense of realness or authenticity, who do you imagine your ideal customer to be?
MARIA: Someone who's experienced or has dealt with mental health in some way, shape or form. A person who expresses themselves through their style, appreciates art and goes through life searching for a deeper meaning.
BYO: I noticed in some of your earlier collections there was an emphasis on Asian identity, I think it seemed like you even made an effort to use Asian models. Is that something you’re still conscious of?
MARIA: I think the reason my past collections had a majority of Asian models was because I grew up in an Asian household, which I guess influenced me to pay more attention to the eastern fashion culture. You don't really see any of that in Australia, it's usually the same look for every fashion brand, so in hindsight I wanted to do something different.
BYO: At times I’ve heard the Gold Coast referred to as a little bit of a ‘cultural wasteland,’ a friend in the industry pointed out that if you open up the location tag in Instagram it tends to be 90% beach pictures. And having lived there myself, it did seem that swim and skate-core were the main styles available. Is this one-dimensionality something you struggle with in terms of finding a market for your clothes?
MARIA: You're pretty much spot on. Given that the Gold Coast is a tourist destination and is a beach city it really only occupies skater brands and swimwear labels, also given the fact that Australia is a young country, there isn't much fashion culture in general compared to the U.S or Europe for example. The only places you would find a somewhat diverse fashion culture in Australia are the capital cities which is where we focus most of our attention. The Gold Coast unfortunately just isn't our market, even though we love it here.
BYO: I’ve heard designers talk about clothing in terms of comfort and challenge—roughly speaking, the idea that each piece or collection sits at a point on a spectrum, one end emphasises familiarity and the other emphasises newness and experimentation. Where do you imagine your pieces sit?
MARIA: For this collection, I would say my pieces sit in between both familiarity and experimentation. They are all familiar pieces, but they all equally have a touch of uniqueness, just like the human mind.
For example, the 'Grey T-shirt', I chose a unique fabric where it almost feels like a swimwear piece, or the Oversized Overalls; I removed one of the straps and extended the width to make it even more oversized than the regular 'oversize' cut. But other than the garment construction for 'Chapter One' we've allowed our customers the option to have their own personal thoughts and stories written on the garments. Marking garments with writing isn't anything new but writing our customers thoughts on their own pieces is. So I guess you could say we're trying to do what's been done with a twist.
BYO: In terms of the make of your garments, you’ve actually shifted manufacturing to Portugal for Chapter One, do you mind explaining the reason for that?
MARIA: Europe is known for high quality craftsmanship, that was the main reason we decided to manufacture our pieces in Portugal for 'Chapter One'. Also, my partner is half Portuguese so it kind of made it feel like home. To me, other than the quality of craftsmanship I want to try to choose a destination that I'm somewhat tied to, that way it feels more comfortable.
BYO: Modern shoppers are increasingly placing importance on the ethics and sustainability of their clothing. I’ve heard that smaller labels sometimes find it hard to commit to these values because they tend to draw a higher price point. But I’m curious as to whether these are things you’re also making a push for?
MARIA: I think it's great that we are all so much more aware of the importance and ethics of sustainability. It is of course a higher price point because most things that are good for the world are harder to produce on a larger scale. At the moment all of our packaging is either biodegradable or compostable, starting from the next collection we're aiming to create every garment only using sustainable and recycled materials. We aim to be a 100% sustainable brand from beginning to end in the near future.
BYO: It’s good to see smaller brands placing an emphasis on ethics and sustainability. From what I understand clothing manufacturing in Portugal is generally considered to have some of the highest standards of worker conditions and rights. And I understand you took the time to visit the manufacturer yourself?
MARIA: Yeah they do which is super important considering the working conditions within the textile industry is something that's usually glossed over when it comes to businesses and the consumer, because the clothing is cheaper. It's good to see with the rise of social media that some consumers are making an effort to buy their clothes consciously.
BYO: I think what’s interested me most about your brand are the reactions to it. I’ve seen a few very heartfelt comments and reflections on mental health in response to some of your pieces. Are these sorts of responses what you hope to evoke with MLIU?
MARIA: The responses so far have been amazing and it was definitely a surprise as to how many women not only opened up to us, but opened up on their social platform. I think it's really important that we create this kind of atmosphere where it's okay to open up about certain things and to be able to share that with others without being judged and instead to be given support by one another. Social media is only the highlight reel, and majority of the time you wouldn't be able to tell that someone you follow is dealing with a hard time or not. I believe creating dialogue around mental health is very important and we want to continue doing this.
BYO: In the past you’ve made appearances at shows and fashion events, unfortunately with Covid-19 those sorts of events aren’t as feasible. How are you trying to reach out to new customers during the crisis? Has it impacted any of your scheduling or plans to release further collections?
MARIA: Yes, I've had the opportunity to work with people and events within the industry based in Gold Coast and Brisbane. As we only relaunched the brand in February this year, we hit an unfortunate timing with Covid-19. Social Media and the internet as we know, changed everything. Everyone is connected even though we're all isolated, we're truly in an interesting time. As with most fashion brands and businesses in general our future plans have to be pushed back, until then we're unsure but the end goal doesn't change.
BYO: On that note then, what is the end goal for MLIU? If we’re to stick with the chapters metaphor, does this story have a moral you want your ‘readers’ to come away with?
MARIA: There is no specific end lesson or idea we aim to convey as MLIU's story doesn't end, it's chapters are more like a reflection of different events, feelings or phases that a person goes through in their life. If I had to choose, I would want whoever was to come into contact with MLIU to understand more about mental health, and if they are dealing with something, to know that they aren't alone, to share their story as I am slowly sharing mine.
