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14.02.2018
Ludzie /

MISBHV conquers the world

14.02.2018
Natalia Maczek / Fot. Thomas Wirski

“MISBHV is a perfect example of a DIY brand: it was established without any business plan, corporate philosophy, budget or experience,” says Tomasz Wirski, one half of the duo behind the Polish concept that is conquering global fashion. Within a short period of time, he and Natalia Maczek have created a project with an authenticity that has captivated the market.

MISBHV started out in Kraków as a modest T-shirt line designed for close friends by law graduate, Natalia Maczek. Today, the project created and managed by Maczek and Wirski is one of the hottest streetwear brands in the world. Here is the proof: MISBHV has been presented at the New York Fashion Week, its Parisian showrooms attract crowds, it has received awards from the most significant fashion magazines, including American Vogue and CR Fashion Book, and it has gained the trust of several dozen distributors, from the Canadian SSENSE to the London-based Selfridges.

Rule #1: Do everything your way

Despite its global recognisability, loyalty to Poland and affection for Polish customers remain pivotal to the brand's activities. “We've both recently turned 30, and I guess this is an age at which we, as people, are becoming mature,” says Tomasz, who is in charge of MISBHV men's collections. “We've been through periods of various fascinations; as teenagers, we were infatuated with ‘the West’. But we grew up in Poland, and it is here that we've accumulated experience and emotion. So we feel a natural connection to this country and nostalgia for our adolescent years.” Natalia agrees with Tomasz, “At first, our target group consisted of ten of our closest friends. We would come up with an idea for a T-shirt on Monday, design it on Tuesday, screen print on Wednesday, take photos on Thursday and sell it on Friday. MISBHV owes its establishment to the support we had from Polish customers, and despite the amazing success of our business, Poland is still one of our most important markets. We are proud of that.”

 

MISBHV fall-winter  2017 presentation/ Robert Altman / East News

But we grew up in Poland, and it is here that we've accumulated experience and emotion. So we feel a natural connection to this country and nostalgia for our adolescent years

Kaia Gerber in MISBHV  top during Paris Fashion Week  / Beretta / East News

This somewhat local character manifests itself not only in the fact that the designers keep in mind their Polish customers (prices for the domestic market are still lower than those in euros, dollars or pounds, and the difference ranges from 100 to 150 zlotys for the same T-shirt). It is also reflected in Natalia and Tomasz's liking for early 21st century aesthetics, the period of their adolescence. The brand draws inspiration from the characteristic kitsch of those days, the provincial disco style and at times provocative clothing combinations, presenting them as streetwear. And even though MISBHV may be grouped together with such aesthetically similar brands as Vetements, Demna Gvasalia and Gosha Rubchinskiy, each season its creators Maczek and Wirski manage to design clothes in line with their own tastes and fascinations and, what is perhaps most important, to surprise the fashion audience.

 MISBHV sweatshirt / Daniel Zuchnik / Getty Images

Rule #2: Trust your intuition

Natalia and Tomasz stress that they have remained faithful to their intuition and that they prefer to trust their own instincts and to work by their own rules rather than rely on cool calculations or meticulous planning. “Ever since the company was established, we've had very clear criteria for making decisions: we do what we feel like doing and we don't do what doesn't appeal to us,” explains Wirski. “At least in terms of business philosophy, we are more like the designers Helmut Lang and Azzedine Alaia than those large fashion concerns whose marketing strategies boil down to a bunch of algorithms designed for mediocrity.”

This approach may, to a great extent, be the result of Maczek and Wirski's personal relationship with the brand. “I perceive success as something on both a personal and professional level; in my case, the two are completely blended,” says Natalia. “I don't separate work from life: that’s part of my character. I am my own boss; I myself design my days, set my own goals and define the standards I want to reach. I do what I love. There might be some not so good moments, but even at the end of a bad day I know that I work as an independent person in a microsystem I have created myself. I know that I work with friends and I believe in my own mission.”

Natalia Maczek / photo by Thomas Wirski

The fussiest streetwear aficionados and celebrities who are fond of unconventional solutions, like Rihanna, A$AP Rocky, The Weeknd, Gigi and Bella Hadid, believe in MISBHV's mission too. And so do other famous influencers (and the brand's close friends), such as Sita Abellan and Aleali May, who, despite having access to items by the greatest designers, very often go for T-shirts and outerwear from the Polish brand.

Our success results from the fact that we found ourselves in the right place at the right time, surrounded by talented people at more or less the same stage in life, and from being able to create together something that we really believe in,” they both agree

MISBHV spring-summer 2017 presentation / Andrew Morlaes / East News

The group of fans is growing, and it does not consist of random people at all. This is because the MISBHV designers break with the common practice of fashion brands to send their items to large numbers of famous people; if celebrities like their label and buy their clothes of their own free will, Natalia and Tomasz welcome this as added value. “All these people have an enormous marketing power, so it's hard to ignore that, but dressing celebrities is not the purpose of our work,” states Natalia firmly. “We make clothes for ourselves, for the people we know and for longstanding friends. We aren't interested in popularity at all costs, so we would rather post a T-shirt to a Russian girl who makes cool music in her room than to yet another rich teenage girl from L.A. who owns two convertibles and has five million followers.”

Aleali May in MISBHV top during Paris Fashion Week / Edward Berthelot / Getty Images

Rule #3: Don't forget who you are

Maczek and Wirski are aware of the importance of building the image of Poland abroad. “We avoid taking political stands as a brand, but our history, philosophy and language explicitly reflect the values which we would like to associate with modern-day Poland: the values of freedom, solidarity, tolerance and beauty. Our success results from the fact that we found ourselves in the right place at the right time, surrounded by talented people at more or less the same stage in life, and from being able to create together something that we really believe in,” they both agree.

Perhaps it is this belief, so deeply rooted in the brand's history and permeating through every stage of its development that enables Natalia and Tomasz to work solely by their own rules, which, in many cases, are different from the standards common in the fashion industry. The brand has never taken out a development loan, and instead of looking for cheap production opportunities in countries such as Romania or Albania, its owners prefer to support local Polish companies, some of which employ as few as five sewers. MISBHV are doing everything their way. And getting the best of it.

Translation Elżbieta Pawlas/Solid Information Solutions

Michalina Murawska
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