Luxury separates collection Eve & Max will make its wholesale debut from June 11 to 15 at Studio 250 in Manhattan with Fashioneering Lab, a new enterprise focused on sustainable brands.
Introduced to consumers in 2021, the tailored collection is designed in Paris and made in New York, explained founder Maxine Trowbridge, who is based in Dallas. It’s currently sold online and through a newly opened leased shop at Grange Hall in Dallas.
“I’m trying to get back to plan A,” said Trowbridge, explaining that she graduated from London College of Fashion in 1992 and worked as a designer in London but has held editorial roles at U.S. magazines for most of her career. “My journey is to build a more conscious brand.”
Her goal for Eve & Max is to produce only one annual collection of about 30 silhouettes and swap textiles out seasonally.
“I believe we shop too much and we need less, not more,” Trowbridge said. “I do preorders, which helps me know what’s selling so I don’t overbuy. I’m not creating a bunch of waste that I then have to sell off.”
Business partner Samudra Hartanto lives in Paris and has held design roles at Louis Vuitton, Hermès and Jean Paul Gaultier. Trowbridge has been friends with him since they studied fashion together in London.
The pair are working with certified sustainable fibers, including Tencel, wool and silk, or deadstock.
The collection is predominantly solid ivory, black and navy. It also features an abstract, vaguely leopard motif in tobacco and black from a painting by Pakistani-American artist Ambreen Butt.
Trowbridge, a former board president of the Dallas Contemporary, plans to continue collaborating with artists on prints.
The priciest piece is a bestseller — an ivory wool double crepe bathrobe cloak that retails for $2,300. Other top items include tuxedo-striped jogger pants, a trench dress and a silk hoodie blouse.
Said Trowbridge, “It’s elevated, easy dressing.”
