MAISONNOÉE: Challenges as opportunities for development.

In this article, I would like to talk about past crises and creative reorientation at Maisonnoée. It's about the inspiring connection between challenges and the opportunity for personal development. Crises can often be seen as an opportunity to reorient oneself and discover one's own potential. In this context, I would like to talk about how my difficult times have led me to unleash my creativity again and explore new paths. I want to show you how elegance can be expressed not only on the outside, but also in dealing with life crises.

Over the past two years, I have experienced numerous changes. After the corona outbreak, everything became a bit difficult. The department store buyers canceled our orders and cooperation because they wanted to play it safe and only opted for the big international brands. The production of new products in our in-house atelier was restricted or interrupted by daily changing corona guidelines. Unfortunately, important events such as fashion shows could not take place. I lacked the manpower to professionally design our online shop and the pandemic prevented the product photo shoots that were vital for the online store.

Our team became smaller and smaller; some employees left the company of their own accord, while I unfortunately had to let others go - a difficult time for all of us. Due to illness, I had to almost completely shut down Maisonnoée for several months. As a result, I gave up our flagship store and studio in Waitzstrasse to temporarily move to a new space in Uhlandstrasse and consciously set up a new structure. This was a very emotional farewell to a place that was close to all our hearts.

Buying behavior in the fashion sector in Berlin remained weak.Maisonnoée mainly had customers from outside the city. I therefore decided to close the brick-and-mortar stores for good and focus more on online retail. My goal was to offer more sustainability, service quality and better prices - so I rethought and reorganized everything.

Instead of bringing out large collections with a large proportion of unproduced designs, I now concentrate on offering carefully selected products - true to my signature, wearable and made with attention to detail from high-quality materials: no mass-produced items but handmade pieces, including custom-made pieces for special customer requests.

We no longer work in our own atelier but with an external master atelier in Berlin. Many of our products are only made to order to avoid overproduction - sustainability is our top priority.

Due to the closure of the stationary trade, we were generally able to reduce our prices by up to 35%. In future, we are planning smaller events again - personal invitation events instead of mass events are the focus of our concept. I am very satisfied with our new focus on individuality, sustainability and proximity despite our online presence: For me, it is important to stand behind what we do, as this also radiates to our customers.

The future holds exciting news: a new home line so that you can also experience the Maisonnoée flair at home. We invite you to share your thoughts or subscribe to our newsletter. This way you will always be up to date, receive invitations to exclusive events and be part of our Maisonnoée family.

Sophie Oemus