Maggie Marilyn designer Maggie Hewitt keeps her cards close to her chest.

She shares glimpses of a childhood built on integrity, and a work ethic she and her three sisters inherited from a young age.

But ask her about who she designs Maggie Marilyn for, and the floodgates open. “A global community of changemakers. At Maggie Marilyn it’s not what you do for work, or how you spend your weekends that’s important. It doesn’t matter if you’re a lawyer, a teacher, a surfer or an artist. Whether you live for yoga or would rather spend Friday night at home with a bottle of wine and a bag of chips. What binds Maggie Marilyn and its customers together is that we are dreamers. We believe in quiet confidence. We are firm in our beliefs; kind, yet never afraid to speak the truth. We are activists, feminists, optimists. We are openly vulnerable, pay attention to the little things and fight for the underdog. We are fiercely loyal friends, lovers, siblings and parents. We believe anything is possible and that when wearing Maggie Marilyn, anything truly is.”

Maggie’s passion is palpable. She puts this down to her upbringing. “My mother always told my sisters and I as young girls that if you are going to be anything in this life, be kind. To stand up for what you believe in, and fight for the underdog. I look at the integrity and generosity of my parents, and know that without a doubt my ambition to do good is inspired by them.” She wasn’t always sure that fashion was what she wanted to do – but she knew she wanted to make a positive impact. “My parents really instilled in us the power of possibility”, she says, “and that no dream was ever too big. With enough hard work and integrity, we were taught we could achieve anything we put our minds to, so the possibility of not achieving was never really a thought.”

And that’s quite the understatement. Maggie founded Maggie Marilyn at just 21 years old. Only five years on, she’s already dressed some of the most chic women in the world including Meghan Markle, Michelle Obama, and Kate Hudson – but “while seeing my clothes on those women was incredible, I think for me it’s really less about what celebrities choose to wear Maggie Marilyn and more about what people we can bring on the journey with us. We don’t ever want to feel out of reach to the everyday consumer, because not only should ethics not be a luxury, but we know first-hand that it’s our community that is going to change the world. And we want to be on the journey with them.”

When Maggie talks about changing the world, it’s not lip service. A Veuve Clicquot ambassador, she truly lives the embodiment of their ethos: being a BOLD woman. Case in point? While the whole world seems to be closing up shop and moving online, Maggie Marilyn has turned to bricks and mortar, with their first physical store opening up in New Zealand’s Britomart. It would be a bold move in and of itself, but what preceded it was even bolder, with Maggie withdrawing from lucrative wholesale deals with Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, and more. “By far the boldest thing I’ve ever done was deciding to take Maggie Marilyn from a wholesale model to direct to consumer”, Maggie explains. “In that same breath it was one of the easiest – because I couldn’t have continued in good faith without that change.”

Following on the legacy of Madame Clicquot, who revolutionised the champagne industry when her husband left her a widow in the 1800s (at just 27 years old, no less), Maggie is equally unafraid of ruffling some feathers.

“Last year was a year of reflection. Since our inception, we have always challenged industry norms and tried to influence change where we could. However, over time I realised that this wasn’t enough - we needed change that was faster, stronger and bolder. This meant saying goodbye to our global retailers and moving closer to our customers. Now decisions are not dictated by seasons or ‘traditional’ rules. We have the luxury of time - to design slowly and mindfully. Putting all resources into creating seasonless offerings that are traceable, organic, recycled or repurposed. Moving away from the global wholesale fashion system was a values- based decision, one I knew was the only answer to furthering our progress around transparency, circularity, inclusivity and regeneration.”

And if encouraging customers to buy less, and consume mindfully, seems at odds with fashion’s bottom line, Maggie isn’t naïve to this. “Honestly, it’s not an easy line to walk”, she admits. “But for us it is the only way to do business, as we are building a case study for how this is wholeheartedly possible. We design our garments to sit within a circular system. A system in which there is no waste. Clothing is made to last, from natural fibres or regenerated and recycled materials, and our garments are cared for, repaired, refurbished and redistributed. It is our goal that a Maggie Marilyn product never ends up in landfill. So, yes, we have ambitions to grow as a business, but as we grow in size and influence we will decouple this growth from the use of resources and our environmental impact. We may employ more people, generate more revenue, and clothe more people, but our impact on the environment will be regenerative and our impact on our supply chain will be empowering.”

As for the stores themselves? They’re every bit as considered as the designs. “We want every Maggie Marilyn store to feel like a sanctuary. We want our customers to feel like they have arrived home. Our first store in Britomart was designed to be like a beautiful wardrobe, with big sliding doors that reveals capsule wardrobes one by one, a place that allows our customer to slow down and purchase with ultimate intention.”

Walking that line is something Maggie is used to by now. She studied fashion and sustainability – all too often opposing ideas – and says that “like a lot of people, I was pretty naive to the magnitude of the damage caused by the fashion industry when I started my degree. As I learnt more I started to feel really conflicted about whether fashion was the right path to take. It was and is so incredibly broken. But that also meant I saw an opportunity to try and help a system in deep need of healing. While the two sometimes feel like they are at odds, I think it is vital that they are learnt together. You can’t, in good conscience, continue to operate in the same way if you are taught about the implications of those actions.”

Despite its meteoric rise, Maggie Marilyn hasn’t been without its teething issues. “There have been many challenges and moments where I didn’t know if I had the grit and the resilience to keep getting back up. Honestly, I still have those days. But business is problem solving. I am so lucky to have the most incredible community around me who are my greatest cheerleaders. Business is not a solo endeavour, it takes a village.”

That sense of community extends to the brand’s approach to inclusivity, with the range offering sizes 6 – 20. “Combatting the climate crisis is going to take all of us”, Maggie says. “We want everyone to look at Maggie Marilyn and see themselves, and this can only be done through inclusivity across the spectrum.”

As with any industry disruptor, Maggie has faced her share of criticism. While Madame Clicquot was underestimated for the sheer fact of having been a woman in a man’s world, Maggie is a young woman with a dreamer’s heart. And while it’s a cliché, it’s true that in her case, purpose comes before profit. That means her business model doesn’t always make sense to an outside eye. And when your name is on the label, that can be hard to take. “Everyone who knows me knows that I feel deeply, and find it really hard not to take criticisms personally. But I think my biggest learning, especially in the last few months, has been to know your allies. Know whose criticism counts and whose doesn’t. I learnt a great quote recently; ‘don’t take criticism from people you wouldn’t take advice from.’ There is always going to be someone who doesn’t like you or what you’re doing, especially when you are being loud about your beliefs, but let that be fuel to your fire.”

Maggie’s fire is burning brightly. And she’s committed to changing the narrative about what luxury means. In place of opulence and excess, she says, luxury means “purchasing with intention and consideration. Modern luxury should mean beautiful things from an equally beautiful supply chain. Any item that harms people or the planet in its production, to me, is not luxury, no matter how beautiful the garment.”

All that glitters may not be gold. But it’s certainly looking bold – and that’s what counts for Maggie Marilyn.