Havre Studio - Join us in Mexico City to Meet the Brand Reviving Vintage Men’s Suits

ANDREW AND I FLEW TO MEXICO CITY TO MEET WITH HAVRE STUDIO’S FOUNDER MADELEINE FRANDSEN! WE VISITED HER, HER BOYFRIEND PHILLIP (WHO RECENTLY JOINED THE TEAM), THEIR INTERN JEANINE (A FELLOW GERMAN) AND ONE OF THEIR TALENTED SEAMSTERS, AMADO, IN THEIR OFFICE WHICH OVERLOOKS THE CITY’S SKYLINE. THIS IS OUR FIRST INTERVIEW WE ACTUALLY FILMED – WATCH THE VIDEO HERE. MADELEINE SHARED THE BRAND’S STORY WITH US, INCLUDING THE FACT THAT EVERYTHING STARTED WITH A DELAYED CONTAINER FROM HER HOMETOWN OF COPENHAGEN. 

words by SARAH MARIE FRANKEN
photographs by ANDREW DAY

Sarah: I’m so excited to be sitting here in your Mexico City studio! Thank you so much for having us and for giving us a tour. You’re originally from Copenhagen, but you live in Mexico City for three years now. How did that happen?

Madeleine: I actually moved here because of my boyfriend’s work. He got offered a job here. And he persuaded me to move with him, which I’ve been very happy with!

How did you get into starting your own brand? Because when you moved here, that wasn’t the original idea, was it?

It was not at all the original idea! I really wanted an internship at the embassy, but I didn’t speak well enough Spanish at the time. So they didn’t want me. I’ve had the most awkward job interview! I said I was sufficient in Spanish, which I was not. I never really had the vision of starting a brand at all, it happened quite organically. Our container with our clothes and furniture was very delayed coming to Mexico City from Copenhagen. So, I went to some markets and bought some blazers and suit pants which I had altered to my measurements. I’ve always loved blazers and suit pants and stuff like that, in that way it was quite natural for me to wear those things. And my friends when I would visit Copenhagen, they’d ask where it was from. I started to make some garments for them and people would ask them where it’s from and it kind of spread a little bit. And then I made the Havre Studio Instagram account.

“Our container with our clothes and furniture was very delayed coming to Mexico City from Copenhagen. So, I went to some markets and bought blazers and suit pants which I had altered to my measurements.”

Madeleine Frandsen

One thing you’re particularly known for is the skirt set with the cropped jacket. How did you come up with that idea?

I mainly used to wear the oversized men’s suits. And then I felt like it would be really cool to show your waist a little bit more. I think it’s such a flattering cut with big shoulders and showing your waist. Lupita, our first seamstress, and I would try it out. And then we had this leftover material from this very good quality blazer, and I thought it would be a shame to throw it away. So I asked her what she thought if we wrap it around me. And she looked at me like I was completely stupid. But then we tried it out and did some alterations. In the beginning it didn’t look nice at all, but we got some nice sewing going and now I really, really liked the result! And it is something that really gave us a lot of traction at the start. That was what we were known for.

How did you meet your first seamstress, Lupita?

In one of the mercados, close to where we live. I’d often walk by the seamstress, an older lady sitting and sewing, and one day when I bought a pair of pants I came by and asked her if she could take them in for me. And I just thought she was really lovely, she was really interested in where I was from, and I almost couldn’t speak any Spanish. So we signed our way through most of it, because she couldn’t speak English either. We started to get a really nice friendship going. I’d basically go and buy coffee for us, and we would sit together and practice Spanish while she was sewing and we’d experiment together on some designs. And on the skirt set, she is super olden-days, so she was really not crazy about the idea when I mentioned it to her first, both garments are very short. So she was super judgmental, in a very funny and sweet way, I just remember her shaking her head when I told her about the idea first.

How did you grow your brand from a one-man show to this beautiful office and 20 people working for you?

Slowly growing a really nice team has been a big thing for us. I’d rather be a little too few people, in terms of we’re all running as fast as we can, we’re very busy. It’s important to me to work with people where we have a nice time together, where we’re all very interested in the work, and we have fun together. In the beginning we’d release three blazers a month and call it a drop! But as demand grew, we had to look for other vendors that could help supply us with pieces but also other seamstresses, for example our seamstress Coco, she has employed one of her best friends, her daughter, the daughter’s boyfriend and her brother Javier! That’s how our team slowly grew. And then they couldn’t keep up with demand, so now we also have lovely Amado who’s sitting here with us. And last September my boyfriend Phillip and me decided to join forces and then we made it official – that sounds like a wedding – we officially started working together in January. Which has been really exciting!

Why is the brand called Havre Studio?

It’s because we used to live on a street in Colonia Juárez called Havre! And when I was opening the Instagram account, I didn’t know what to call it. I thought I can always change the name later. But now I really started to like the name.

And it’s cool that it goes back to the roots. Because you told me that the first office you’ve had was basically in your bedroom and that you sold pieces out of your studio.

Exactly! We’re coming full circle! I remember when Phillip was at work, I’d stand against one white wall, we had a small balcony and then a white wall towards it, and I took some barstools we had in our old apartment and stacked books on top of each other and put my phone on self-timer. That’s how I captured the first pieces! It’s quite cozy to look back on. Especially because we also had an office building opposite to us looking into our flat probably thinking what is she doing? They must have thought someone is getting a new profile picture!

Let’s talk about the bee! I’ve been wondering since I’ve received my package and the card had a bee logo and a honeycomb what the story behind that is!

It’s actually not that crazy a story. It’s because my mom had always called me a busy bee. And then I thought it was very fitting for the brands, with bees being such an important part of the eco-system and Havre being as eco-friendly a brand as you could be.

Was there a specific moment when you saw a need for change in the fashion industry?

I, like a lot of girls my age, had a big love for Zara! I would just completely recklessly buy stuff that I’d wear only a few times and then it would break after a few washes. And I just got a little overwhelmed by your stuff. Especially just before moving, I had a flea market with some friends and I realized that all of the stuff is in such bad condition and I just bought it! And after that I just started reading more about it. I learnt how much toxic dyes and stuff can ruin ecosystems and how many garments end in landfill or get burnt. I don’t think I’ve bought from fast fashion companies since before we’ve moved here! We have so much waste and when you learn about how much there actually is and how little value companies put on resources, both in terms of materials and the impact it has on the environment, but also the labor behind it and how the people who create the clothes are treated.

“Before moving to Mexico City, I had a flea market with some friends and I realized that all of the Zara stuff is in such bad condition and I had just bought it!”

Madeleine Frandsen

I’m so happy to see so many young brands having innovative ideas for change in the industry. Like you by taking these vintage suits and transforming them into something new. And you also work with deadstock fabrics now, don’t you?

Yes! We work a lot with mainly vintage pieces which you see here, but we also started working with both, some deadstock silk from the 80s, perhaps early 90s, and some vintage lace from - as weird as it sounds - some vintage table cloths. The ones you take out for nice occasions! From the 60s. I think we’ve created some really lovely things with it as well. We have these long dresses, some shirts and some trousers made from lace, which basically our seamstress Coco is working with. She’s got all the contacts for finding materials – suddenly she had found a big stock of old table cloths! Being new to a country, our suppliers and our seamstresses have been a huge help to us with connecting us to the right people.

And then you told me about the silk! What are you planning to make out of those?

We are going to start with some corsets. We’ve done some corsets in the past out of vintage men’s trousers. One of our vendors, Gladiola, she works with a lot of film sets and sources vintage all the way back to the 18 hundreds. When Covid broke out, she lost all her work and means of income. So we worked with her a lot as well. The material comes from really large vintage suits, that we were not able to make smaller. So we tried to make some corsets out of them.

It’s so creative! And I feel like that’s a big misconception people have about sustainability. People think that sustainable garments look like potato sacks. So it’s cool to show that this is what sustainable fashion really is! Super creative, super fun to wear, super contemporary! Are there other misconceptions you see about sustainability?

I’ve always had this idea, and that’s my own, old notion of sustainability, that often with upcycling you could very much tell that something used to be an old blazer or shirt. It didn’t really look super nice, from what I came across before starting Havre. It looked very much like a DIY project. We want it to feel like something that is brand new. It’s been something that has been very heavily dry cleaned and very well sewn. I want to show people that sustainable fashion can be something quite exclusive, even though most of our pieces are made out of old men’s suits. The quality was so much better back then. Clothing has gone from basically being a currency, because textiles used to be a trading currency, it has gone from being a durable to a disposable good. I think people put so much low value on new clothes nowadays, that the quality is so bad! The garments barely last a year, or a few months sometimes. We have worked with incredible materials from cashmere, high quality wool, silk, silver mink, linen – it has been really special to be able to make some beautiful, exclusive garments from that. If I only worked with new materials, it would be so expensive for the consumer to buy. If I would have to source silver mink or cashmere from new, it wouldn’t be at the price point where it is now!

“Clothing has gone from being a currency, because textiles used to be a trading currency, it has gone from being a durable to a disposable good.”

Madeleine Frandsen

By now your brand is such a big hit with so many models, influencers and celebrities. Who was the first one to wear Havre and who was the first person you called when you saw it?

I think the first person where I was like – oh my god – that was Matilda Djerf. I followed her on Instagram for a really long time already. I’ve sent it to my sister right away, because we both really like her. I think I reached out to her first when I just started Havre and I’ve just opened the Instagram account, we’ve had like 50 followers, and I asked her if I could send her a piece!

And did she answer right away?

I think she saw my message 6 months later. And she has been really lovely to work with. And very supportive! We’ve been really lucky in having some really nice relationships both with some models, influencers and celebrities, who we’ve reached out to in the beginning and we had almost no hope and expectation that they would answer. And then they’ve been some really supportive and lovely people. A lot have answered a long time after! By then, they came across Havre on explore or on another person. Then they saw that we follow them, and found our message in their dms, that’s what some of them told me!

Let’s talk about the beginnings again! What did the first drop consist of?

Some vintage blazers and oversized suits. And after a while we started doing the cropped blazers and cropped shirts!

What is another bestseller of Havre Studio?

Another style that’s quite popular are our contrasted pieces. We have some contrasted men’s blazers in some different fabrics. But also – as I’m wearing now – some contrasted suit pants.

Which piece do you wear the most?

I definitely think I wear my contrasted shirt the most. Just because I’m very casual every day. But I also wear our oversized men’s suits a lot in everyday life, they are super easy to wear. I always wear blazers no matter what. And I love a good pair of nicely cut suit trousers, that are still a little bit relaxed. For going out, my favorite piece at the moment are our corsets!

What does a typical work day at the Havre Studio office look like?

I think it varies a lot! Usually, if we’re very good, we go to the gym in our office building in the morning. I think clearer if I’ve moved. And then we get into the office between 8 and 9 and get emails answered. And after that the days are really different, sometimes we upload images for a new drop, taking pictures, customer contact, or going to meet with our seamstresses and dry cleaners. It is really different. That’s the thing when you have a very small business, you do a bit of everything. So I don’t have the kind of daily structure. It keeps you on your toes a little bit!

What inspired you in your design process?

Working with upcycling, I get very inspired in the materials themselves! Playing around with the shape a little and seeing what could happen, I often go to our seamstress Coco and we’d brainstorm together and find some ideas. But I think it’s super fun with playing around with what you find. Because we are a business that works with sustainable, deadstock and vintage materials, it allows us take inspiration from the fabrics themselves.

What was a challenge within growing your brand?

Where to begin! There have been a lot of bumps on the road. One big challenge for me is definitely giving responsibility to other people. Allowing other people in on things. Especially from when I did it all myself last year, it was really crossing a boundary for me to let other people answering emails and being in touch with customers. Another challenge is, as corny as it sounds, keeping your cool in a lot of situations where it can seem extremely stressful. Oftentimes, you feel like it’s the end of the world, you’ve felt it a million times before – or at least I have – and you have to learn to take things easier and grow a thicker skin, because it always goes on. Especially within fashion, an industry which is super interesting and fun in so many ways, but especially in sustainable fashion it can be such a challenge to grow your brand because you have a certain framework to act within. I wouldn’t change it for anything, because I love it very much and I find it so rewarding. But it has definitely been a challenge which I think gives our brand another dimension. But it definitely also led to some tears at some point.

Of course! What was a moment you felt particularly proud within your work?

I think there were different times. One of them is definitely last Christmas, one of our dry cleaners was able to take a two and a half weeks holiday, which he hasn’t done since he started in the 80s. To be able to provide an income that gives some stability and also let them have time with their family. But also seeing our seamstress hire her family and stuff like that, that really gives me something tangible and real. In many ways there have been a lot of exterior moments that have been fantastic – when I’ve seen a celebrity and so on. Hailey Bieber in for example, we have worked so hard on her, we sent garments to three different stylists to have her wear it. So it was crazy to see her in something after so much time. I’ve wanted her in it two years before she wore it. I think another big moment was when British Vogue wrote an article about us where it wasn’t just about a celebrity wearing Havre, but about the brand and what we do. That was really crazy to have an actual meeting with someone who wanted to hear about Havre. But also the fact that you guys came all the way from New York is pretty crazy to me as well!

“One of my proudest moments was last Christmas. One of our dry cleaners was able to take a two and a half weeks holiday, which he hasn’t done since he started in the 80s!”

Madeleine Frandsen

What is a tip you have for other rising brand owners?

As corny as it may sound, don’t do something that someone else is doing. Rather focus on standing out. I don’t think you should look at other brands for inspiration but rather look outside what really inspires you. And also, stay true to yourself but also remember to pivot. That can be quite challenging but it’s necessary.

Last question! With Luméra we want a spotlight on positive things in the fashion industry. And I want to give that spotlight to you! If you could shine a light on a person, a brand or a topic in the fashion industry – what would it be?

That’s a very good question. I think someone I really admire and love is Mirror Palais. They produce locally in New York. Marcello who is behind the brand is such an artist! You can just see how much love and thought goes into his work. A lot of things are made from deadstock and if not, they are 100% silk and stuff like that. He never overproduces, he is incredible talented, he’s such an inspiration to me. If I could hold the spotlight on one more person it would be Up Next Designer by Albert. I think in such a competitive gate keeping environment which fashion can be sometimes, I think that he is so good at making it graspable for new brands and people who don’t know the industry very well. I’ve seen that recently he’s made these templates on how to reach out to stylists as a new brand. He makes it very much on eye-height if that makes sense. He’s just extremely kind, open and fun and I think that’s really refreshing to see!

Thank you so much! These were great spotlights and thank you for all the insights you’ve given us!

Havre Studio

HAVE YOU SEEN OUR meet the founder video ON YOUTUBE?

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