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Saint Ivory Is Part Women’s Streetwear Brand, Part Educational Messaging

And it officially goes on sale today.

Designers
streetwear brand saint ivory
Photo: Courtesy of Saint Ivory
We fell in love with Saint Ivory the second the campaign imagery hit our inbox. Its founder, Madrell Stinney, has been hard at work on the women’s lifestyle and streetwear brand for four years now, working to ensure that the brand is not only accessible and inclusive, but also educational. Stinney considers each collection a semester with its own curriculum, with Semester 0 launching today. “Future collections will follow the ‘Semester X’ structure, however, each line will have its own unique talking points. Semester 0’s talking points were centered around design, unity, and education,” Stinney explained to us. He wants females to have a bigger voice in streetwear and hopes that this brand will inspire that. Below, everything else we learned about Saint Ivory while chatting to Stinney.


streetwear brand saint ivoryPhoto: Courtesy of Saint Ivory
How the brand came to be:

“The formation of Saint Ivory has been a four-year process. The idea of creating a brand came quite early; the remainder of my time was spent finding a purpose for doing so. I wanted to ensure that my contributions to streetwear provided a new perspective. With Saint Ivory, the primary goal is to further the inclusion of the female voice in streetwear beyond product.”

Where the name came from:

“The name is a play on the archetypal private school and further instills the brand’s academic inspiration. Saint Ivory is a derivative of Saint Mary, who was called the ‘Tower of Ivory,’ among many names. Conceptually, I wanted to create a name that could house the many educational topics Saint Ivory will look to introduce through product and action.”

It’s a 360-degree depiction of the female creative:

“In defining a purpose for the brand, I wanted to ensure that the communication between the brand and its community was a coherent dialogue. Saint Ivory is an embodiment of the female creative, and in reflecting this, it was important that the female creative is highlighted not only in inspiration, but also in conversation.

“The idea of Saint Ivory as a platform is to redistribute the inspiration it receives from its community, the educational aspect of Saint Ivory being the vehicle to spread awareness. I want consumers of the brand to feel empowered, supported, and heard. The community of Saint Ivory are the teachers, the brand is the school.”

streetwear brand saint ivoryPhoto: Courtesy of Saint Ivory
On the making of the first collection:

“Most of the design process was spent focusing on messaging. I didn’t want to dilute the educational aspect of the brand for the sake of design. With Semester 0, I wanted to initiate a conversation with our consumer and spark curiosity. It was important that the references used in the collection led to discovery, and that the intent of introducing these references added value to the platform.”

He turned to the Girl Guides and Girl Scouts associations for inspiration:

“The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts is an organization that looks to teach the skills necessary to be independent. The WAGGGS is also an organization that doesn’t end at adolescence—‘once a scout, always a scout.’ The ideas of ongoing education and sisterhood are values that resonate with how I envision the brand.”

Saint Ivory’s goal:

“To provide a platform for emerging female creatives, and use the brand to further the inclusion of the female voice in streetwear.”

The brand’s plans for 2019:

“Saint Ivory will be launching a pop-up experience in Montreal to coincide with this year’s Mural Festival in June. We are also working on our first brand collaboration with New Yorkbased designer Eric Emanuel, slated to release this summer.”



Photos: Courtesy of Rupert LaMontagne



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