There are many interesting premises around the new Maison Mimi collection. It is called ‘The Dark Forest’ which sounds intriguing and ominous and is modelled by soul singer, Roses Gabor, whose song ‘Night Sky’ Maison Mimi cites as her major inspiration when she was in the conceptualization stage of working out the collection. This is the stuff great editorials, and even better, great collections are made of. But does the new Maison Mimi collection quite live up to all this mystique?
Not really.
The collection is done in a maudlin grey and black fabric, with randomized hatching for pattern. The fabric in itself isn’t distasteful, but it is the kind of fabric that works best as an accent in a collection rather than the main canvas. A collection done in grey is not going to stand out, unless the fabric is deliberately chosen so that other factors such as plays on silhouette or superior tailoring can be highlighted instead. That doesn’t happen with this collection. Instead we are treated to the basics we have come to expect of most emerging and some established designers, an uninspiring cachet of peplum blouses, crop tops, wide leg pants, asymmetric skirt with sheer panelling for ‘edge’ and worst of all the two-tone pencil skirt. There isn’t even the most minimal of effort to experiment and that, not the dreary fabric or the mediocre tailoring is what does this collection in.
There is only one look in the collection that is truly interesting, a wide leg pyjama set that with slitted panels that shows the true scope of Maison Mimi’s talent, if she would just put her mind to it. It is hard to imagine who this collection was made for, at first, second and third glance. We keep coming up blank.