MAISON NOUVELLE
By Maaike Nieuwenhuis
A speed-catch-up on the phone, while hurrying to work, just made you spill coffee on your new silk dress. What a lovely start of your morning… I bet you’ve been there. Constantly thinking of what needs to be done instead of enjoying the beautiful moments of the present.
Maison Nouvelle longs to enable you with more of those moments; like when you’re elegantly slipping into your panties in the morning sun. Or feeling the gentle touch of French lace and soft silk on your bare skin. Let us guide you into these moments of happiness by spending a bit more attention on yourself.
YOUR STORIES BECAME MY OBSESSION
By starting with a focus on exclusively tailored lingerie, I had the privilege to meet a lot of my customers. And while the brands & products developed to real collections, I started realizing there is so much more. What I really enjoyed was listening to your unique stories.
The vulnerability and uncertainty we all experience on a daily basis have become the inspiration to focus on ‘you’ in what we do. Let me guide you into taking a little ‘me-time’ every day by being more aware and caring about yourself.
I think you can all create your own beautiful future by focusing on yourself. Let's start living like it.
Love,
Maaike
SHE'S THE FIRST
I'm aware that I'm extremely blessed to be born in a place where the facilities allow me to do what I love. And if you're reading this, you might in a similar position. Unfortunately there are lots of women with the same dreams but without the resources to follow them. Because of your purchases and the amazing team behind She's The First, we were able to send a young woman in Sierra Leone to college everyday. I hope that together we can make enable this privilege for 100's of other women.
THE COLLECTIONS
To stay sustainable and have as little waste as possible, I created 3 different approaches to supply you with your desired intimates.
PRET-A-PORTER
Our Prêt-a-Porter line is a range of essentials you need to own. Like a black lace bralette to wear under a white shirt or some cotton panties for your Sundays at home. They’ll remain never out of stock & never out of style.
MADE-TO-ORDER
Made-to-Order products will be more seasonal and will be produced right after you ordered. We need 2-3 weeks for production. But once it’s there, you know it’s made for you.
TAILORED LINGERIE
Our Tailored Line is where we’re most known for. We are open for appointments in the Netherlands and Paris. Or fly me in if you’re in for a lingerie party and living abroad.
MAISON NOUVELLE - A BRIEF HISTORY
During my brief career in tailored menswear, I quickly started wondering why a similar concept wasn’t available for women. At night when I’d close my eyes, I saw a space filled with fabrics and accessories, where women could design their own items straight from the cloth. A dream that needed to become reality.
Lingerie over suits was inevitable: I’m obsessed with tiny details and beautiful fabrics, like delicate laces, silk satins and chiffons. Besides; this market bagged for a revamp as it was stuck since Mr. Mellinger launched the padded bra in 1947.
I collected gorgeous French laces and the finest silks while studying the complete process of creating lingerie. Every step was captured on Instagram and even when there was no website yet, the first orders started to come in. (By the way; these customers where based in Singapore & the Philippines, you can imagine this being a ‘fingers-crossed’ situation…)
From that moment on things moved fast and in no time we the tailored lingerie sets, bridal lingerie, swimsuits and even created a wedding dress. Me rapidly became we when I started to run out of time. I taught my mom all skills I had learned so far. Where she used to teach me how to make dresses for my doll, I taught her the art of making panties.
Requests came from women all over the world longing to create their own lingerie. And when renowned retailers started to show interest in the brand, I knew I needed to take it to the next level. My main focus would still be on creating items with a perfect fit in beautiful quality materials, but the products needed to be more available for everyone everywhere.
Now-a-days we serve women around the world with our ready-to-wear items while still offering our tailored services on appointment.
MORE ABOUT OUR TAILORED LINGERIE
PEEK BEHIND THE SCENES
BY AMSTERDAM FASHION WEEK