Maison Muguet founder on running a retail business and collaborating with Aurélie Bidermann
Aug 13, 2024
Hong Kong multi-brand store Maison Muguet is giving women a different way to dress. Founder Christy Chan shares with Zaneta Cheng her unique perspective on what it means to be a woman today and how it’s taken her from a dream, to a successful retail business, to an exclusive collaboration with French jewellery brand Aurélie Bidermann
When Christy Chan started Maison Muguet in 2020, it was out of a WeWork space in Central right in the middle of the pandemic. Four years later, the headhunter-turned-owner of a multi-brand jewellery and clothing store has a physical retail space in Hong Kong’s Landmark, a 30,000-strong following on Little Red Book, a soon-to-launch in-house brand and a collaboration with French jeweller Aurélie Bidermann under her belt.
Named after the French name for the lily of the valley plant, Maison Muguet was Chan’s chance to pursue something she really loved after proving herself as a headhunter in the finance sector. She quit her job, went to London and signed up for classes at Central Saint Martins to figure out what she wanted to do. “I didn’t have the luxury of spending four years in school to learn design,” she says to me over coffee in a pink T-shirt and gold coil earrings from a new Spanish jewellery brand she’s just stocked. Instead, she decided to “find something in the middle – jump into the ocean and learn how to swim”.
It’s a refreshing proposition in a landscape where traditional multi-brand stores in the city are scaling down, having somewhat lost touch with the tastes of the era. Gone are the Dynasty days when women would wear outlandish, uncomfortable fashion ensembles. What Chan brings with her curation of mainly European fashion and jewellery brands are pieces that “cater to women in an authentic way. We have a very busy life, different from our mothers’ and our grandmothers’ generations. We want to look good but I don’t think we necessarily want to try that hard or dress up that much. Also, it isn’t comfortable. I think it was out of respect for that need. When I bring in a brand, I look for something that isn’t overpowering but empowering.”
Launching Maison Muguet right at the start of the pandemic meant that as the months passed Chan needed to think outside of Hong Kong, so she decided to set up her e-commerce platforms in China. One day, after an accidental visit from a Chinese influencer, who then tagged the items she bought from Chan on Little Red Book, orders started flooding in and since then Chan has become something of a style influencer herself – posting styling videos on both her business and personal account for customers.
The support has seen the business flourish the past four years, taking the brand offline and into more prime real estate with every store move. Most recently Chan has come full circle with an exclusive collection designed in collaboration with Aurélie Bidermann and her own brand due to launch later this year.
How did your Cleopatra collection, designed in collaboration with Aurélie Bidermann, come about
It’s a tribute to ambitious women who unapologetically pursue their dreams and desires. When people talk about Cleopatra, I think a lot of the time we talk about how she seduced men, but I really wanted to focus on how she embraced her strengths and carried herself unapologetically. The black and gold are
to represent strength, with layered cuffs to give a sensual touch with modern geometric patterns that Aurélie Bidermann excels at. I wanted these items to have a modern aesthetic so that they’d be versatile for styling and effortlessly elevate any clean and simple look day or night.
Is it one of the brands you’ve stocked since the beginning?
We’ve worked with Aurélie Bidermann for over three years. We carried them from the start and became their biggest stockist in Asia, so we have a really good working relationship.
When we first took off in China, we had to increase stock immediately for the huge influx of customers and orders. They really helped us make it work. Instead of having to wait two months for the product
to be shipped to us they called inventory from all over their stores in France and would collect 20 pieces from one and 30 pieces from another, group them together and ship them to us. If it weren’t for this kind of support, I don’t think we would’ve been able to keep up with demand. Not every brand has a team that is this committed.
Also see: Hong Kong’s beloved vintage watch brand Octo makes a comeback
You have a huge following in China. How has the collection been received?
It’s sold well. They like it but I also give styling suggestions. For example, one would be for a night out, where the pieces would look glamorous, sexy and very elegant if styled with a black dress. You can also
pair the pieces with a white tee and jeans or an oversized blazer.
How has the collection done in Hong Kong? Would you say that there’s a difference between your customer in Hong Kong versus the mainland?
My customers in China have a very strong appetite for overseas brands. They’re looking for something new and different from what they have. They’re willing to try. They’re very much in an exploration kind of era.
For us in Hong Kong, our customers have a few limitations. They’re not looking for a lot of attention. I think Hong Kong is a very modern city and a lot of the time you try to fit in the landscape, which are office buildings, and so we try to consider what we wear to try and fit in. I get a lot of, “Do I look normal?” Everyone wants to look normal.
I think it’s good to be different, to be yourself, and I want to encourage more of that. It’s important to have that. It takes a lot of courage to break through that limitation and just finally be yourself and be authentic, which is why it’s important to introduce elements that do not overpower them
but rather help them.
I also know that you’re launching an in-house brand. What can we expect?
It’s called Louve. It means wolf in French. I want the spirit of it to be sassy, to be free but a little mysterious at the same time. It’s for brave, fearless and free-spirited girls. I also want to talk about diversity through the brand so it has that unisex element and boldness to it. I think modern women are different. Before, things were a lot more feminine but now I think we can play around with that. We can respect all the sides of what it is to be a woman today.
Can we expect jewellery?
Yes! Expect a lot of chains. Later on I want to incorporate gemstones but I want to have something unique. There will be body chains, ear cuffs – so daily pieces, but with the flexibility to transform them for something more fun, that shows the personality of the wearer.
