DYNAMIC DUO TAKING LONDON’S ACCESSORY MARKET BY STORM: AN INTERVIEW WITH THE MM SISTERS

1. Give us the story behind the MM Sisters brand. When did you start it ?

This is the story of two sisters, Michele & Monike who have successfully launched a new line of accessories for women, MM Sisters. Michele is a trained designer and has a solid background in fashion business whilst Monike joined her sister to help further progress this truly feminine accessory brand.

We started in Dubai in 2010, selling only swimwear but considering we are originally from Brazil, everyone always questioned why we are not devoted to designing bikinis. This is where the MM Sisters story began.

We both returned to London and decided not to deal with size related fashion anymore and focus on women’s trending accessories such as jewellery and handbags, which would appeal to the young UK market.

" Michele is a trained designer and has a solid background in fashion business whilst Monike joined her sister to help further progress this truly feminine accessory brand. "

2. Describe the kind of women you see carrying your handbags & wearing your jewellery.

Our kind of client would be either a young lady with a busy social life, a mother or a career woman who takes pride in her appearance. With great value for style, MM Sisters is a place where she can always find an exclusive range of jewellery and handbags.
 

3. What is the ultimate best seller in your entire collection ?

The black tote bag, it sold out very fast and everyone who purchased it loved the handbag.

4. Michele what is your favorite piece and Monike, what is yours? Why ?

We have very similar tastes therefore it is not a coincidence that we both love the cross shoulder bag because this bag looks perfect from day to evening and is great for a night out too!

Michele prefers the red cross shoulder bag as it is more glamorous and she tends to wear black often so the colour is always a perfect match. Monike prefers the black cross shoulder bag as she is more keen on the timeless classy look. 

5. What are some of the challenges when it comes to starting a Fashion Business in London ?

Michele always says: The fashion business is a business of passion; you need to absolutely love what you do.

" Firstly you need plenty of patience as it takes time to build a brand. Just continue to be passionate about it and believe in your product. "
 

We know that once we have established our brand in London, MM Sisters will go global!

Big Retailers do not deal with small brands therefore we focus more on our online store. Big fairs in London are just a marketing tool where it hard to generate sales. For young designers who cannot invest money into that, it is better to invest in social media.

6. How do your current clients find out about you ?

" We create Pop UP Stores very often which gives us a chance to talk face to face with our clients. It is the best way to sell our product. "

We also sell online and via search engines but otherwise, it is very often our supportive friends as well as our social media networks who are forever, our loyal clients.

7. Are there any plans to open a store in the near future? If not, where will we be able to find your products ?

Yes! We are actively studying the case to open a store in London but considering the rent in London is very high, we are planning to open our first store around St Albans. Ofcourse, we will never be forgetting to equally devote our time to the online store.

8. Can you give us some insight into the upcoming trends in Accessories for Fall/Winter 2016 ?

The signature product of the Fall/Winter Collection 2016 will be the bucket bag considering that the trend will be leaning towards more casual however we wish to continue to have a hint of the highly stylised. 

When it comes to colours, we will be bringing back classy shades of black and beige, the trending colours of that season.

We will be sticking to the suede considering we love the fancy quality and it’s a fabric that never goes out of style. We always love suede on our handbags!

Our Jewellery will be designed to suit the tastes of the more younger feminine lady. We will be bringing in a lot of gun silver as a hardware material, and feature a few colourful stones which will match the handbag’s colour ranges. 

MM SISTERS