Introducing The New Sustainable Brand That You’re Going To Love: MIMI+MARTHA

Have you picked up our jam-packed September issue of STELLAR yet? If so, you’ll have noticed that it’s all about sustainability. For this month’s cover, we’re only delira to announce that Tara Stewart is taking centre stage. If you haven’t, well, get yourself to your nearest shop with €1.95 at the ready.

A fitting role model for an issue that’s dedicated to style and sustainability, Tara caught up with Valerie Loftus to discuss how she feeds her love for fashion with the planet in mind, consequently, why she left the fast-fashion world behind her and career hustling. So keeping that in mind, we’re also committing to featuring more sustainable brands on STELLAR.ie.

Introducing, new lifestyle and interiors brand MIMI+MARTHA (you can also check out their Instagram here). Founded by an iconic mother-daughter duo, the focus of the brand is on conscious shopping and celebrating the grá that goes into creating and making.

Stepping away from excessive consumption trends, MIMI+MARTHA strives towards a more sustainable, kind way of living, with a simple mission: to bring happiness to their customers through expressive and unique items for home & lifestyle, thoughtfully made, with grá at the core of the creation process. We caught up with the brains behind the brand to get the latest lowdown on the new launch.

First up, I was intrigued to hear what the inspiration behind MIMI+MARTHA was, besides the sustainable mission. According to Martha, the idea behind it is very simple. “We both have always been really into lifestyles and interiors. I live up in Dublin now, and my mom lives down at home in Limerick. So, between the two houses, we’ve got really different styles and really different tastes. 

I think the inspiration behind it was that we were seeing all these amazing designers and Irish makers and different things, and this move towards kind of more sustainable buying and slower consumerism and things. We really wanted to see somewhere that was bringing all of those designers together in one place that was more accessible to like a more modern audience and a little bit more transparent.” Adding to this, Mimi says “one of the things I felt from my generation standpoint was that Irish design and craft always kind of felt a bit exclusive. And people may be a little bit intimidated about getting in there and browsing that kind of designers and those crafts.

So one of the things we really wanted to focus on was opening that up and making it really inclusive and bringing those guys onto a platform.”

When it comes to living a more sustainable lifestyle, Martha shares that it’s really all about transparency. “I think for me, it’s definitely all about transparency because there are a lot of buzzwords now with shopping, where you’re not quite sure what sustainable means, or what is eco friendly or what does it mean if something is biodegradable. 

I think that was a big part of what we wanted to do for the consumer, to say, ‘Listen, we’ve actually vetted this, we know where this is coming from, we’re going to show you off the processes, we’re going to tell you the designer story, we’re going to show you you know, what category this fits into’, because really when designers are making with lots of different materials and in lots of different processes, sustainable means something really different to each different product.”

Mimi seconds this, sharing that “it’s nice for a customer to be able to come on and read that and inform themselves about what it means, because it’s a bit intimidating to hear these words about sustainability or eco friendly or biodegradable – all of these things. You could just purchase a simple item, like a bamboo toothbrush, and you’re making one small step in the right direction. I think for my generation, it’s more of a learning curve. I think for you guys, you’re living it and you’re, you know, it’s very real.”

When it comes to bringing sustainable items into your home, both Mimi and Martha were on hand with their top tips. Where to begin? What to do? What to choose? According to Mimi, it’s all about personal preference. “In terms of interior decor, I’d say start with one item that speaks to you. If you’re looking at our collection, something will speak to you and something will connect with you, so start with that.

From just one beautiful item, you can create a whole theme and a whole room.”

And Martha’s top tip? “Don’t be afraid to pick things that are not going to be to other people’s tastes. That’s part of the fun, when people see certain pieces, they’ll say, ‘oh god, that’s a bit mad, or it’s a bit different, I’ve never seen anything like that before.’ That’s fun and a good thing. And that’s part of the fun of it, that it can be really expressive and part of your character and your personality that you feel like you’re connecting with whatever you’re buying.”

Another gorge sustainable brand that we can’t get enough of lately is nu-in. A brand that launched in April of this year, born out of necessity and with the responsibility to protect our planet and its inhabitants. All the clothing on nu-in is made consciously, giving shoppers an alternative to the bigger brands producing unsustainably. Check it out right here.

Plus, if you haven’t heard, the gals behind Sustainable Fashion Dublin have rebranded, and they’ve some BIG plans, find out the latest on The Useless Project here.

• interiors
• MIMI+MARTHA
• sustainability