Maryam Nassir Zedeh: Contemporary Downtown Cool

This season we welcome Maryam Nassir Zadeh’s coveted namesake label. The downtown New York designer, retailer, and showroom owner has been making a splash within the global fashion scene since opening her retail store with her husband in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in 2008. Having previously experimented with design, creating reworked vintage t-shirts and dresses, Maryam shifted focus towards the running of her store and showroom housing various high profile and emerging independent designers. It was only in 2011 Maryam felt it was the right time to reconsider her own label and create the pieces she envisioned for her own ‘ideal’ wardrobe. Initially producing a few pieces to be stocked exclusively instore, the collections quickly grew traction with the label officially launching in 2013. Mixing contemporary shapes, vintages references and soft unexpected colour, both Maryam’s store and her collections are reflective of her own eclectic style. Citing both her Mother’s ‘nerdiness' and Iranian Grandmother’s 70’s avant-garde style as inspirations, Maryam creates designs to have longevity; key pieces the wearer will want to collect and rediscover over time. Manufactured locally in NY, MNZ collections often feature an understated beauty, believing in the importance of the mood and story each garment represents. The label’s preference for natural and spontaneous style come through in softly transparent, iridescent materials, and easy shapes that welcome personal movement such as circle skirts, restructured jeans and cotton shirting.