Mawi Keivom 2005

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Mawi Keivom (Margaret Thangmawi Keivom) won London Female Owned Business Of The Year 2005

Mawi Keivom (Margaret Thangmawi Keivom), a Hmar lady having roots in India and the eldest daughter of a retired IFS L. Keivom has been awarded the prestigious LONDON FEMALE OWNED BUSINESS OF THE YEAR 2005 award at this year's UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) 'Passport to Export Awards 2005' event held at London on 19th May 2005.

Mawi is a fashion designer and runs her own Fashion Company "Mawi Ltd" at Islington, London. Mawi Ltd designs and manufactures up-market leather handbags, accessories and jewellery in Portobello and Sefton in Islington. Mawi Keivom launched her eponymous label in November 2000 with her partner and husband, Tim Awan and has emerged as one of the most promising designers on the London scene.

To name a few, celebrities such as Kylie Minogue, Denise Van Outen, Shakira, Kate Moss, Gwyneth Paltrow, June Sarpong, Dani Behr and Samantha Mumba featured Mawi's designs in numerous publications ranging from Elle, Vogue and Marie Claire to the Observer and Sunday Telegraph. She currently supplies major departmental stores such as Isetan, Tokyu, Kintetsu, Steven Allan, Selfridges and Epoca in Japan and is on the lookout to extend sales in Hong Kong, the USA and Europe.

Mawi Keivom (Margaret Thangmawi Keivom)

Mawi Keivom was also the recipient of LONDON FASHION WEEK NEW GENERATION AWARD for three consecutive years in 2003, 2004 and 2005. She was also recently interviewed by Hindusthan Times's Fashion writer Seema Goswami.

UKTI, which annually organised such Award events is the government organisation that supports companies in the UK trading internationally and overseas enterprises seeking to locate to the UK. Their continued commitment to meet the needs of companies operates worldwide, where their aim is to help companies realise their international business potential through knowledge transfer, and on-going partnership support.

Winners of these prestigious awards add value to their business by giving them a competitive advantage and virtual passport to overseas markets. They also increase their respect within the industry, raising the awareness of their company and their products, as well as boosting a well deserved company pride.

You can read more about Mawi here

Interview with Mawi - Courtesy Hmar.net
By David Buhril

Thang Mawi is the Hmar word for beautiful fame. Born in North-East India and raised all over the world: her accessories have been making headlines with the fashion crowd for the last two years. Mawi graduated from the Auckland Institute of Technology, New Zealand. Her fashion career has taken her from New Zealand; via Isaac Mizrahi in New York to Bill Amberg and Via Couture in London, before setting up on her own.

Mawi’s journey from the hills of Manipur to adorning the pages of Vogue, Harpers & Queen, Elle, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, The Times, Observer, Telegraph, Wall Paper. I.D, The Face etc. has been marked by her determination and passion to make it big. “I’ve always wanted to be a fashion designer from a very early age”. She remembers writing in her friend’s diary that her dream ‘was to be in Vogue’. That was some fifteen years back when she was nurturing that big dream.

Mawi confesses her journey was no big leap nor easy. She dearly counts and treasures every single step she's taken to get to where she is today. Her passion for designing started when she about was ten years old. She remembers spending afternoons cutting her mom’s old dresses and creating and customizing one-off versions for herself much to her mom's horror.

Mawi said her first love was designing womenswear and “fell into jewellery design by default”. It all started when she designed a bag for herself that had an amazing response and she decided to go full swing. She took a bank loan of £700 and launched her first collection consisting of only seven bags. The Cross - one of the leading lifestyle boutiques in London, snapped up the handbag collection. The first jewellery collection followed soon after. Since then she has won the NEW GENERATION award at London Fashion Week for two consecutive seasons (2003 & 2004) and is hoping to win her third (the award can be won three times)

Her accessories are currently available in Selfridges; Liberty, Fenwick, Harvey Nichols, Browns Focus and Willma in London - as well as in leading department stores and boutiques throughout Europe, Australia, the Far East, USA and in over forty outlets in Japan.

Mawi says that her dad, L. Keivom, a retired diplomat (Indian Foreign Service) has been her major influence and role model. "He came from humble beginnings and became this most amazing writer, composer, diplomat and humanitarian. My mom was instrumental too in nurturing my creativity. “When I was little girl she would send me off to all her friends to learn crochet, knitting and embroidery whilst my friends were out chasing cute boys." When Mawi was in Delhi a couple of months back, her mom pulled out all these bags and shawls she had knitted as a child. She had saved them all these years.

She also attributes her success to Tim Awan, her husband and business partner. “When the bags got snapped up and we got our first account with the Cross and Selfridges - Tim saw potential.” He got more involved with the business, eventually leaving his TV Production job to run the business full time. "I could not have done this on my own." Tim is the business brain, the hard talking decisive half of the business and is responsible for steering the company forward.

Mawi has since expanded their product range by launching a menswear jewellery line, which is titled ‘Sir’ The menswear collection is exclusive to Harvey Nichols in the UK and specialty boutiques in Japan. A scarf range will also be launched this year.

She is grateful for her her global upbringing and her exposure to far flung cultures. "We had the most amazing childhood - really magical!" She spent her childhood in Africa chasing giraffes and hanging out with the wildlife and going on amazing safaris. Then on to Saudi Arabia; Burma, New Zealand, Milan, Boston New York and now London. Along the way she collected tusks, bones, shells, beads and anything and everything that caught her eye.

I've always been a bit of a mad collector and have been hoarding stuff from ever since I can remember and making jewellery from all my finds." She describes herself as a global child, an urban nomad who has lived all over the world, skipped and hopped across continents. But she confesses London, with its “style” and “sub-culture” - has been her love and inspiration too.

As Mawi’s collections have evolved: her signature method of appropriating cultural symbols remains the same. “ I want to give the wearer a personal journey like they have traveled all over the world themselves and salvaged pieces from far-flung places”, she says. This against the religious iconography of Christianity, with slogans like ‘Jesus Cares’ and ‘THOU SHALT NOT KILL – a commandment that is at calculated odds with the designer’s use of military patches. The combination encapsulates the tongue-in-cheek playfulness that Mawi has become known for.

Juxtaposing the traditional and the modern, Mawi’s designs are a natural extension of her passion and love for the art. She believes that one has to be extremely focused, determined and not afraid of hard work to survive in this industry. Fashion she says “ is like working in a sweat shop”. For the past 3 years she has dedicated 16-18 hours a day handling everything from researching, designing, production and even packing and delivery.

“The world of fashion is the one of the most competitive. The industry demands new and fresh ideas to feed the hungry consumer who is always on the look out for the next big thing." Fashion is about pushing new boundaries and the ability to interpret trends with originality and a fresh eye is very important.”

On being asked why she has not cracked any headlines in India, as she is on the international fashion scene, “Maybe it's because I don’t have an obviously Indian sounding name like Sunita or Geeta. No one in India even knows I'm Indian. She believes that India is not yet ready for her accessories. “They are” she says, “still an indulgence as far as the Indian market is concerned.”

With belts that retail for over £300 made from vintage fabrics and strewn with old military buttons, brooches and old trinkets from flea market finds, she thinks it's a long time coming before Indian girls will be queuing up for her designs. Meanwhile in London a sting of celebrities and fashionistas have been spotted wearing Mawi.

Kate Moss is currently sporting the best selling Giant Tusk pendant with charms on the new Rimmel advertising campaign; Kylie had her official press shots flaunting Mawi bracelets. Other Celebes includes Elizabeth Jagger, Scarlet Johansson, The Sugar Babes, Kelis - the list goes on….

Mawi has never feared mixing metaphors. Her influences are as varied as her travels and continue to inform her eclectic collections. Punk’s grand tradition of appropriating cultural symbols for the sake of fashion has been reflected in Mawi’s past collections giving the line it’s modern edge as well as a doze of street cred.

Her jewellery is uncontrived and looks vintage- inspired yet resolutely modern. These are accessories that look like they are imbued with family history: lockets, bits of lace, pearls, skulls, leather, junks shop charms, crystals and African tusks all combine in a new way to create accessories that feels personal to the wearer. The uniqueness of each piece echoes the sense of individuality so important in fashion today.

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