Building my Fashion Empire

I remember the joy and glee I had every single time I drew in all my diaries and journals - all these little doll clothes! I would spend hours each day just drawing and coming up with unique and sometimes weird clothes for my dolls.

My name is Maxine and I’m the founder of Maxina, my very own Swimwear, Active wear and Lingerie brand that aims to bring out confidence and authenticity in every woman worldwide!

The one craft that I absolutely love and often lose track of time when I immerse myself into, is creating clothes. This is quite strange because, when I was growing up I never thought I could be a fashion designer, I didn’t even realize that it was something people did for a living. When grade 12 hit and I was told by all my teachers and guidance counselors that I needed to start applying for colleges – I had absolutely no idea what to apply for!

Throughout high school, I took all the required courses, of course, but unlike other students when it came to the years, I could choose which classes to take and some being so happy that science and math were not a requirement anymore, me not knowing what I wanted to do – took all the sciences and maths all 4 years. I did end up getting good grades in all the sciences, (biology, psychics, chemistry, etc.) and maths. So, when it came to picking a course for college, I really did have the pick of litter. Believe it or not, I ended up applying for, and later being accepted to all; The study of zoology, The Culinary Arts and Fashion Design. You might be thinking “wow those are all so different and random” My logic was;

Zoology – I loved animals and who would not want to work with animals

Culinary Arts – I was really into cake decorating – but later would realize I do not have the patience for it

Fashion design – figured it would be a cool thing to learn and I used to do it all the time a.k.an easy course.

I did end up graduating with honors, academic M, and the fashion design award of excellence for having the highest grade of 98%. Now this excitement triggered a nostalgic memory - my love for drawing clothes!

As a little girl, I was your typical girl who loved barbies, polypockets (the old ones made of rubber not these new funny looking ones), brats dolls etc. the difference with me though, I would keep a big container of extra clothes for all my dolls. Instead of playing with the dolls like kids do, I would instead spend hours changing their clothes and finding the best matches for each one, sometimes even draw it if I liked it.

After winning the fashion design award of excellence for obtaining the highest grade at graduation, I got motivated to see what would become of this design thing, so fashion design it was! Going into the course I had absolutely no idea how to actually sew garments or make patterns for it – I went into it pretty much just knowing how to draw.

Throughout the 3-year course each semester you had to come up with a design of your own following that year’s curriculum i.e., Activewear, Ready to Wear, Eveningwear etc. The last year was all about putting everything we learned into a collection – this is where the stress was on. We had to create a line of 5 outfits fitted to our models perfectly and show it at the London Museum of Art to be judged by a panel of teachers and well-known designer, David Dixon. Again, me being me – a very indecisive person, I had no idea what I wanted to do. We could pick any category of our choosing.

I tried out evening wear. I even designed a few pieces but couldn’t come up with something that really spoke to me. I then came along a picture of the beach and this beaded dress that seemed to almost light a little spark inside my creative mind. My teachers thought I was crazy because swimwear was not part of the curriculum and we were not taught how to sew or pattern any kind of swimsuits. I was determined and taught myself.

I took inspiration from the ocean, the beach and movement of water. I hand laced several thousand beads and made the necklace pieces for all my pieces in the collection.

Living in London Ontario didn’t present much of a career path for fashion design so it was hard finding a good steady job within my skill house. I worked for many different small businesses sewing and making patterns for all things like swimwear, children’s wear, scrunchies etc. After working for so many small businesses I said to myself “if they can do it, why can’t I?”

That’s when the Maxina brand was born.

Maxina Is a Brand by Women for Women

The female form, no matter the size and type of body, is worth being celebrated. Comfort and Confidence are very key to this, because when one is not comfortable in their own body, one's confidence is lost, and without confidence, it's hard for one to celebrate their authentic self.

Maxina is a swimwear, lingerie and activewear brand that celebrates the diversity of the female form by making designs that fit all body types. Women go through a lot of pressure just to get the desired body to slip into a bikini when the summer arrives. We want to change this narrative, by changing the way women feel about their bodies. Our swimwear line has already achieved this by only featuring pieces that are designed around fit and comfort no matter the body type. We have gone further than that, allowing women to place custom design orders to ensure they get the maximum fit and comfort while still feeling gorgeous and sexy.

Our new lingerie, comprising mostly of lace material, is all about the way women feel about themselves and their bodies without worrying about things being too tight or too slack around the edges. We want to prove to the world that feeling sexy does not have come at the cost of comfort. With sports bras, tights and other activewear that is designed around body support, we want to get more girls out for a jog or into the gym, confident that the only thing they need worry about is their wellness goals, not whether or not their active gear fits okay for their body type.

Canada To the World

The world as we know it today is constantly changing. A few hundred years ago, things such as mechanical clocks and vertical windmills were the fascination of that era. Travel was very limited and it would take months to reach destinations it only takes hours to reach today. If you look around now, it doesn't take long to see that the world has become like a giant house across a vast, plain field. Everything and everyone are connected, no matter how far apart we may be from each other.

As a start-up brand on a mission to achieve global impact, we appreciate this connectedness especially fondly, because, were it not for technology today, more and more women around the world would miss the opportunity to experience true comfort and sexiness in our stylish, supportive pieces. We may be based in Canada, but we exist to serve women from all walks of life, anywhere in the world today, creating a lasting legacy that will affect the way women experience self-confidence and take care of their bodies.

Thanks to e-commerce technology we've already sold and shipped our designs to women in different countries around the world. And we're not stopping here, as our brand grows and our footprint expands, we want to keep innovating, listening to our customers and their needs in order to deliver better, more comfortable swimwear, lingerie and active gear at affordable prices.

Dare To Dream

As a brand that is committed to bringing a fun, fashion forward and innovative range of lingerie, swim and activewear, Maxina has all the beach, bedroom and gym essentials, an array of bikinis, one-piece swimsuits, cover-ups and apparel along with extensive lingerie and activewear collections for the daring woman. Bold statement prints, contrasting textures and injections of eclectic color encapsulate and reflect the Maxina brand philosophy.

The Maxina brand exists to empower and inspire women to dream, to know that not only some of us, but all of us can achieve anything we set our hearts and mind to. We are passionate about encouraging women to truly love themselves and to uplift others too! This is the feeling we strive to achieve with every piece we design, taking special care to achieve the best comfort, fit and support standards every woman ever dreams of.

The inspiration and an even bigger push to creating this brand was a dedication to my grandmother, the woman who dared me to dream.

Xoxo

Maxine Archambault