MilkB
香港の子どものライフスタイル、ファッション雑誌「MilkB」に
Cicekを取材していただきました。
Cicekをお取り扱いいただいているStorytimeのオーナー、
オルソン千春さんがこのMilkBでコラムを書かれています。
毎回、新しい日本の子ども服ブランドを紹介されていて、
今回はCicekをご紹介していただきました。
今回は、なんとagnis b.のコートが付録なのだとか！
表紙にもある、ドットのもの。
豪華〜
かわいい〜♡
ほしい〜
それもあって、19日発売だったのですが 即完売だったそうです。
「MilkB」のBは「Baby」のB、
表紙に「For parents who are kids」とありますが、
「子ども心を持った大人へ」という意味だそうです。
すてき。
Cicekの記事はこちら
千春さんの娘さんの海里（カイリ）ちゃんも、
この雑誌でモデルをされたことがあるそうです。
かわいいのですよ〜
上のページの、CicekのワンピースとTシャツを
かわいく着こなしてくれてるのが海里ちゃんです♡
はなと、誕生日が1年と1日違いのお嬢さん。
もう4歳になったのね。
MilkBのエディターの方たちも、「MilK」が大好きだそうです♪
Cicekの始まりのこと、コンセプト、ストーリー、1番好きなアイテム、
インスピレーションの源、おやすみの日にしていること、
子どもたちとのこと、モデルの仕事のこと、などなど、、、
いろいろお話しましたよ。
英語版の記事がこれです。
読めるかな？
A little Japanese girl draws… crafts…imagines… and is busy coordinating and laying outfits for her parents, her brother and her sister – the entire family!). This was her hobby…and this is the story of Mayuko Sunaga, the designer of Cicek, a model, a wife, and a mother of two little children.
With a passion to create, it was a natural path for Mayuko to attend the well-known Musashino Art University in Japan, where she majored in computer graphics. Rather than painting and drawing, her passion was to create 3 dimensional items such as textile and ribbon, and this led her to start, “mimi”, a Fabric Zakka brand where she was in charge of handmade bags.
Her decision to design for children’s clothes came after giving birth to her now 3 year old daughter, Hana. “Once your child is born, your life becomes quite centered around the child, and you don’t have as much time for yourself. I wanted to continue to keep my passion to create, and therefore, connected it with my new lifestyle. As a result, this led to the beginning of Cicek.”, says Mayuko. Cicek, meaning flower in Turkish, originated from Hana (which means flower in Japanese) and was launched so that she can create beautiful items for her daughter to wear.
In designing the items for Cicek, it was important for Mayuko to have something that is “Romantic”, “Organic and Easy to wear ” and “with a Story”. When Hana had eczema as a baby, she realized the importance of “organic” items that didn’t use any chemicals. The softness of the organic cotton was something she immediately wanted to make sure she would use as the material. Also, she says, “I love vintage clothes. There is always a Story that you can see… some times the embroidery is finished half way, or the mother’s clothes are re-sized to fit their daughter’s… there is a Story that each piece tells and I enjoy “reading” the Story”. It was important that Cicek also had a story, and she was adamant that each piece are hand-made with its own story. She is determined to the point that for items that are embroidered or crafty, she has no plans to have them produced in factories.
The future plan for Cicek is to continue and create something of high quality that is thoughtful even if the collection size may be small. For Autumn Fall 2011, she imagines what she would want her children to wear, and is very interested in “dots” and “one-piece” from dresses to salopet. She loves using fringe and tassels as one of the materials , as well as using handmade embroidery work. Recent upcoming projects are collaboration work with the Japanese magazine, “Very”(also sold in Hong Kong). and finds such joint projects to be “fun and stimulating”.
Since the launch in 2010, the best selling items have been Kabocha (pumpkin) pants. An item that is sweet, organic and that can be worn over a long time (as a 1.5 year old baby, as a pair of long pants, and the same pants can be worn as semi short pants as a 3 year old). The super soft cotton, as well as the simple style that can be combined easily with tops, the duration it can be worn has all led for these items to be a sell out. A recent popular item has been the bibs that has been personally hand made by Mayuko using liberty prints with organic cotton.
With a recent delivery of her boy, Sousuke, she sees herself thinking about boy’s clothes and what she would want him to wear that is not blue (imagines colour coordinating with green/beige/navy). While she has no plans on collaborating with her husband (who works in the men’s fashion industry) in creating a boy’s brand, finds his perspectives to be helpful and stimulating.
In the midst of all this, Mayuko is also very busy modeling, a career she had started during her University modeling for a Japanese magazine, “JILLE”. Since she has given birth, she enjoys the modeling she can do with her children. Recently, she has been in “MilK” and “nina’s” together with Hana. She says that she was very happy and fortunate having been in a TV commercial of an Electricity company with her then 1 month old son, that is currently on air. She feels fortunate that she is able to attend the auditions and to work with her son, having the support from people around her. When asked about how she maintains her beauty, she says, “beauty comes from the inside” where she believes in healthy eating (lots of soy beans and vegetable) and lifestyle (waking up and sleeping early with the kids!), instead of applying expensive make up from the outside!
Despite how busy she is, Mayuko continues to update her blog on Milk where she has many readers and followers. She continues to be inspired though “continuing to do what she loves”. She continues to visit galleries and exhibitions and shops that she finds cute and interesting. She does not hold back on getting inspired. “You need to continue to have your antenna high”, Mayuko says. She also feels that by being with her children, their simplicity “re-set” her thoughts. When possible, she does take some time off to refresh and relieve her stress, sits at a coffee shop on her own…probably imaging about creating… just like she did when she was a little girl…
千春さん、ありがとうございました！
