MEET EMILY MACFIE THE TALENTED DESIGNER BEHIND AI MEI LI

Whilst Instagram became a haven for people monetising their hobbies during the first UK lockdown, one designer caught Y2K fashion lovers’ attention through shredding, braiding and reconstructing clothing she had in the depths of her closet at home. Emily Macfie, the 23-year-old behind Ai Mei Li who began reworking second hand tops into one-of-a-kind garments, tapped into the growing demand for sustainable fashion options among climate conscious consumers. Five months after launching the brand, Ai Mei Lei pieces have been worn by the likes of Nigerian designer Mowalola Ogunlesi.

Through modifying garments into beautiful cut-out tops, that sometimes look like opulent and colourful DNA structures, it's evident that Emily has a sharp eye for taking a garment to the next level. It’s also clear that a passion project can turn into a successful brand in the space of a few months when you’re armed with immense talent and a supportive community.

We sat down with Emily to discuss the growth of Ai Mei Li, how her heritage influences her designs, the importance of community and dismantling fast fashion. During the interview, Emily makes one thing clear: Ai Mei Li is for everyone.

Can you tell us about yourself and where Ai Mei Li all began? What’s the story behind the name? 

I'm half Korean and half English and I was born and raised in Asia. I came to London in 2015 for university and have been living here ever since.

The name Ai Mei Li is actually just my English name phonetically “translated” in Mandarin. It was given to me in my first Chinese class when I moved to Beijing and it has stuck with me since then. I feel like it represents my upbringing, surroundings and experiences that have all led up to who I am now and what I do, my identity, and it is very personal - Beijing is my favourite city in the whole world.

I knew what I wanted Ai Mei Li to represent and it had been an ongoing project in my head for a long while, but I started sharing my work on my personal account at the start of the first lockdown. I officially made my clothing page on the 13th of September 2020, when I realised I could and should turn this into something serious for myself.

It must feel extremely rewarding to completely transform a garment and then see the finished product on a customer. Can you talk us through your reworking process?

It’s the most enjoyable part! Each top I make inspires different techniques and treatments depending on silhouettes, colours, patterns etc - it’s not something I sit down and plan at all. I also don’t make them with a certain person in mind, I just rework what compliments the item in front of me, the same way a chef would add ingredients they know would be yummy to the dish haha. 

It’s the best feeling seeing each item worn by someone, and having it be a perfect match to them and the way they choose to wear it or style it. It reinforces the idea in my head that what I make really is 4 EVERY1, and that is important to me.

The way you rework your garments is so unique. I saw you paid homage to FRUiTS through a couple of your pieces. Where does your inspiration come from?

FRUiTS magazine has been very integral to introducing me to different subcultures and styles, and is constantly reminding me to embrace “who you are” and to enjoy it all! It’s something I study and it leads me to so many new designers, eras in fashion, clothing stores, archive pages etc which all continue to inspire me.

Things that people judge or look down on are always celebrated somehow years later… so celebrate it now! That’s something that inspires me to continuously experiment and push boundaries when it comes to clothing. It’s a true freedom bringing ideas to life with no restrictions or rules in place. Why do clothes or fashion have rules anyways?

I saw a full Ai Mei Li outfit featured in Mattie Cozartt’s ‘Ghost Town Freestyle’ music video, how was that? What was the creative process like?

I’ve known Mattie for a couple years now so it meant a lot to me when he reached out for the video. I love Mattie and i’ve been a fan of his music too, it was a blessing to be a part of what you know is the start of something very great - one of my favourite songs of the EP too. 

What’s your favourite look you’ve created?

It changes at least every two weeks! As of right now it would have to be the black and blue striped maxi dress I reworked. It feels and looks like a second skin. I love it.

There’s a real sense of community that comes through on your IG with friends and customers rocking your pieces. How important is this element of Ai Mei Li to you?

I’ve even met the coolest people through Ai Mei Li; people I admire, designers I want to wear, people I want to work with… It means the most to me, the same way that I support the things I love, it's crazy to see people do the same with Ai Mei Li. It keeps me wanting to create more and more for more people to enjoy. My reason for designing is to make clothes 4 EVERY1; something for everyone, so building a supportive community who back this message is something very special and important, it feels very powerful.

I saw that in your collaboration with Nii HAi you donated 50% of the profit to one of your models, Moses. Can you tell us about the collaboration and the ethos behind it?

Moses was one of the 13 models who helped me shoot my first collection ever and it was the first time I met him in real life. I decided to direct 20% of the profits from that first drop towards his gofundme but it was my first drop and it wasn’t a crazy amount of money. 

When Nii HAi came to me, of course I was down and excited for the collaboration itself, but the fact that 50% would be donated to a charity of my choice was an added incentive and it was the first thing that came to my mind to choose.

The ethos behind the choice is nothing but supporting the people and communities around you whenever you can, starting with home and moving outwards as far as you can go. Moses had no loyalty or obligation to be at my shoot and to help me bring Ai Mei Li to life - none of the models or photographers did - but the support and excitement towards it is something that still makes me want to burst into tears, I'll be real!

I know your work promotes sustainable choices and aims to dismantle fast fashion, do you think the current popularity of reworked garments is a result of people’s growing climate consciousness?

100%. Not to sound lame but 2020 really brought the world 2020 vision. 2020 slowed down life as we knew it and heavily exposed the environmental and human impacts of fast fashion and the industry. Now more than ever, people want to wear things that make them feel good, which heavily includes how and where items are made. But choosing more sustainable and ethical fashion also goes hand in hand with anti-racism. 

Worldwide, 80% of the 74 million textile workers are women of colour, who are working in unsafe conditions and paid nothing for it. Dismantling fast fashion is to expose the exploitation of these workers. It intertwines with the Black Lives Matter movement as well as the ongoing push and growing consciousness worldwide, for racial equality for people of colour. After all, the sinister greed behind fast fashion all stems from colonialism, where the West oppress non-white people to broaden their profit and power.

But I think it also has a lot to do with the fact that we are all in a global pandemic, with limited access to resources, so a lot of us are making the most out of what we have around us. Using our creativity to survive. For me that started with raiding me and my moms closets. Whatever the reason, I think the growing trend around slow fashion is wonderful, necessary for systemic change and very refreshing and reassuring.

You’re consistently showing new pieces on IG and you’ve recently launched your Valentine’s drop, which was gorgeous! How do you keep up the workrate?

This drop was all lovey dovey themed haha! But keeping an updated stock of colourful clothes I source keeps me excited to experiment and create more. For me, one of the most enjoyable sides of work is to share the personal sides of my process; how a certain item makes me feel, what it reminds me of, what movie character or childhood cartoon inspired it etc… even naming each item after they’ve been made. All of that requires me to have pieces made, so I guess that keeps my work rate up. As well, each piece is like a new experiment to me - none the same, so always it’s exciting to get started.

It’s so impressive to see that you only did your first drop in November last year! How do you imagine the growth of Ai Mei Li in the future?

Thank you! It’s really just world domination, that’s the plan haha. But within the next couple months I want to move away from 1/1s and focus on developing some of my own designs… I’m really into baby tees and maxi skirts right now. I just wanna see EVERYONE in Ai Mei Li.