TW Creatives: Maia Lilford, Founder and Designer of Wearing Maia

Tokyo Weekender’s series TW Creatives feature various works by Japan-based writers, photographers, videographers, illustrators and other creatives in a bid to provide one additional platform for them to exhibit their talent. The works submitted here belong entirely to the creators — Tokyo Weekender only takes pride in being one of their most passionate supporters!

For this week’s entry, we introduce fashion designer Maia Lilford.

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Wearing Maia founder Maia Lilford lives by the mantra, “more is more”, which is easy to see in her bold and colorful outfits. Drawing inspiration from the 1960s, 80s and 90s, Lilford meshes silhouettes of past eras to make something that is simultaneously nostalgic and futuristic. She sees her pieces as wearable art, they start a conversation and also help you to connect with your inner child.

Having grown up on a farm in New South Wales, Australia, she has a deep concern for sustainable practices, excluding leather from her production line. In a bid for sustainability, all the items are small run and locally made with a focus on recycled or natural fibers. When using new fabrics, scraps are re-fashioned into masks, scrunchies, bags, hats or even nails to ensure there is little to no waste. Lilford creates with inspiring confidence, inclusion and empowerment in mind, all pieces are handmade to order and can be customized by size or color (depending on fabric availability) to all body shapes and sizes, genders, ages and races.

Wearing Maia believes in a tactile experience, experimenting with a range of mediums from painting, screen printing, stenciling, sublimation print, embroidery, appliqué, and other arts and crafts to create unique one-off pieces.

Wearing Maia has collaborated with a broad range of other creatives including illustrators, AI programmers, photographers, painters, make-up artists, comedians, accessories designers, digital artists and videographers to push the boundaries of clothing and art. For collaborations, contact [email protected]