I have been a huge fan of Macarons since I first laid my eyes on their products. And no, these Macarons are very colourful but not for eating!
Macarons is a sustainable luxury label for children from 0-8 years old made in Germany. Macarons designs clothes that really work for children: giving them enough space and comfort to be “real” kids not dolls. At the same time they give parents the security of having their babies perfectly dressed for all weather conditions. Macarons develops and produces each garment, from fiber to finished piece, exclusively in Germany.
Interview with Julie Carol Kohlhoff, co-owner of Macarons.
How would you describe your brand?
Avantgarde Eco-Couture for Babys and Kids. What make macarons very special is that we create all our fabrics ourselves, which means that we buy the best organic and GOTS certified merino wool and cotton raw yarns that we can find on the market and then we create and coordinate all further steps from knitting, weaving, dyeing, processing and sewing. All 100% made in Germany with wonderful partners and 100% strict GOTS So textile innovation and creation is one part and than we have a very new approach of design with a strong architectural background from my husband and our designer Nina. It is also very rewarding that we are a family brand.
What lead you to working with fashion?
My passion for textiles and clothing in general. After finishing the german “Abitur” I started right away with a very competitive Traineeship Programm for one of the big german fashion houses. After successfully finishing that and first experience as floor manager and in buying headquater I started my studies as Textile and clothing management with two long term internships, one in Shanghai in Production and one in London for Couture. After successfully completing my studies, I worked for an in-house brand for the german equivalent of Printemps as Product Manager with extensive traveling to all production countries like china, Bangladesh, India. I have seen a lot!
How do you define your own personal style?
Casual chic. I shop organic wherever possible, I love to mix and match with treasures from all my travels and different countries and some really nice vintage. I love knits.
Who has been your biggest fashion influence?
My mother, very french, very chic.
What’s the biggest highlight of your career until now?
Better than any management position in the fashion industry is creating an own brand from scratch. I have never experienced such an interesting, accomplishing and nourishing period of my professional life!
What do you find most rewarding, and most challenging about your job?
Most rewarding is when I get photos from parents all over the world with pictures of their little ones wearing macarons and when my 3 year old says: mummy, this piece is wow”! challenging is to combine family with two little kids ( Cléo 3 years and Cécile 8 months) and macarons, but it’s definitively worth the struggle.
What is yourf avorite item from your AW13 line?
I love jacket Jojo- it is just such a great fabric (our IQ-Fabric innovations) and an amazing unisex style- a real classic.
What do you like and dislike about the fashion industry?
I find it very rewarding to work in the children’s universe now. People, even competitors are soo nice and helpful. I like it when people stay grounded, especially when the success of the company becomes obvious. I like to be surrounded by people who like beautiful things. Fashion is like art in a way. I certainly dislike arrogant, superficial behavior in the fashion biz.
Shop Macarons here.
