One lucky Vogue Scandinavia Society member can have a piece of clothing upcycled by Swedish brand Main Nué
Do you have a piece in your wardrobe that you no longer love? Main Nué is offering one complimentary repair service to a Vogue Scandinavia Society member. To have your piece upcycled, send an email with an image of the piece to info@voguescandinavia.com, including the subject line 'ReVogue submission'
While it’s hardly the only upcycle brand in town (we love to see it), there’s something particularly charming about Main Nué. Maybe it’s the delicate crochet details or perhaps the strings criss-crossed and tied into bows. Maybe it’s the mismatched floral patches or that each piece is one-of-a-kind, sewn by hand from discarded, damaged or otherwise unwanted fabrics. Maybe it’s that when I reach founder Maja Freiman via video from her home in Södermalm, there’s a wide-eyed baby siting on her lap.
Freiman’s obsession with rescuing that which is no longer wanted originated as a child. “I was very into flea markets when I was a kid,” she says. “And I’ve always been making things for myself from old stuff.” At eight years old, she was already using her mom’s sewing machine, crafting looks for her dolls. When she graduated high school, her “dream job” was to work in a flea market, but then she discovered something even more thrilling: working in the sorting warehouse that distributes items to thrift stores. It was there, sorting and pricing materials, that it dawned on her that she wanted to become a designer.
Maja Freiman at her trusty sewing machine. Photo: Main Nué
While studying at the Swedish School of Textiles, she met Alva Johansson and the duo co-founded of Main Nué (Johansson recently left the brand, leaving Freiman to continue on her own). The brand was inspired by Freiman’s shifts at the sorting warehouse, seeing piles upon piles of textiles discarded every day. “We’d been seeing all of these materials go to waste every day,” she says. “It can be a cashmere and you can’t sell it because it has a small hole. So we figured we could collect these things and try to make something of it.” The name comes from the French word for hand, referencing the handmade nature of each piece. Today, she sells her wares through Instagram and at beloved Stockholm boutique Nitty Gritty (she brings her pieces there herself, by bike).
Recently, Freiman took her upcycling obsession one step further. It wasn’t enough to save the unwanted fabrics from the sorting warehouse, she wanted to breathe new life into the unwanted items hanging in people’s closets, too. The result is Main Nué’s repair program, which allows clients to bring in damaged or underused items to be upcycled into something covetable. Her favourite pieces to work on? “Things with nice materials from the beginning,” she says. “And I personally love jackets and coats. If someone comes in with their favourite jacket? I would definitely like to do that.” She recently was handed a Dries Van Noten bomber, which she deconstructed and decorated with her signature patchwork.
A detail from an upcycled Dries Van Noten jacket.
But Freiman is just one person (and currently, one person caring for a young child). Taking a “teach a man to fish” mentality, the designer also offers repair kits of carefully curated patches, needles and thread so customers can repair their items themselves. “I would love for there to be more repair studios, with different expressions – that’s how I see it in the future,” she says. For now, however, she’s happy making her one-of-a-kind pieces and offering her personal repair service. “I’m not interested in getting super rich,” she says. “I just want to do this, that I really love.”
Main Nué is offering one complimentary repair service to a Vogue Scandinavia Society member. To have your piece upcycled, send an email with an image of the piece to info@voguescandinavia.com.