THE MiH STORY
BY CHLOE LONSDALE - DESIGNER AND FOUNDER OF MiH JEANS
first Jean Machine shop
THE BEGINNING
I grew up with denim in my blood. It was almost inevitable that the denim industry would be my calling. My Dad started the legendary Jean Machine stores, my Mum, Chekkie Maskell, was a top 70s denim model and my Godfather launched Made in Heaven in 1969 – a brand which has now, in its reincarnation as MiH Jeans, become my baby.
DENIM BUSINESS
In the early '70s Dad bought a van full of old denims and tried to wholesale them to all the trendy boutiques in London, except that everyone laughed at him. In an attempt to salvage some profit and dignity from the venture, he took a shop on the King's Road and filled the shelves with his stock. He figured if he sold it within three months he would be ok – he sold out within three weeks.
THE BLUE JEAN KING AND HIS BRIDE
He soon became known as the Blue Jean King and met Mum – his Blue Jean Bride – when one day she modeled designs from a new denim range called Made in Heaven for him. When I came along a few years later, MiH was the coolest jeans brand around and its creator had become my parents’ good friend and my appointed godfather.
THE TRUNKS IN THE ATTIC
These cool credentials didn't dawn on me until my early teens when along with my three sisters we discovered trunks of old stock in the attic. From then on I was permanently denim-clad and my mind was made up: I would revive MiH Jeans. And, following a fashion degree at Central St. Martins and training at Nicole Farhi, that is exactly what I did.
THE BEST BUMS IN THE WORLD
I'm proud to say that today we dress some of the best bums in the world from New York to Tokyo, and not forgetting London, where I live with my husband and son, and where serves as constant inspiration for my work.
