The Lower East Side is on the fast
track to change. With all the news of new condos under construction, along with
the invasion of NYU students, it makes the native local tenants wonder what
their neighborhood will turn into in the following years. The real estate alone has become especially
expensive, and the Lower East of Manhattan is no exception to the concrete
jungle of competition for independently owned businesses.
It’s no easy task to follow a dream of opening
your own business in a big city of critics. And not only that, gentrification
has been sweeping through the Lower East Side at a rapid rate, pushing out
small business for big chain names like 7/11 and Starbucks.
But that didn’t stop one tenacious
Michigan native, who moved to New York just a few months ago.
Maggie May, born Magdalena May
Trever, is the Owner of her own custom made Knit Wear store located at 207 East
13th street called Maggie May’s. Born in the outskirts of Detroit,
Magdalena started her dreams of designing at home before she moved to
California to learn her knitting education at College and then bringing her expertise
to NYC.
“I started a week after I gradated
college,” Maggie explains. She got her degree at the Academy of Art University
in San Francisco. “I was a Knitwear Major and I thought the idea would be
really fun.” Maggie uses punch card knit, which is a hand held machine that
speeds up the knitting process. It used to take Maggie a whole day to design
and put together one of her classic swimsuits, depending on the detail and
size. Now, thanks to many years of practice, Maggie has minimized the
completion of that process to just three hours.
“I like the challenge of custom wear” Maggie
explains in an interview outside her shop. “I’ve had girls come to me saying
they have this dream dress they want to recreate.” Maggie’s mot recent project
was making a bridal suit for a beach wedding.
When Maggie collected enough
inventory, she’ll mail her best suits to magazines in hopes they’ll be interested
in using one for their swimwear issue. Sometimes Magazines will reach out to
her, sending her mood boards with colors they’d like her to work with, and
she’d send back dozens of samples in hopes they’d use some.
“I had a bride, when I first
started I had a couple dancers who needed outfits for a recital, I’ve recreated
old cover suits with a modern twist. It’s really fun. A challenge, yes, but I
like it.”
It only took Maggie but two years
to go from fun hobby to business. She persistently mailed her samples to popular
stores, publications and even attending a few Playboy parties to network her
suits to Hugh’s bunnies.
Maggie promotes her work on social
media sites like facebook and youtube. Her most informative site is her website
MaggieMaySwimwear.com There you can find photos of her original suits, a bio on
her career as a designer and even a portfolio of her work in publications like
Sports Illustrated.
Though her website focuses on her
swimwear collection, Maggie has created all kinds of knitted masterpieces. She
ranges from dresses, to skirts to Monokini; the rising popular twist on a
classic one-piece bathing suit.
“It’s all knitted, but I make it look like
woven. Then I add beading, pearls and Shvorski crystals“ Maggie explains how
she takes an original idea and makes it even more customary. “Now I’m learning
to use leather.
Before Maggie moved into her new
home, 207 used to be an abandoned shop, previously home to a few other small buisnesses before it was left empty for a couple of years.
“It took over 8 months to redo the
store, there was nothing when we came. I didn’t have hot water for three
weeks.” Maggie came with her Twin sister to make a deal on this location that
has been abandoned for years. “I decorated the store all myself, painting the
walls and old furniture.”
Now 207 is vibrant and alive again,
painted with rich green and pink color on the outside, and beautifully interior
designs on the inside. It’s like walking into a wonderland of fabrics and jewelry.
“Oh Maggie I couldn’t have tried
anymore” Sings Rod Stuart in his hit song Maggie May, recorded by Stuart in
1971 in his hit Album Every Picture Tells A Story. Today, there is another Maggie May telling
her own story- the story of how one artist began her business as a
designer.
