Maggie May Article

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 13^th 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.