From Musette, with love

Hey guys,

These days have been pretty busy here in London. I have been trying to collect as much data as possible to put up here! However, today I will write a little about Romania and a brand that is very special to me.

One of the most fascinating things I find about Romania is the art that Romanians do, especially with their hands. During my first visits to Romania, back in 2012, I encountered myself with Musette, a luxury shoe, bag and accessories company. In that same year I had a pleasure to meet, Cristina Batlan, owner and founder of Musette.

In order to understand Romania and its people, you have to understand its history. Before Romania became a communist country, it was considered by many le petit Paris. When Nicolae Ceausescu took power in the 70’s many people fled the country afraid of what was happening with those who stayed. Ceausescu helped Romania in many aspects such as educating its people (Romanians speak at least 2 languages) and industrializing the country. However, with most people you speak with, their memory is of very hard times. Ceausescu made it almost a law that every Romanian had to study certain subjects that were of need to the country (engineering, medicine, sciences, etc). If you didn’t do so, you were sent to work in the factories and people felt as if they had very little options at that time. They felt they were closed from the world, and had little knowledge of what was happening out there.

During this time, Cristina identified herself as an artist and as you may know, artists were not allowed much expression during this time. Her family owned textiles factories, which then the communist people took over. A few years later, Cristina went to law school and met 2 other students with whom she shared the dream of opening a fashion business. With a lot of hard work and dedication, each used the abilities that they most enjoyed and opened their first factory. Today, Cristina is head of the creative part of the company, she has be awarded innumerable times woman of the year due to her inspirational pieces and her company became a symbol for groundbreaking enterprise.

As you will see in a few pictures I will put up, the best part of her art is that her audacity for doing something new and her roots as a Romanian are present in her products to this day. In every season she presents us the artistic manifestations that have impacted her such as of Brancusi, father of the sculptor modernism, or Eugène Ionesco, one of the foremost figures of the French Avant-garde. She also uses the folklore of her people mixed with the comfort of her product to produce her own pieces of art.

The first time I met Cristina I noticed, like in most artists, she wears minimalistic clothes and jewelry. She transfers this minimalism into the detail of her products, but her designs are constantly being innovated every season with a lot of compositions of colors, patterns, variety of leather and contemporary aspects of women and men today.

Musette is in the market for the past 13 years, where it has created a unique identity in an unconventional and authentic manner. Every time I see a new collection, I am surprised with the level of quality of craftsmanship, elegance in design and innovation of their products. The design is developed in Italy with the best and latest leather in the market and overseen by a team lead by Cristina. The level of quality and diversity of products have given the opportunity for Cristina to open its doors in other countries. Today, Musette has 27 stores around the world including Paris, New York, Vienna, Beirut, Sofia among other cities.

Cristina is a businesswoman, but has never lost the touch of the artist eye. Every time we discuss about fashion and what she is creating, there is a sparkle in her eyes. Her creative lens is constantly inspired by artists, different architectures, colors, textures and culture, which is then reflected on her products.

Today, I am literally the girl who lived inside her shoes…I have lost count of the amount of products I have from Musette! I have shoes for every occasion, but the best part is that Musette makes shoes that are wearable for many outfits. I have messaged Cristina many times for shoes and designs that I like and she never ceases to amaze me. My latest addition to my closet was a pair of shoes that had a doll-like design, high thick heels, and were covered in glitter, I truly felt like a Cinderella on them and they became so special to me!

Below are a few pictures of the shoes I brought with me in London and some others she just sent me! I'm fascinated with her new collection '15, take a look at some of them! I hope you guys like it!

Stay tuned for more to come! Xx

http://www.musettegroup.ro