Founded in 2015, Mahsa Label is an evolving reflection of founder Mahsa Willis’ experience of the beauty and imperfection of life. Imbued with values of simplicity, authenticity and strength, Mahsa garments are timeless and sustaining — a love letter to women who live with open hearts and feel things truly and tenderly.
Instead of following the traditional seasonal fashion industry model, collections are released as “Moods” that speak to the course of Mahsa’s own life and the collective cultural experience of the moment. Moods can linger over several seasons, evolving through new cuts and colourways, with client favourites gaining a permanent home in the Mahsa Classics collection and end-of-line pieces transitioning to the Mahsa Archive.
Each new Mood is a continuous process of refining, redefining and reimagining. New iterations are inspired in collaboration with stockists, as well as all those who love to wear Mahsa garments.
Our mood, New Moon (‘Whiro’ in the Maramataka) honours the act of paring back and beginning afresh. We feel light, clear. We look for beautiful comfort and ease; fuss-free dressing with contrasting notes of softness and crispness. We are drawn to long, gently curved lines and shapes that are simple and honest.
Read moreNew Bohemia, is an optimistic celebration of freedom, connection and lightness of being, with stylistic nods to the easy, folk-inspired dressing of the Summer of Love era.
Read moreThe eternal resilience and beauty of nature through change and catastrophe comes to the fore in the pandemic-era Mood Enduring Nature, with a central focus on natural textiles, earthy colours, timeless shapes and dressing for comfort and cheer at home.
Read moreThe third Mood, A Single Woman, follows a narrative of being swept asunder. Photographed at the iconic Brake House — a New Zealand modernist masterpiece of architecture — it captures a sense of isolation, underpinned with themes of independence and strength, as well as reflections of the nature of women dressing for work.
Mahsa’s second Mood, Yesterday Modern, takes a more sartorial approach — juxtaposing masculine tailoring with subtle feminine details in a play of form and Romanticism. In a reflection of the first Mood, herringbone patterns, tweed and Liberty print were accented with raw edges, tactile fabrics and natural tones.
Read moreBeautiful Imperfection: Mahsa’s debut collection was inspired by the clean-lined minimalism of Mahsa’s modernist home in the Titirangi bush, as well as the Japanese notion of wabi-sabi. Trans-seasonal layering, Antipodean influences and simplicity were the driving notions behind the collection.
Read more
