Dive Brief:
- Fashion designer Mara Hoffman will pause her namesake brand after 24 years, per a letter posted on her e-commerce site and social media Sunday.
- The spring 2024 collection, now available, will be the company’s “last offering for the time being,” Hoffman said in the letter, adding that her company would “sell this final collection and existing pieces until we have sold what we have left to offer.” The flagship store in New York is also closed, per a notice on the company’s e-commerce site.
- The move was designed to give Hoffman “the space to reset and redirect my vision and energy into other creative outlets,” she said in the letter, adding that “anyone in this industry, specifically within the sustainability movement” is “aware that it has been far from easy on so many levels.”
Dive Insight:
The Council of Fashion Designers of America gave Hoffman its award for Environmental Sustainability in 2023 and called her “a pioneer in the space for successfully scaling an eco-friendly company.”
However, Hoffman said in her letter that the effort to create sustainable clothing has become too challenging.
“We have been fighting for what feels like a long time to make this vision and model work in an industry that I believe deep down in its heart wants to heal and become better,” she wrote. “But at the end of the day, its structure is archaic and was never built to prioritize Earth and its inhabitants.”
In October 2023, Mara Hoffman’s company partnered with textile recycling startup Circ to create the Nyssa dress, which was dubbed “The Dress that Changes Everything” by both companies. Made from lyocell fabric derived from 50% recycled textile waste, the dress had a limited production of only 35 pieces. Hoffman’s brand said at the time that over the next three years it was “committed to transitioning all virgin lyocell in our collections to be Circ lyocell.”
Thomasine Dolan, director of Materials Innovation and Design at Material Innovation Initiative, a think tank focused on environmentally preferable and animal-free materials, said that Hoffman’s collaboration with Circ was a notable moment for sustainable materials.
“She has put a dent in anyone’s beliefs that creativity and sustainability are not possible and she has cemented her place in NYC fashion,” Dolan said in an email to Fashion Dive. “It was a beautiful thing to watch her business grow from a few pieces of sustainable swimwear to full blown collections and story telling. She showed us inspiration everyday.”
However, Dolan acknowledged that there are challenges.
“We are living in a saturated (fashion) market with many voices and it can be difficult to cut through without very deep pockets,” Dolan said. “Mara had a singular voice and vision that will be missed.”
Hoffman echoed that sentiment in her letter.
“It’s no secret that its ‘success’ is still bound to harm, unchecked growth and extraction in so many ways,” Hoffman said. “Although I am choosing to redirect my participation, I remain hopeful that there is potential for positive change. Knowing that there are so many incredible people working towards new systems, technology and legislation, we have a chance at this.”
Dolan said that Hoffman’s decision should not be taken as portent, however.
“It is very sad to see that Mara Hoffman will no longer be making collections,” Dolan said. “I do not think this is a negative reflection on sustainable materials in any way. From Eileen Fisher to Stella McCartney, sustainability is their cornerstone. As more next-gen fibers and materials become available, more designers are seeking them out.”
Dolan added that concern for the environment and sustainability was “at an all time high” but that price and availability have impacted market penetration.
“From consumer surveys, we learned that 9 out of 10 consumers are open to purchasing next-gen materials and 78% of consumers are willing to pay the same or more for next-gen materials,” Dolan said. “Many sustainable next-gen innovators have scaled in the last 12 months and continue to scale in 2024 making availability less of an issue.”
Hoffman said the decision to shutter her line “has been by far one of the hardest and most important decisions I have ever made. I have had to deeply examine my relationship to Mara Hoffman Inc as it exists today and what I want for the brand and for myself in the future.”
Despite the announcement, Hoffman said she was steadfast in her support for sustainability.
“It has been an honor to step into a position of responsibility, to become an example of change in this industry, and show the potential for new systems that are more loving, Earth centered, and kinder,” she said. “I will forever remain an advocate and supporter of the tireless work being done by the exceptional people working in this space. The ones fighting for a new version.”
