Reserved and discreet by nature, My (pronounce "Miju") admits straight away that she took it upon herself to receive us. A franchise that echoes the sincerity with which she designs CO Label, a unisex wardrobe for children from 3 months to 12 years old.We therefore take as a token of confidence the opportunity she offers us to glimpse her interior, a place where family and professional life come together, the two being intimately linked. This meeting also allows us to perceive a little of My herself, CO Label being definitely infused with her personal journey.Born into a hippie community, she grew up alongside her mother in Christiania until she was 11, before getting closer to her father and entering a boarding school at 12, an age at which the need for privacy - hardly compatible with life in community - is felt. The result: a childhood cradled by an extremely free and creative environment on the one hand, mixed with a more rigorous adolescence on the other. A duality of which she has made a richness, having been able to take advantage of each of these periods.
Far from being a posture born with Co Label in 2017, My's eco-consciousness is indeed an intrinsic value of its DNA, the fruit of a childhood fed up with the rejection of excessive consumption.
It is therefore natural for her to take care of her affairs and make them last as long as possible, just as she has inherited a desire to maintain genuine human relationships, where everyone is considered at their fair value. From her adolescence she has retained a pronounced taste for a certain classicism with a "less is more" spirit, which, by her own admission, was perhaps born from a need for a return to visual calm after a prime youth in colorama. Flower Power.
Regarding her professional career, My began studying medicine, which she quickly interrupted, being given the opportunity to work in women's fashion. An environment where she worked for a few years, before becoming pregnant with her husband Christian and giving birth to their daughter Lou in 2010. Hugo, 7, Nor, 5, and Theo, 3, followed. For seven years, My made the choice to devote herself entirely to them, putting her professional life on hold for a while.
But, in 2017, the desire reappeared to devote herself to a project of her own, when a small inner feminist voice made her feel the need to show her daughter and her sons that a woman can work, that money. does not fall from the sky and that work is one of the keys to independence and autonomy, as much as it can be a source of personal fulfillment. With her fashion expertise and her own experience in dressing her four children, My then embarked on the CO Label adventure.
The idea: to transcend fashion and the seasons by offering a collection that is minimalist,
timeless and gender neutral.
An ethical, sustainable and quality cloakroom. These are essential criteria for creating pieces that My wants to be passed on to siblings, or even from one generation to the next.
To obtain the high quality she seeks, head to Italy in search of the perfect manufacture,
a nugget of impeccable know-how unearthed between Venice and Verona.
A close collaboration is then established between her and the person in charge of the factory, who does everything in his power to put into shape the ideas that My submits to him.
Valuable and essential exchanges in her eyes, wishing that everyone at their level of the
manufacturing process feels fully involved and concerned, so as to develop CO Label in the right direction and, ultimately, to better satisfy its customers. Or when careful work matters at all levels.
CO Label garments are thus made in Italy, as are the fabrics in which they are made.
The majority of the collection, 70%, is made from inventory of existing unused fabrics and the remaining 30% from new ones.
An upcycling in line with the sustainable philosophy of CO Label, whose name is also the contraction of "CONSCIOUS-Label". Likewise, My has abolished the use of single-use plastic to wrap its products, preferring compostable packaging that is fully biodegradable in 6 months, sourced on Betterpackaging.com.
A site which she shares the motto: "not perfect but better". If she does not in any way claim to give lessons to anyone, she tries hard to conjugate the verb "to last" as well as possible,
which is why she does not try to design "fashionable" collections, a concept dedicated to to obsolescence.
His credo: impeccable basics. My fiercely watch over the comfort of children, neglecting no detail to ensure their well-being: elasticated waist in the back for the pants, detachable sticker as a composition label (assuming that we always end up cutting them because itchy) and ultra-soft touch fabrics resistant to many machine washes.
Attentive to the needs and demands of her own children, these being her primary source of inspiration, My seeks to best meet their requirements for comfort and practicality.
Palette side, no garish colors. Dull shades to mix with each other endlessly.
Mushroom, Sand, Forest Green, Tobacco, Faded Blue, Caramel, Old Rose, Rust, Military or Fango thus blend with envy, easily finding their place alongside clothing from other brands. Shades with evocative names that reveal My's second source of inspiration,
which admits to being influenced by the surrounding environment. Family walks in the forest on weekends, an opportunity to observe the colors changing with the seasons;
or the long month of summer spent in their house by the sea, where children collect hundreds of small pebbles in shades of gray, the shape of which is the patient work of nature.
To conclude, My gives us his vision of CO Label:
“I wanted to create an honest company, in which we would take care and be responsible for our actions. A company that considers the way we interact with each other as much as the way we act on the environment.
A project that has meaning for the people who work there and for those who buy the products. I never want to give up on this idea. I want my children to be responsible people and to know that you can do great things without doing anything. "
A vision in the form of a manifesto, the strength of which is matched only by the gentleness with which My wears this Co Label which is so dear to her heart.