The Inside Scoop: Georgia Dant, Founder of Marfa Stance

I am one thousand percent in love with this UK-based, female-founded brand and their impeccable and artful expression of sustainable style. The premise of building your own custom outerwear piece with endless options of detachable hoods, collars, and liners is the shopping experience I never knew I needed!! Getting to know Marfa’s founder, Georgia, who is a creative visionary and a marketing genius, has been a true delight. I am so excited to welcome her exquisite collection to our shop this week. I hope you will come and experience how she has made outerwear into an art form. I wish they could stay forever.

xx, Jenna

Can you share the story behind the founding of Marfa Stance?

It was while I was living and working in NYC back in 2016 and I was on a road trip to Marfa, Texas visiting Donald Judd's architecture studio that I made the decision to create a brand for like minded people, with a similar appreciation of craft, creativity and design. It was actually one of Judd’s desks that had an understated, reductive, and geometric aesthetic but with a multifunctional and intelligent design that stirred the idea to create a brand where style meets function. It was then on my transatlantic commute following this moment in Marfa, the concept was born, to create modular garments that could work for multiple occasions, across different climates and generally work harder in your wardrobe.

Marfa Stance is known for its unique approach to sustainable fashion. Can you tell us about the inspiration behind starting Marfa Stance and how sustainability became a core aspect of the brand?

Where Marfa represents creativity and community, Stance represents our social and environmental responsibilities, our brand values and our unique product design and manufacturing practice. We quite literally take a stance in the luxury fashion space which so often falls short on ethical and eco ideals. Whether this is investing in small family run factories in Italy, preserving their craft, using deadstock fabric to avoid waste, or using fully recyclable packaging.

As the founder, what values and principles do you believe set Marfa Stance apart in the competitive fashion market, and how do you instill these values throughout your company?

I set out to change consumer mindsets and behaviours by introducing a new and unique brand concept into the market that promotes longevity and offers the customer a chance to update and renew each piece over time with our buildable accessories (like detachable collars and hoods), rather than always buying a new outerwear piece. The fact that it is made in Italy at some of the best factories in the world also offers a promise of longevity.

How does your love of fashion and design influence your aesthetic and how you live?

I like to have a minimalist aesthetic, almost Judd inspired at home. I like my living space to be overall quite geometric, with natural colours and cold green tones, creating space and calm with hints and highlights of colour, texture and detail.

Where do you find inspiration?

Of course, I'm a big Donald Judd fan as well as other minimalist artists like Dan Flavin, Ellsworth Kelly and Mark Rothko. The Quilters of Gee’s Bend have been a major inspiration throughout my career and it was a dream come true to collaborate with this incredible community of women in Alabama on a collection of one of a kind wearable art, framed artworks and quilted blankets.

I’m also continuously inspired by the Marfa Stance community! There’s nothing more inspiring than meeting clients in person during our trunk show travels. In fact, a lot of pieces in the collection stemmed from their ideas, like the Cropped Quilt for example - a shorter version of our original Signature Quilt for a client in London who needed a shorter version to bike in the city.

How do you express yourself creatively?

My home environment and the way I dress is quite minimal and paired back so it’s through Marfa Stance that I can really express creativity, especially with the use of colour.

What practice or rituals feed you?

I travel to Greece in the Summer. It’s my one time of the year where I make sure to switch off from the (digital) world to sketch undisturbed in my favourite place.

What was the biggest risk and biggest reward in a recent project?

Launching Marfa Stance was the biggest risk but seeing it grow and build a community of incredible women (and men!) who are so supportive makes it all worth it and is for sure my biggest reward!

Looking ahead, what are the future goals and aspirations for Marfa Stance? Are there any upcoming projects, expansions, or initiatives that you are particularly excited about?

This year we celebrate Marfa Stance’s fifth birthday and we have some exciting collaborations in the works! We’re also looking to find more permanent homes in London and NYC, as well as exploring new markets like Asia and continuing to spotlight more inspiring Marfa Muses.