HELLO COLOUR
Ordinary.Style’s vibrantly printed and boldly coloured shirts give us a reason to break from the monotony of white or blue. Designer Marike Mapham tells us how ...
How did Ordinary.Style come about? At the 2018 Design Indaba, I created a shirt for a speaker who wanted to stand out from the crowd. Later that year, a TV series asked for 10 shirts with a similar sense of colour, which led to the word spreading and more requests from men who wanted to add a colourful sense of style to their look. Through word of mouth, I started making more shirts for more men and came to realise that there was potential to make this a business. Today I have over 10 different styles for men who want to be extraordinary on ordinary days. The brand name came about from me wanting men to feel that they could wear the shirts at any time, day or night, at work or at social functions.
What inspired you to reinvent the classic men’s shirt? Fashion is often seen as a woman’s domain. It’s time that all men drowning in blue, white and grey shirts had colour in their lives.
Where did your fashion story begin? Why did you become a designer? I was born demanding fashion in every way possible. Even the milk in my cereal had to be coloured pink to fit my outfit. Later in life, after two years in an engineering company, I left the world of grey concrete to add colour in the world with my brand “Poplap”. That led to four years in online fashion at Sarie.com and Spree.com and then on to the world of costume design in the movie industry. I want everyone’s milk to have colour!
What is the Ordinary.Style aesthetic?
Colourful prints, perfectly linedup patterns and handmade attention to detail. Different, just like the website, which is www.ordinary.style rather than the oldfashioned.co.za. Tell us about the current collection. Each shirt has its own story. Starting with the choice of fabric and design, it’s all about finding ones that pop out from the crowded marketplace.
How do you create Ordinary.Style shirts?
I love sourcing the fabrics; it’s like a treasure hunt. Nothing makes me quite as happy as a beautiful printed fabric. And I love the people side of the creative process. It has taken time to meet women from other African countries who have brought incredible materials all the way to Joburg. Without them, I wouldn’t be able to bring colour into the world of men’s shirts. Each Ordinary.Style shirt is individually cut and made with personal precision. Only someone who is passionate about fabric and patterns could do this perfectly. This attention to perfection is an art that machines cannot replicate. It’s called “slow fashion”, where quality is more important than quantity.
What makes your brand distinct?
The process of “slow fashion” results in sets of limited-edition shirts that are handmade with precision.
What’s in store for Ordinary.Style for the rest of 2019 and into the future? I have been testing the international market where, earlier this year, the shirts were sold in Paris and Brisbane. They are currently on show in Budapest. Locally, we’ll be at the Sanlam Handmade Contemporary fair in Joburg from October 11-13.
‘‘For men who want to be extraordinary on ordinary days’’
Marike Mapham DESIGNER