Meet the label making power suits for women
Words by Tara Smith
Women of Power.
Growing up, dresses were never an option for identical twins Evie and Anna Kasimatis. The pair often asked their grandma to sew them suits instead, wearing them to weddings and any other time they could.
They never grew out of the habit, and in 2018 we’re about to see why. Evie and Anna is the eponymous label launched by the duo, who grew tired of the lack of women’s options available in the suiting industry.
After years of working for various men’s brands, Evie and Anna decided to launch their own. We sat down with co-founders Evie and Anna to discuss building a women’s suiting brand in 2018.
Can you tell us how Evie and Anna came about?
The inspiration for the brand and first collection has been from our grandma. When we were really young she used to sew all our clothes. We never wore dresses and constantly dressed like boys. We always loved suits. We’d get [Grandma] to make up suits and go to weddings with them, Mum would be so embarrassed.
Why women’s suiting?
All the brands we worked for didn’t offer women’s styles… We found a bit of a gap and thought ‘let’s make these garments really high end but sell them at an average street price’.
What role does your grandma play in the brand now?
She makes all our samples. She made all the prototypes and then we sent them off overseas. She’s been with us the whole way.
It’s a full-on family business then?
Yeah, our grandma’s so creative. We’ve got that flair from her side of the family (which is my dad’s side). He makes jewellery and is really creative with his hands.
Your tagline is ‘For Women of Power’, what does that mean to you?
For us, it’s about being yourself, not being afraid to take risks and encouraging one another. It’s about being fearless. Everything that power represents to us is our grandma, because she has always been fearless and has gone through a lot in her life, yet she manages to be positive and keeps doing what she loves, sewing.
Can you describe your label’s style?
We are the divide between masculine and feminine. Every product we design has masculine details with a feminine silhouette. Whether it’s an internal jacket pocket, or a men’s zip-up fly, we have dedicated the brand to proving that women can also wear high-level suiting and not just men.
What other pieces can we expect?
We added a small active capsule – a hoodie, a trackpant and some leggings – they’re a ’90s-inspired streetwear vibe. You’re going to see a lot of ’90s-inspired suiting and luxe streetwear.
When’s the first collection drop?
The Power collection is landing in late February and will be available online.
What else is happening in 2018?
We’re just going to test the waters and see what happens. I think mostly, it’ll continue as a suiting brand. We’ve discussed that we’d like to be the one-stop shop for chic suiting. If a woman needs a suit, she’ll think ‘great, I’ll get it from Evie and Anna.’
You can shop Evie and Anna’s first collection in late February.
This article was originally published in Fashion Journal 176. You can read it here.
Liked this? You’ll love these...
