The "For Girls, By Girls" Streetwear Fashion Brand MadeMe Is Now a Book
Erin Magee has always been a trendsetter. It's kind of by nature when you've been working at iconic streetwear brand Supreme for 21 years (and, of course, when you just got it like that—which she does). But in 2007, when she launched her own streetwear brand, MadeMe, and made the focus entirely on girls, she was setting the pace for what's just now trending all over your socials: centering girlhood. Now, MadeMe has chronicled some of its nearly 20-year history in a new book by Rizzoli and it's still all about highlighting just that.
"The book is about the girls, the brand is about the girls—it's always been about the girls," says Erin. "In the book there are anecdotes about the girls, the photoshoots, all the weird, silly, and funny things we did, and how we all get along and remain family," says Erin. "The book is less about the clothes, and more about the relationships."
A big element that shaped Erin's girlhood was sports. She was a double-sport Division I athlete, playing both basketball and soccer. The latter is actually how she got her job at Supreme, she says. "The head of [sportswear brand] Umbro was a fan of my team, and he would bring his kids by to get autographs and stuff. One day, he asked me, 'What are you doing after you graduate? And I said, 'I don't really know. I don't have a job.' And then he offered me a job and I took it."
One day, Supreme called and wanted to do a collab. "I said cool, because I knew what Supreme was; I was probably the only person in the office that understood it," she remembers. "So I told my boss and he said I should work on it." She crushed the assignment, and Supreme ended up poaching her (by offering her $5,000 more than her salary at the time) and the rest is history.
"It's kind of because of sports, and soccer specifically, that I got into doing what I'm doing. I really owe a lot to it," she says. "I'm such a strong believer in how sports can change your life."
In the book, she highlights a moment when her passions of both sports and fashion intersected and created a beautiful full-circle moment. Around 2019, Erin got the opportunity to work with soccer star and Olympic gold medalist Mallory (Pugh) Swanson for a Nike campaign. At the time, she was the youngest player on the U.S. Women's National Soccer team. "Kyle Luu styled the campaign, and she sewed together all these Nike tube socks into this skirt," writes Erin in the book. "In the studio, my concept was to get infinity mirrors and a million trophies. A girl covered in achievement, in victory, and gold." (What a prelude, considering Mallory scored the winning goal to secure gold for the USWNT at the 2024 Paris Olympics).
When I ask her if she thinks sports and streetwear have actually been influencing on one another for a while now—versus the current conversation that fashion and athletes are just now starting a committed relationship—she agrees with the latter, especially when considering women's sports.
"The relationship between sport and fashion with men has lasted longer," she explains. "I love looking at '90s imagery of a Michael Jordan, Dennis Rodman, and these other amazing basketball players who just naturally had this really phenomenal style. I think the conversation and relationship with women's sports—which is exploding, and is so cool, so overdue, and so well-deserved—is just starting, and I love to see it."
The MadeMe book is available now wherever they sell books.
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