Meruert Tolegen, a Former Childrenswear Designer, Is Growing Up

Meruert Tolegen‘s designs come to her like words to a poet.

“Similarly to when people write poetry… they draw from feelings and [an] inner world and inner thoughts, I think this is what happens for me,” the New York-based designer tells Fashionista. “There are inspirations if I’m visiting places or I’m exploring different mediums of art, but I think a lot of it is really just innately feeling.”

The designer blends Victorian-inspired details (she has an affinity for 19th-century fashion) with an almost macabre, modern quirkiness. Her garments are designed for a sophisticated, intellectual lover of the arts and the written word who appreciates clothing and fashion for its artistry rather than a label, much like the designer herself.

“What I aim for is edgy — a femininity that’s strong and maybe a little bit masculine,” she says. “I think it’s nice when there’s a counterbalance to things. Everything kind of has to have the softness, but then the edginess.”

Tolegen learned to embrace her raw creativity and varied interests from a young age. “I don’t think I ever really had boundaries,” she says. “Nobody pressured me to go into the sciences or to study something very traditional.” If she had unlimited time, she says she’d try a number of creative careers. “In my culture, in Kazakhstan, they value the arts, and they value writing, and they value ballet,” she says. “As long as you’re in a field that you’re passionate about and work hard, [your work is] respected.”

The lifelong creative first tried her hand at fashion design after the birth of her eldest daughter. “I was staying home with my daughter, and I didn’t know what to do with myself because I’ve always kept busy,” Tolegen says. She allowed her hands to get to work, soon opening a children’s store that offered the clothing she wished she could find in the market. The store grew into the brand La Petite Anaïs, named after her daughter.

Her eponymous womenswear brand came later, arising naturally from the mommy-and-me clothing she designed for La Petite Anaïs. “I picked out fabrics that were more useful for couture garments and things like that,” Tolegen shares. “I just wanted to make it look nice. I made women’s pieces, and I made children’s pieces, and then it no longer looked like a children’s brand.” 

Tolegen separated the two brands in 2020 and is now devoted full-time to Meruert Tolegen. (She still creates children’s pieces, though, usually with leftover fabric from her full-sized projects, when inspiration strikes.) The brand made its runway debut at Paris Fashion Week in Fall 2022 and has shown during New York Fashion Week for the last two seasons. 

The evolution from childrenswear into women’s ready-to-wear also forced Tolegen to grow as a businesswoman. “In children’s wear, things are much gentler,” she says. “Once I transitioned to womenswear, it was a whole different world. It’s really business-oriented.” 

Now four years into operating the brand, she admits, “Running a company in general is not easy.” Few would disagree. The key, she thinks, is “having the right people in place” from the beginning. While focusing on the creative side of things, it’s crucial to have the “right support around you to make sure these things can get done so it’s not overwhelming,” she adds.

As the brand has grown, hiring skilled artisans has been an unexpected challenge. “New York has definitely lost a lot of its very talented people in fields of like pattern making and sewing,” she says, “because these people are getting older, and a lot of the younger people don’t really want to do this as much.” She says that, otherwise, people are interested in working with the emerging brand.

As the designer looks toward the future, she says the brand is focused on building its wholesale relationships. Meruert Tolegen is currently sold at Nordstrom and Maxfield, and has held a trunk show with Moda Operandi. New categories are also on the horizon: Tolegen is currently creating her first shoe collection and teased an upcoming jewelry project. And in just a few weeks she’ll show her Fall 2025 collection on the official New York schedule.

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Source: Fashionista.com