Marylène Madou was established in Belgium early 2017, aptly named after the designer herself. Launching the brand with a successful collection of printed scarves, print still is the ultimate starting point in each collection. Every textile print is created in-house by the designer herself, exclusively using her own original paintings and digital illustrations. This is what makes a Marylène Madou print unique.
Marylène graduated from LUCA School of Arts in 2015, with a Master’s Degree in Textile Design. In 2014, she won the international fashion contest ‘The Silhouette of The Future / 2039’, curated by the Fashion Museum of Hasselt, and given the opportunity to pursue an international internship in Los Angeles and London, learning all the ins and outs of textile print design.
Her current archive of prints and patterns was picked up by art book publisher Stockmans Art Books and published in 2021.
In 2023, Belgian Press named Marylène as one of the ‘Limburg Six’, a group of six young Belgian designers believed to be the future in fashion. The name was taken from the ‘Antwerp Six’ and is a nod to the history behind it.
Brands worldwide have licensed Marylène Madou artwork for luxury collaborations, and hired Marylène as an art director in setting up different types of printed collections, acknowledging her as one of the emerging designers of her generation.
“THE IDEA THAT I COULD COMBINE MY FASCINATION FOR FASHION AND INTERIORS, WITH MY LOVE FOR DRAWING AND PAINTING… THAT WAS AND STILL IS THE ULTIMATE DREAM TO ME.”
We manufacture our own printed fabric and do not work with any other available fabrics, which makes a Marylène Madou piece unique in its sort. We mainly work with digital printers within Europe that use eco-friendly ink. If more textile manufacturing moves to digital printing, we will see less water pollution in the fashion industry. Plus, with production levels that are lower on digital printers, we can reduce our environmental footprint and avoid overproducing completely. We work together with our manufacturers to recycle 100% of all the minimum textile waste that’s left from production.
Italy, the UK, and the Benelux are our largest sourcing countries for the materials and finishing of our accessories. For the manufacturing of our ready-to-wear, we are in a unique position, working with a local atelier in Belgium.
All of these choices are made to ensure that we are supporting safe and fair working conditions and that our products are made with integrity and impeccable attention to detail. We work very closely with our manufacturers and visit them regularly to make sure everyone involved in production meets our values. Marylène is in close contact with the seamstresses in Belgium, working together to achieve the best result possible.
“It often is a particular image that triggers my eye, whether an animal on a vase, a shape or a color combination in a painting. My often eclectic and colorful aesthetic comes forth out of a fascination for historic textiles and unique objects; vintage stuffed birds or design objects for instance… I most definitely like to combine this with elements that are close to my heart, such as private family gardens and Lemony (the dachshund). Colour research and drawing are highly important to me in the process. Prints simply give me the opportunity to create my own world and wear my own world.” – Marylène