PRIORITY MAIL: If you were among the lucky ones in the fashion industry this week, you received a special delivery in your mailbox: a hand-drawn — and impressively realistic — illustration of your likeness. The personalized drawings, done in black ink on thick white envelopes, contained fashion show invites from M. Martin, the New York-based collection of contemporary sportswear founded in December 2014 by Alex Gilbert and Jennifer Noyes (WWD featured the brand as an emerging talent last November).
“This is our first New York Fashion Week presentation and we wanted all elements to be thoughtful and personal,” Gilbert said. “Much like writing a handwritten note, we wanted the invites to be special and unique.” The drawings were done by Justin Teodoro, a frequent collaborator of the brand who sourced photographs of editors and buyers from Google and social media. “Not only do we love him, but his illustrations are so incredibly special,” Noyes said. “Justin was so careful to find the latest hairstyles.”
According to Gilbert, the invites were sent to top members of the press — including editors she and Noyes have personally met with since the brand’s launch — as well as buyers. (At WWD, editors James Fallon, Alex Badia, Jessica Iredale and I were all delighted to receive them.)