Last month I sat down to chat with Marcelo Gaia, the founder and designer of internet’s darling brand Mirror Palais. Recently, the designer has come under fire (or as under fire as you can be in the hyper-niche caverns of the internet’s algorithm) for using polyester blend fabrics and for marketing himself as a “small brand”. The problem was: there was no subterfuge, though it was being framed as so. And on top of that, there was a deep communal misunderstanding about fabric use, prices, and how to run a brand.
Cozied up in his apartment, we had a great and open chat about the misconceptions of success, especially viral success at that. Too often many people equate internet fame with wealth and riches when it brings none of the above. Sure, a viral image here and there brings great brand awareness, but as a small designer, pinning a dress on a mood board does not a sales conversion make. His internet spotlight however, has allowed him to build a very open and transparent community around his brand, as he describes in the full podcast “As people started to stop, it's like I was drawing something on the sidewalk with chalk and then people started to gather around me.”
Gaia is no newcomer to the industry having worked as a stylist with industry leaders for almost a decade before turning to start his own label. With that experience came a keen eye for editing and an understanding of brand building and business management that is often lacking in the starry eyed graduates of the world’s top design universities.
I had such a wonderful pleasure speaking with him, and I hope you enjoy listening!
In Conversation With Mirror Palais