We recently connected with Charmia Elam and have shared our conversation below.

Charmia, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard

MAUVE, is a Black Female-Owned Vintage & Luxury Lifestyle eBoutique. MAUVE offers both products as well as wardrobe/styling services from our in-house internationally certified fashion stylist, Charmia Elam who has over a decade of experience in the Fashion industry. MAUVE provides access to exclusive collaborations and timeless staples while offering wardrobe services from an individual who not only has work experience in the field, but collegiate educational experience as well.

MAUVE is known for specializing in vintage designer gems, luxe finds, and much more! What sets MAUVE apart from other luxury consignment shops is not only the quality of products, but the exclusivity. Our focus is to provide rare items with specialization & focus on runway & archive fashion. This isn’t your typical vintage shop, to say the least.

Charmia, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My love for fashion sparked as a child. To be very specific, it was at the age of 8 when I saw the remake film of “The Parent Trip” with Lindsay Lohan. In the film, the mom was a famous London-based internationally known wedding dress designer. Lizzy’s life looked so glamorous, yet chill… her owning a boutique in London’s trendiest fashion neighborhood, her modesty, & her styling a top hat on the model during photoshoot styling, I was sold!

Eventually I studied Fashion Apparel /Merchandising & International Business during my undergraduate years. During my first few jobs in retail I found a passion for visual merchandising & was obsessed on how wardrobe played so much into personal expression & psychology; being that an outfit could change someone’s day.

In undergrad, I participated in various fashions shows and was named Miss Trendsetters Homecoming Queen a.k.a. Miss Fashion for my college, Alabama A&M University. I still had deep desire to work in fashion abroad so after completing my undergraduate degree, I went directly into obtaining my M.B.A.

I’ve always been known as being a “stylish dresser,” & would often get asked about my clothing & accessories. I began doing resale through third-party platforms & became very successful at it. My love for vintage also started to peak, & I began collecting vintage designer. During the next two years, I resold “merch” & worked as a Tax Accountant while saving so that I could send myself to Fashion School in the world’s fashion capital.

Two weeks after graduating with my M.B.A. I moved to Paris, France to study at one of the world’s top fashion school’s, Istituto Marangoni. I feel what personally sets me a part from most individuals in my industry, is the experience I gained during my time abroad studying & fully emerging myself in every spectrum the fashion capital had to offer during my time there.

MAUVE is a “one-stop-shop” of both products and services. In the fashion sector, I see many businesses offer fashion services who have the work experience, but lack the formal education which is definitely a plus for anyone who uses our service or purchases product(s) from us.

I’m always super proud of MAUVE when I see both chart topping Billboard artists as well as the “everyday” average fly girls in my pieces.

How did you build your audience on social media?

MAUVE’s social media has been very grass roots. Social media in this time & growth solely depends on how you cater to your audience. MAUVE.CO started out from ground zero & we have built our community through engagement, sharing fashion history, humorous fashion content, & a mix of my personal life as a stylist with the brand. I’m always so happy to hear positive feedback from our content. Make sure to follow up on Instagram @mauve.co https://instagram.com/mauve.co & MAUVE.CO on TikTok, MAUVE CO on YouTube, Facebook, & Twitter.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

I’m very grateful that my best source of new clients has been word-of-mouth; that within itself can be your best or worst form or marketing. MAUVE takes great pride in every client we have the opportunity to work with no matter how large or small budget is. MAUVE provides a catered personalized experience for every client. Not only does the quality of our products speak to our luxury status, but the customer service we provide as well. You can catch some of your favorite billboard charting artists in our pieces to your everyday hometown fly girl.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.shopmauve.co
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mauve.co
• Facebook: Istituto Marangoni
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charmia-elam-mba
• Twitter: https://facebook.com/shopmauve_co
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UC7gSMwEShQw_BYRELDHsS0Q

Image Credits
Image Credits: Image 1 ​@lolascottart Image 2 @NYLON Image 3 @NYLON Image 4 @BIA Image 5 @fbstudios Image 6,7,8 @lolascottart Image 9 @arcvne