Fashion that lasts

As you drive around the island, you are sure to have come across billboards of Mavenry. These adverts, that are peppering the island, have left many curious and wondering: Is this a new clothes shop? Is it a franchise?

Mavenry is a concept store dreamed up by Karl Micallef, chief executive of Bluerock, to continue the legacy of his family business and continue educating and supporting customers to select and access quality.

But Micallef wanted to take this a step further. He wanted to bring quality under one roof and strip away those elements that limit accessibility to luxury brands.

To understand the journey behind this idea, one must first go back to the roots of how Mavenry started.

Mavenry is the flagship of Bluerock, a company formerly known as Classic that was renowned, and synonymous with, luxury watches and diamonds.

“I believe that, as Classic, we played an important role in educating the Maltese customer about what to look out for when buying luxury jewelry,” says Micallef.

In 2012, the company decided to grow the family business and, by 2017, they embarked on a diversification journey by expanding to include luxury eyewear, bags and beauty products.

“We were driven by the belief that there is a market not being catered for. Our customers have often complained that they are not able to purchase these products locally. We listened and we wanted to change that. Why should you have to travel to have access to luxury items,” he adds.

The name of the company was changed from Classic to Bluerock – a tribute to “the secret of our success: a mindset of honesty, integrity and timelessness”, says Micallef, as he explains that blue rock, or kimberlite, is the bedrock where diamonds are found.

But Micallef did not want to offer “more of the same” to his customers as he planned to continue growing the family business. He wanted to offer a different experience. He wanted to continue educating people about the value of luxury items and offer them brands that inspire them to express themselves.

A place for like-minded people

Micallef and his team had the concept nailed down. They needed a name. The word “maven” means “expert or connoisseur”.

“We wanted a place where people in-the-know would like to get together. Then my wife came up with the idea of adding ‘ry’ to the word ‘maven’,” he smiles. So, the word “mavenry” – like “winery” or “brewery” – was coined as the place where connoisseurs come together.

“We want to be able to inspire people through this place. Mavenry is Malta’s first concept store. It will be a continuous journey and we want people to see it as a destination, as a must-see,” he says.

We believe in attainable luxury

But why at The Point, in Sliema? Why open what is essentially a multi-brand store in a multi-brand shopping mall?

Micallef is very clear about this. They wanted to be in the heart of shopping because “we don’t want people to have to move away to come to us”.

“We believe there is a space for non-globalised brands to fit together. We wanted to provide the adventure side of fashion,” he says.

Mavenry features over 100 top brands, spread over two levels and more than 3,000sqm of retail space at The Point, Malta’s foremost shopping and dining destination.

The fashion at Mavenry is built around ready-to-wear, leather accessories, footwear, eyewear and beauty brands for women, men and them. And this is where the difference is: in the range of brands in terms of style and price – without a compromise on quality.

Timeless fashion

“We believe in attainable luxury. We don’t want to jolt the market too much or snob the market. Everyone has the right to access this type of product.”

But can the very concept of luxury brands be enough to scare off some shoppers who may not want to pay more money “for a logo”? And what about the bad reputation of the fashion industry, infamous for waste, carbon emissions, pollution and, of course, cheap labour?

“I think the problem in fashion is fast fashion. The argument needs to be reversed. Luxury pays the people that produce it good money. It is more sustainable because you need less quantity and they are using best quality so the items themselves are more lasting. We focus on less quantity and more quality. Most of our brands have products that are of some sort of iconic value – timeless.

“Then there is the art of it – the craftsmanship. Thanks to luxury, you can appreciate the craftsmanship. Luxury is not about changing every week. You should not feel the shame of wearing that same coat with the same people. People love the product and, as a consequence, they tend to care for it more,” he says.

Supporting local talent

Micallef adds that they also want to support the local community by allocating space within Mavenry to display the work of local fashion creators – starting with the clothes of designer Luke Azzopardi.

“We want to create a shark-tank approach where they come up with concepts and are given free space and mentorship,” he says, adding that they are also working in collaboration with the Malta

College of Arts, Science and Technology to provide a platform for creative visual merchandising and collaborating with a university in Milan.

“We believe in retail as a career. We don’t have sales’ people at Mavenry, we have stylists,” he says, adding that they will also be having a broadcasting Instagram studio for people to create their own story.

And, driven by the belief that the items bought are timeless and deserve to be cared for, Mavenry will also have a repairs’ concierge – an aftercare service where customers can take their laundry for dry cleaning or gain access to seamstresses and cobblers whose artisanship will also be preserved.