Marre Mujis questioned if the world needed another ballet pump during the development of her best-ever selling shoe, the Foundation Flat. That is testament to her thoughtful design style, even though the answer to that question proved to be a resounding “yes!”
Today, her shoes are worn by stylish women all over the world – notably by eagle-eyed fashion editors who have picked up on the brand’s signature staple style and wear-forever quality.
The brand founder and designer launched Essen back in 2016, after spending years working for a footwear wholesaler where she spent plenty of time touring factories and tanneries – learning about every aspect of the production process. “I travelled all over the world, seeing all sorts of factories, from those making really premium products to the fast fashion facilities. It was very eye opening,” she says. “That’s when I discovered the tanneries in Portugal, where the leather craftsmanship is incredible.”
Back then, Leather Working Group certifications weren’t as abundant as they are now, so Marre relied on asking lots of questions when she first began developing an idea for her own brand. “I really had to rely on what the tanneries told me, what I gathered from the way that they operated… or relying on the context of the workshop. Hard questions were always asked, but I could never be 100% sure. To be honest, there wasn’t even that much information out there about leather tanneries and their environmental impact – it was more just my own curiosity and trying to be as responsible as possible.”
Despite this, she is careful not to position Essen as a ‘sustainable’ label. “I do feel an inherent conflict – at the end of the day, I produce for consumption,” she says. “I want to be responsible, but I don’t see it as a unique selling position. Everyone should be doing that. I want the designs to speak for themselves, too.”
Marre started out on a small scale and stayed that way – she makes minimal batches of select designs until she can suss out their popularity. “The brand has grown over the years, so I can buy a little bit more volume, but I still only want to make what I need,” she says. The brand doesn’t release collections or work by seasons; new styles are simply made available when they are ready, often via an ‘on-demand’ manufacturing method which allows customers to pre-order new designs at a discount.
When it comes to leather sourcing, Marre is uncompromising on the tanneries she trusts. Today, she uses solely factories and tanneries in Italy in order to keep everything as localised as possible – but if a certified tannery can’t provide the material she needs, she simply won’t produce it.
“Occasionally, tanneries don’t have the right colour that I want, or the right texture – so then I’ll search for different tanneries,” she says. “I’ll only look at gold or silver LWG certifications, so if I can’t find it there it’s not an option. I recently reintroduced our Foundation Flat in ‘lemonade’, a buttery yellow that’s really popular. But that tannery closed down and I couldn’t get that colour anywhere else, so I had to stop making it. It was available at lots of other tanneries, but they weren’t certified – so I had to walk away.”
Foundation Flat in ‘lemonade’
Later, a gold-certified tannery that Marre has worked with and trusted for some time introduced the shade, so she was able to supply it again. “It all worked out in the end,” she laughs.
All Essen shoes come with a ‘product passport’ which allows shoppers to trace where each element was sourced and manufactured – but Marre admits that full traceability is her goal. “It’s still really difficult for me as a small brand,” she says. “Ideally, I’d love to have every detail, down to the name of the cow! Some companies do offer it, but the leathers aren’t quite the sort of materials that I use. Full traceability is the next step, but at the moment I rely on the certifications of the Leather Working Group and the conversations that I have with tanneries to trust that it is responsible.”
As for what else the future holds for Essen, Marre shares that she’s set to release a chic laptop bag with her signature minimal aesthetic. A little further down the line, she hopes to release a travel bag, too.
“I’m really enjoying exploring new categories,” she says. “I look for new ideas based on what I can’t find in the market, or by listening to friends and their own frustrations with their wardrobe. Sometimes, customers will email me asking for something specifically. An idea can come from anywhere.”
Essen isn’t a slave to the seasons, so the brand’s next drop could come at any time – and there’s something very, very refreshing about that.
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