ALEALI MAY ON CLARKS ORIGINALS X MAYDE

Having cut her teeth at Virgil Abloh and Don C’s RSVP Gallery concept store in Chicago, May’s talents and acute sense of style found her working as a stylist for stars, with the Californian creative counting Kendrick Lamar, 21 Savage and Wiz Khalifa as clients, blending her distinctive West Coast aesthetic with a luxurious sensibility. Developing her skills as a designer, May delved into the world of sneakers, presenting a number of high-profile collaborations with Air Jordan in 2017 – a watershed moment as the first woman to design a unisex Air Jordan sneaker.

Now, May has fully transitioned from stylist to designer, launching her brand Mayde Worldwide in late 2022. Presenting unisex garments designed with oversized silhouettes, clean cut lines and vibrant colours, Mayde’s pieces reflect May’s stylistic denouement and her impact on the culture as a whole.

Celebrating the launch of the Clarks Originals x Mayde Wallabees, END. caught up with the designer at her factory in Los Angeles to delve into her journey throughout the fashion industry so far and the impact of the Clarks Wallabee.

What were your first interactions with fashion? When did you realise that you were interested in pursuing a career in this space? 

I would say middle school is when I really wanted to pursue fashion — through receiving Teen Vogue magazines and seeing girls in cool photoshoots and campaigns. It was moments like this where I started to fall in love with fashion. It’s funny, because growing up, I always thought people wake up and dress themselves. I learned there is a whole glam team that helps curate this, which I later became a part of throughout my career as a stylist.

You’ve mentioned in the past that working at RSVP Gallery in Chicago was a somewhat pivotal moment in your career – how did that come about and what made it such an important moment for you?

The summer, before moving to Chicago to attend Columbia College Chicago for marketing, I was on Tumblr and stumbled across RSVP Gallery’s page. I had already been following the founders, Don C and Virgil Abloh, with Kristen Crawley and wanted to stop by and check it out once I moved. At the time in 2010, RSVP Gallery was a one of one store. It was the only one in the US that I felt brought all my inspiration and mood boards into one. It felt like a museum, with Murakami paintings on the walls next to BBC tees and AMBUSH “Pow” rings — where street and lux met. The team there lived and curated their worlds, it was an aspirational lifestyle for the type of kid I was: being creative and creating dope things for the world. 

It was a pivotal time for me, I was going to school and working at Louis Vuitton full time, so I had one or two off days. I spent those at RSVP, and realised I felt more fulfilled and inspired being around other creatives close in age. At RSVP, as a team we would handle all the socials, the sales floor and creative endeavours. You had to be a jack of all trades working there. From there, I felt like I was prepared to take on the challenge of creating my own world, and having a supportive home team where we want to see each other win. 

When starting a new collection, what typically kick starts your creative process?

When starting a new collection, I’m always evaluating what are the pieces/information I’m working with. From there, I do a deep dive into the five senses and just let the process flow. I can’t say all my processes are the same, but what I can say is once I take that step, I just trust the process and be present. 

You have recently launched your own brand, Mayde Worldwide – what is the inspiration behind the brand? 

MAYDE is to provide high-quality essentials for both women and men. In a world full of heavily branded items, sometimes I need something super dope in cuts and colours with minimal branding — to go with my heavily branded items. MAYDE offers an array of washed cotton pieces that are made to be lived in. 

While connected, the role of stylist and designer are rather different – was it always a dream of yours to launch your own brand? 

Since I was a young girl, with brands like Baby Phat by Kimora Lee, Roc A Wear, and many more, I was inspired! In high school, I made a brand which sold t-shirts with my logo screen printed on a high-quality shirt. Working for the yearbook team, I’d use some of the money I made working my first job at PacSun in the mall. I would pay for ads in the school newspaper to promote my tees, as well as on Myspace. I sold them at $75 with a high note of them being made in LA. I was living in Colorado with my dad because he was stationed there with the army for work. Red, black and white tees were available until they sold out. This was definitely a trial period for where I am today, it’s kind-of crazy looking back on it!

Highly accomplished as both a stylist and a designer, how do these two parts of your creative work inform one another? 

I like to wear different hats, under the same umbrella. Stylist is more so feeding off a particular person or thing, while designer for me is something more free flowing. It’s based on my personal point of views while having others in mind. Being a stylist has helped inform me on the many styles and designs that do exist, while understanding it can inspire and help me create. 

How does Clarks align with your approach and personal style?

My personal style is classic, street, lux and authentic to my upbringing. Very much like Clarks! 

Can you remember your first experience with Clarks?

Growing up in South Central LA during the ‘90s to ‘00s, watching music videos, reading magazines or seeing some of my family members with great style, I’ve always learned first-hand the range of trends down to the classics. My older family members taught me that Clarks was always a classic shoe. With references to Hip-Hop, we learned and saw first-hand how to put our fits together with a classic Wallabee Boot.

What inspired your collaboration with Clarks?

If you look at my first Jordan collaboration, I take inspiration from South Central LA '90s style with using corduroy. The corduroy draws inspiration from the house slipper my family would wear and buy from the Slauson Super Mall. In true LA culture, this shoe is an everyday house slipper mostly sported in black. The colour palette for the collection ranges from Pacific Blue and Terracotta to Sand, Sunshine and Coral.

What can you tell us about the decisions behind these colour choices? 

For my collection with Clarks, I wanted to create nostalgia, while this time living in colour inspired by LA’s "golden hour” by the beach. A more calming and washed sunset than a neon prime time on the East. The blue colourway represents the water, while the sand is self-titled. Imagine the perfect day at the beach with the homies. 

The talent in this campaign is a reflection of my environment. Everyone is young, grinding, understanding the challenges and triumphs of being a youth – and from LA! Community for me is important, and the more we see each other being represented, the more we can uplift the next generation to go for their dreams. There has been some of the most talented people coming out of LA time and time again. With campaigns like this, we celebrate and motivate. Like the Great Nipsey says, “Hussle & Motive”! This collection is for anyone who wants to have more options for their closets; who want to feel fresh and start their day off with an outfit that helps them feel good whether you’re wearing sweats or some fly denim.

Why has the Wallabee remained as an enduring silhouette in the world of footwear? 

When I think of Clarks, especially the Wallabee Boot, I think of enduring in the world of footwear. Clarks has always been a classic with groups like Wu-Tang, Slick Rick and the many more Icons making them desirable to young fashion kids like myself and the generations before me, who grew up in Hip-Hop. So for me, adding a touch of my own wave onto the Wallabee boot is so iconic!