Introducing Susmie's: Barcelona's Biggest It-Girl Brand

Susmie's is not just a clothing or accessories brand, it's a way of living -- according to its founders Laia and Marina. What started as a hobby after a trip to Nepal in 2019 has since become a cult-loved label for the it-girls of Barcelona and now, the brand is going global. From cultivating a loyal community of followers to launching successful pop-ups in London and Amsterdam, Susmie's has come a long way in the last few years and its thanks to its vibrant designs, penchant for color and ageless demographic.

"We invite our followers to break the monotony and trust themselves because we want them to have fun and find fulfillment in what life has to offer," the founders tell Hypebae in an interview. "We believe Susmie's is for those who embrace our way of seeing life," they continue.

Following on from the success of its recent pop-up in Amsterdam, we caught up with the founders to learn more about Susmie's creative process, plans for the future and how its Barcelona base continues to act as a source of inspiration.

Read on for the full interview and head to the Susmie's website to check out its collections.

Tell us a bit about how the brand came about, what prompted you to start Susmie's?
Susmie's was founded by Laia & Marina in 2019, in Barcelona. The brand started after a trip to Nepal, where we saw products that captured our attention due to their color and boldness. Susmie's was never thought of as a company at the beginning but as a hobby. Nevertheless, the community started growing until today and has lead a business dream to reality. Nowadays Susmie's is an international company of jewelry, accessories and clothing drops. We differentiate ourselves through our community closeness and organic content about lifestyle and day-to-day experiences. We invite our followers to break the monotony and trust themselves because we want them to have fun and find fulfillment in what life has to offer.

What is the inspiration behind the brand name?
The company name comes from the name of a young girl we met during their trip to Nepal. She's Susmita, who inspired us to bring Susmie's to life.

Beginning as an accessories label, how did Susmie's evolve into creating clothing too?
As the brand has organically grown, we wanted our company to expand with what our community wanted from us. Susmie's is a jewelry and accessories brand, but a few collections ago, we decided to drop capsule clothing collections with a twist: one-size clothing, reversible clothing, and different patterns. We are not a clothing brand but love clothing (and know our community does, too)!

Where does the inspiration for your designs come from?
Our inspiration usually comes from everything. More than an accessories brand, Susmie's is a way of living. So our daily lives are a big part of our work. Our family, friends, grandparents, the restaurants we go to, the cities we visit, the place where we get our morning coffee and many more. Susmie’s however is really rooted in the Mediterranean lifestyle and way of seeing life. So you might have seen various references from Spain. Social media is a big part of our day-to-day too and we're always looking for new inspiration, creating mood boards, thinking of different concepts and feeding our inspiration from mostly everything we see.

Who would you say that you design for? How would you describe the ultimate Susmie's girl?
We believe Susmie's is for those who embrace our way of seeing life. Most of our customers are indeed young women. We know our styles are somewhat special and different but we always seek to fit in different outfits and styles. We know every girl has more than one style, one that might be sportier or baggier, and the other that might be girlier. But who doesn't accessorize? Our collections are created to give that special touch to any look, a bold jewelry piece or a colored scarf can make a big difference in your outfit and give it that punch of personality.

It seems like there's been quite a rise in fashion brands founded in Barcelona and Spain. What can you tell us about the creative community there?
Barcelona is a city that is full of talent and people from all around. We would say it's such an inspiring city to live in and a city where creativity is more than welcome. Social media has helped a lot these days to make small brands grow and get known internationally, which has helped creative minds be seen around the globe. Creatives help each other in Barcelona and the city has built a community of art galleries and museums and cool places to visit for lunches and dinners out. It's an open city and the people are great.

Who are some of your favorite Spanish brands that we should be keeping an eye on?
There are so many cool brands from Spain but at the top of our list are probably Gimaguas, Miista, Paloma Wool and Nude Project.

Despite beginning in Barcelona, the brand has garnered a global following over the years, how do you plan to continue expanding and growing globally?
Susmie's objective is to keep growing organically worldwide. As the company keeps growing our team does too and this allows us to keep our hard work going on and expanding internationally. Our team is working hard to create meaningful stories, more creative ideas, and bigger experiences, and improve our products. We are all really excited about what's coming next and believe hard work will pay off. We hope everyone loves what we're doing because there's a lot of love and excitement behind it.

Finally, what are some of your plans and goals for the future of Susmie's?
We expect Susmie's will keep growing in the next year, so we want to be up to par with all our customers and followers. We'll be improving our pop-up stores and going to places we've never been before, we'll improve our collections and offer cool and up-to-date products, we're expanding our B2B department, expanding our team and growing professionally. There is a lot to come, so you better keep an eye on Susmie's!

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