Mason Ewing, CEO of the holding company Mason Ewing Corp, and his team will travel from France to Los Angeles at the end of October 2022. This ambitious designer plans to launch his Madison Color clothing brand worldwide in Los Angeles in 2023. In an exclusive interview with « Toombow Kids », this visionary designer and stylist, who is visually impaired, talks about his origins, his career and his vision. He discusses how he created his revolutionary clothing collection.
When he was just a child, Mason Ewing dreamed of creating his own clothing brand. He grew up in admiring the fabrics that his mother used to make clothes. Marie Francesca Elong was a model and fashion designer who died prematurely at the age of 20 when Mason was only 3 years old. That’s why he wished to pay homage to her by following in her footsteps. Mason emphasizes:
« Launching a clothing brand is not simple at all, it is even very difficult and complicated! »
In 2005, at age 23, Mason began working on the concept of Baby Madison, the logo that would become the emblem of his brand.
“At first, we were a group of seven friends working on it, but in the end, they all abandoned the project. But I believed in it, so I continued to develop Baby Madison by making drawings on Braille paper with a punch device,” he says nostalgically.
Drawing sketch after sketch, and determined to persevere his dream, Mason designed the universal child who would become the face of Madison Color : a caramel-skinned baby with big blue slanted eyes and a little blond streak on his head. As he represented all ethnicities, Mason wanted this little hero to be a symbol of unity and hope. Thus, Baby Madison was created in January 2006! However, as he points out:
« The hardest part was still to be done: every year, millions of people create concepts, but they must manage to make them known to the public! »
After months of preparation and knocking on many doors, Madison Color brand’s first fashion show took place on September 20, 2006 at the Vianey salons in Paris. Models walked the runway with Baby Madison T-shirts and ME baggy jeans. Model Cyrielle Touffu closed the show in spectacular fashion, wearing a Marie-Antoinette style wedding dress that caused a sensation.
The fashion show was supported by major brands such as L’Oreal Professional and New Balance. It attracted a great deal of media, such as France 2, Europe 1, El Pais, Canal +, etc., as well as many distinguished guests, such as : philanthropist Homayra Sellier, President of the global movement Innocence in Danger, the fashion designer Olivier Lapidus and his wife, the singer Yara Lapidus, the respected journalist Dominique Torrès, actors from the series « Plus Belle la Vie » such as Geoffrey Sauveaux and Céline Balitran, model and former girlfriend of George Clooney. The show was so successful that international celebrities such as the American singer Stevie Wonder, who heard about the event, decided to send one of his representatives to support the Madison Color collection. After this event, the Mason Ewing Corporation team expected to easily find investors and financiers. “Contrary to what one might think, investors are hard to come by,” says Mason Ewing.
This did not stop him from continuing to work on his brand until a year later when he found a unique process to place Braille lettering on his T-shirts. A real revolution in the world of textiles, since it allows visually impaired and blind people to recognize by touch the pattern and color of their T-shirt, while remaining stylish. With this new concept, the Madison Color brand has been supported over the years by many film actors, such as French actress Firmine Richard, and from the world of sports with the support of the soccer teams of Paris Saint-Germain, Olympique Lyonnais and Monaco, etc. Other fashion shows followed until 2011, a key date for the mixed-race baby’s Collection : Mason decides to leave for the United States to develop his brand. He admits that at the time, he had no idea what to expect in America, but that he was happily surprised.
“This trip was a revelation for me. The Americans didn’t label me as a « disabled fashion designer, » they saw me as a designer, a human being. They believed in me like no one else ever had. That’s when I said to myself that the U.S. was the country of my dreams. Since then, this is where I want to develop Madison Color and where I want to live.”
Mason’s atypical background and the innovative concepts he brings to the table have earned him media interest as evidenced by a 2012 article in the « Los Angeles Times. » He received a lot of support,, including an American patron who funded manufacturing several thousand Madison Color T-shirts. These were made entirely from organic cotton in a factory in the U.S. that manufactures products for the Kardashian family. An eco-responsible aspect that was a necessary condition for the designer.
“I was abused as a child, so it was very important to me that Madison Color was a brand that didn’t exploit children. I wanted it to be respect humans and the environment.”
In 2014, Mason returned to France and spent eight years fine-tuning the details of his Collection while creating a business plan, an executive summary and a teaser. He has a close-knit team that he trusts, which he describes as “his family.” At the end of October, he will arrive in Los Angeles with “many surprises,” he informs us with a smile . A great fashion show in the City of Angels featuring Madison Color is already in preparation for 2023. Mason’s biggest wish: to conquer the hearts of Americans with his baby! The creator of this baby of hope points out that he would welcome other investors and financiers who would like to be part of the Madison Color adventure!