An innocent brand, in an era of chaos. Meet Justė Marcelionienė, the co-owner of OVO Things

6:31:00 μ.μ.

I met Juste Marcelionienė through Instagram. From the very first time, i placed OVO Things at a top of mind status due to the purity of its elements and the simplicity of its design. OVO Things Clothier, consists of an atmospheric and elegant clothing collection with an intense and strict look & feel, that touch all of the senses in a permanent way.

Both OVO Things Clothier and OVO Things Candles, have a common ground.
The "things", are made from the finest natural fibers and materials like cotton, cashmere, linen and beeswax. Every piece is designed and produced in Lithuania in limited amounts, by skilled local manufacturers.

Below, through my 6 questions interview, you could meet Justė Marcelionienė, one of the three founders of OVO Things brand. The names of the other two founders are Guoda and Vida.

Enjoy!

Twelve winks: What's the meaning of your brand name "OVO"?
Justė Marcelionienė: We took the name from ancient Latin saying ab ovo, meaning from the very beginning. It's like we want to get rid of everything extra, everything not important that has been overproduced by people especially in the past decades and focus on what is essential and primary when we are talking about things. We want them to be functional, durable and also beautiful in one piece. We admire the egg as an object as well, in both aesthetic and symbolic sense: it's beautiful, simple and complex, perfect and not perfect at the same time. For example, candles are primary as objects; of course, they are no longer important for their function while making light at homes but candles play a part in making light in our souls. We want them to be simple and true of a kind, like they were hundreds of years ago - made by hand from pure beeswax which is good for people. In clothing our goal is to make the best kind of items in terms of function, durability and beauty. We want to grasp what is the essence of an item and make its best version which is timeless in a sense. Call it classics. Or simply well made garment. Considered, made with mastery. Made using quality natural materials, as this is also the key. Polyester or paraffin are not beautiful materials in any way you look at them.

Twelve winks: The look & feel of your clothing collection, has a minimal elegance and at the same time transfers me at 'innocent' periods. Do you think that this feeling, derives from an internal need of your soul? What's this need?

Justė Marcelionienė: That's very kind and sensitive of you to notice:) The need is to get rid from chaos and excess, of too many things in our lives. To have less but satisfying, just good, properly made and aesthetically pleasing. So that you could enjoy life and not to spend hours thinking what to wear or get stressed each season about what is on. Because you can wear the same dress, the same coat you have and this is beautiful! Our goal is to prolong the lifespan of a garment to at least several seasons. We call our garments things that stay. In a good way, when you practically wait for autumn to come because you want to wear your favourite jacket or favourite scarf again. We want our clothes to be those favourite pieces; then you do not need many of them. Then you respect and cherish them; you even learn how to mend, perhaps:) We aim to give people two things: comfort of wearing good clothes and comfort of having less. Perhaps this is why the impression of some innocence appears:) Our pieces are humble in their appearance, usually they are deprived of unnecessary details or decorations. But they are rich in natural fabrics they are made of - cashmere, silk, linen, cotton, wool. They are also rich in precision of making which is possible to achieve as we produce only small amounts and only locally. Take garments of tailoring line - herringbone wool coat and jacket, silk-lined double wool crepe dress, black little jacket or pencil skirt - they are sewn in-house under criteria of custom tailoring with much hand work involved.

Twelve winks: OVO Things Clothier collection, consists of clothing with a permanent character. The opposite of the fast moving alterations of the fashion industry. Could you explain us your brand's philosophy?

Justė Marcelionienė: We are up to one collection with a timeless character instead of countless collections with multiple pieces; we build it gradually, only several items at a time. Vida Simanavičiūtė is our designer and she creates all the garments we produce but this is not a project of her own ambitions to express. She creates garments as potential pieces for personal collections of our customers. White shirt, wool crepe pencil skirt or silk shirt dress - they are wardrobe staples perfect for the base of any wardrobe. Being neutral or classic they get a new look with each woman who wears them. Our clothes may look boring if you look at them alone; and they are boring because they have been created not to entertain, not for the show; they were created to wear and it's our customers who reveal their beauty. And yes, we believe in beauty despite all the differences and the subjectivity of the topic. We each strive for our own beauty and we are all beautiful in different ways. If we look at nature we may all (all us with our big personalities) agree it is beautiful. So there is beauty and we can talk about it! Back to the beauty, we say. In an old-fashioned way.

Twelve winks: What's your inspiration guide?

Justė Marcelionienė: Nature with its seasons, we have them being expressed quite strongly here in Lithuania with cold and snowy winters, hot and green summers, moody autumns and thriving springs; clothing according to different weather conditions is important. Natural fabrics and materials with the beauty of their textures and qualities. Classic silhouettes and their lightweight elegance. The simplicity of ingenious things, like an egg, for example:) Our fans and customers who share their appreciation of OVO work with us.

Twelve winks: Except from OVO Things Clothier brand, you have create also the OVO Things Candles brand. Is there any consistency between those two brands?

Justė Marcelionienė: Actually, we started as one brand and only later the candles took their stronger path and we followed the way:) We have separated the Instagram accounts only recently and now we have one for candles and candle holders as home objects with addition of fine art silver prints. The other one is devoted to clothing and is called OVO Things Clothier. The background philosophy is the same for both. But the fields differ in their character. For now we still view them as one brand but we will see how it will turn out later on.

Twelve winks: What raises your serotonin, at your everyday life.

Justė Marcelionienė: I can speak for myself only here:) So for me it's my home as my personal and my family's own safe place and also arena for my styling practices. Also photography in which I am an amateur, learning slowly on my own by practicing each day. Also the forest and wild shores of the sea are my endless source of feeling good if serotonin is about this.

www.ovothings.com