Maya wearing a piece from our LongSummerHours collaboration.
We went out for martinis with Maya Dahlgreen of MAYA MEYER (MM) following the launch of our capsule collection “LongSummerHours” earlier this Summer. After a few drinks at San Simon, here’s what we captured of the ever-earnest Maya we so adore and admire.
What was your childhood like? How did you grow up?
So, I'm an only child. My Mom is an accountant and my Dad worked for the forest service. Whenever my Dad and I went to the grocery store, he would bring his own bags, the Fred Meyer plastic bags to re-use them. It was so embarrassing at the time – I didn't realize he was just ahead of his time and how cool he really was. And my Mom, I mean, she is the one who taught me to sew. She made all of my Halloween costumes, she made all the pillows on our couches, she made our curtains, tablecloths and once she even made a slipcover for our couch. She had this book my dad and I always made fun of her for because it was called, “I CAN’T BELIEVE IT’S A SLIPCOVER” -- even though we made fun of her it was pretty impressive.
She was a CPA by day but very creative by night. There was always some sort of art going on around the house, whether projects or music like Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell – so I mean, this paints a bit of a picture of my childhood.
When I was 13 or so, I remember she asked me if I’d like to learn to sew because I was into fashion. She took me to the store, we picked a pattern but I wasn’t interested once it all came down to it and she ended up doing it all. But around 16, I came to her and I was like, I have an idea of a dress I’d like to make in my head and I refused to use a pattern. I can still picture this dress in my head, it was really thick ivory material and really similar to the stuff that I make now actually. There was a band at the top, strapless of course with a giant bow. So I made this thing, then I just got into making random things. It was so weird.
A family photo of The Dahlgreens, including Auntie!
What inspired your style as a kid?
I had an Aunt Chris, and she lived in Portland, I spent a week with her every Summer and she would call it quality “Auntie” time. Her kids were quite a bit older than I was and I think she just really loved our time together. She would take me to Goodwill, and we would call it “Goodwill Hunting” another aspect of my youth that has really influenced my life and MM. We would go and she would teach me how to look for cashmere sweaters and nice blazers – I would always come home from this week with Aunt Chris and have so much shit. My mom would say, like oh my god, she has to stop taking you to Goodwill!
Jacq of FOUND and Maya of MAYA MEYER modeling LongSummerHours.
Give us a day in the life of young Maya? When did you feel most creative?
I was such a boring kid, such a good kid. What comes to mind are memories I have as a five-year-old. Like the fairy house building days. You know, like me and my best friend Allie Bangs, she had an orchard and creek behind her house. We would just be outside all of the time building fairy houses. Those were all the memories I had when I felt most creative in childhood before I started sewing.
90’s Family Portrait.
What was it like being into fashion + art in a rural area (in Washington State)?
Well, I do remember this time when the popular girl, her name was Laura, her name was not Maya. So around that time, I was discovering Urban Outfitters and fashion magazines I got a bunch of new school clothes and came to school and she was like, “Oh My Gawd, you are the only one who could pull off all that weird stuff.” I realized then that nothing I do is ever going to be for everyone, some people are going to hate it and I look like a freak while others are going to be really into it.
70’s Auntie Kris.
How do you go about your daily life now, post-COVID and leaving your corporate job to focus on MM?
So this whole MM thing started because I didn't have my commute anymore. I’d leave for work at six in the morning and get home late in the evening. Then COVID happened and I didn't have to go to the office anymore. When five rolled around, after a certain point I was like, this isn’t fun anymore – you can only have so much wine and TV that early in the evening. I was bored and I always had a bunch of clothes – I was cleaning things out, I told myself I’m not going to take these to Buffalo and make $20 so I made a website and called it “Maya Meyer” because I thought it was a good name for a shop and also because I thought it was funny to use my husband's name for a business but not take it in real life.
Then I started making things, though my original goal wasn't that clear at that point. I started selling things and things got a little out of hand, I would work my nine to five and then work late into the evening.
We then permanently moved to Bend from Portland and I left my work at Nike to focus on MM. I have to sew something every day or the world is just not right to me, otherwise, I flow creatively with posting to social media, taking photos, designing, sourcing and curating fabric to work with.
BTS of LongSummerHours Capsule Collection worn by Shelby Timms.
How do you derive inspiration?
Honestly, shopping inspires me. I still love to go vintage shopping, even though I don’t really buy stuff like I used to. I enjoy really old things, like vintage dresses. My Sweet Pea mini dress is a recreation of a handmade dress I found. I mean walks don’t really inspire me, they reset me, I need them but when I’m outside I’m not thinking about what my next dress should be.
And you know what else inspires me? Movies. I was thinking about doing a whole collection of the films I’ve been watching.
But in regards to fashion, I really got into people who were into fashion like Bill Cunningham an old fashion photographer who said fashion is the armor to survive the realities of everyday life. And I was like, oh my goodness, I completely related to this, I feel like fashion and style have energy that if done with personal creativity and touch can deflect anything. It’s like, if I have a good look, come for me I don’t care, I look good, I can do this day.
A screenshot of MAYA MEYER’s ig - 2022 Summer Drop drop and inspo.
What is your long-term vision for MM?
The most important thing for me is to stick to sustainability. So however much I grow, whatever I can do, however big of a reach I have, I want to be sustainable. I would also like to expand my relationships with stores, working with them is so much fun. I love seeing shop owners get excited about something I do every day, when someone else shows their interest it gives me the energy to continue my work. And of course, just building those strong, long-term connections to customers who keep coming back – this is what truly inspires me – so that's the future.