About

Maison Mikumo is a conscious fashion brand by Tina Xia, a local Asian-American illustrator and designer from the DMV drawing inspiration from East and Southeast Asian traditional and pop culture and diasporic experience in her work across a range of mediums including apparel design, painting, digital art, photography, and more.

Tina graduated with a BFA from Wellesley College in 2018 and has since worked on many commercial illustration and advertising projects, serving viral women-owned small businesses and household-name companies alike. She loves anime/manga, karaoke, traveling, and gaming - board & video!

Maison Mikumo successfully crowdfunded its first production run on Kickstarter in April 2022. As of 2025, we are manufacturing exclusively in our NYC and Baltimore factories.

Our team includes Tina, her partner, 'CTO' Mo, and a small network of knit, cut, and sew contractors based in NYC and Baltimore. Most of our content is created 'in-house' - everything from our custom website, branding design, fashion illustrations, spec sheets, photography, blog, and as of Fall 2025, patterns, samples, and production!

 

Our values

The fashion industry accounts for up to 10% of global carbon emissions and 20% of global wastewater, while producing 92 million tons of textile waste each year. In today’s world, basic sustainability practices should be the bare minimum.

Our materials are sourced from certified ethical and sustainable mills, primarily in Italy, and are selected for their quality, performance, and sustainability merit. Our most commonly used materials are:

• 100% Bluesign-certified ultrafine Merino wool - cruelty-free - no mulesing (tw)
• 100% BCI- or GOTS-certified organic long-staple cotton
• 72% FSC-certified EcoVero 28% PBT luxury performance knit
• Other lyocell, recycled polyester, linen, cruelty-free animal fiber, and ecoviscose blends.

We are staunchly anti-greenwashing, but also don't let perfection be the enemy of good. Sustainability is a journey and we are committed to doing our best to evolve and improve was we continue to grow over time.

Transparency over pretense; purpose over profit

We believe in pricing transparency, because luxury oftentimes does not equate to quality. While many high-end fashion houses price their goods at 5–20× (looking at you, Loro Piana...) their production cost, our average markup is only 2×.

That means you’re getting genuine luxury, ethically produced and finely crafted, at an honest, fair, and accessible price, free from the illusion of conglomerate-backed branding and hyper-inflated markups. You're paying the fair price not only for a high-quality garment, but also for the peace of mind of knowing how much love and intention goes into our clothes compared to that of fast fashion brands and large fashion houses (that are all owned by the same megacorp). 

Yes, it's possible to be this transparent, high-quality, and still relatively affordable, all while ensuring that no being has been exploited in any part of our supply chain. Our 'radical' assertion is that this should be the new standard for all clothing brands and apparel manufacturing businesses. It could be what comes to set American domestic manufacturing apart - preserving and growing it - and becoming a vehicle for the creative economy.

After all, how can we possibly hope to compete with the mass scale, cheap labor, and expert capabilities of textile industry leader nations such as China and India? We must find our own niche - one that focuses on small batch production, thoughtfully curated designs, and a revival of the artist/artisan-patron relationship.

Every Maison Mikumo product listing includes a pricing transparency section. We believe our customers deserve to know what they’re paying for - materials, local production, overhead costs including factory lease, insurance, development, subscriptions, and more, as well as a modest income for an independent artist.

We don't dream of infinitely increasing gains - we’re in this to share consciously crafted, super cute, & ultra-comfy designs that are kind to our people and the planet with friends who appreciate what we do, all around the world 💕

Our garments are made to last, not destined for the 85% of clothing that ends up as waste each year. We draw inspiration from the Shinto belief that all things carry a spirit, shaped by how they are made and treated. Crafted to-order or in small batches of 300 units or fewer per style and handled by only a few caring hands, we nurture this spirit from conception to delivery and hope it brings you joy and good company for many years to come. 

 

 

Meet our mascot, Miku! 

 

 

 

Miku is a unicorn lamb who lives among the clouds, crafting cozy sweaters for Maison Mikumo with her magical wool. She embodies our pursuit of ideals and serves as a playful counter to the concept of the “excellent sheep."

She is witty, playful, cultured, adventurous, and at times a tad mischievous.

Subscribe to our mailing list, follow us @maisonmikumo or check out our substack to get a behind-the-seams look into our small business!