~ lines that deviate ~ simple, elegant, versatile yet decisive ~
“Curves are the movements of our feminine sensuality.
They’re powerful, diverse, versatile and inspiring. Our curves just highlight our uniqueness, and shape the world we build around us.
They’re ours, and for us to show, to hide, or to play with. They’re an echo of our amazing personality.
My designs are here to help reclaim our curves and let them shine through.”
[Effy H]
[Born and raised in Sichuan, home of giant pandas, spicy brains, and endless nights, Effy H quickly moved to Shanghai to pursue her education and career in fashion for over a decade.]
{{ Free spirits living in concrete forests. }}
Pixies are small magical creatures roaming around forests. Very attached to their land, they have merry spirits, and love fine things.
They can be mischievous but mostly use their charms to nurture plants and inspire human behavior for the greater good.
Nowadays, glass and concrete towers might have replaced trees, urban pixies are always around, working their hidden wings to brighten everyday life.
At Effy By Design, we are very proud to dress you out for the task!
One day, while looking at her dressing, Effy H got tired of facing the same dilemma again and again: what to wear?
She couldn’t find anything. Again.
Multiple functions, multiple environments, multiple moods, much like modern urbanites’ everyday life. She saw the challenge and decided to design a single item proposing several looks to fit her different needs.
She traced curves and created the prototype of what would later become “The Executive Apron”.
Realizing that most of her friends wanted a personalized version for themselves, she developed the concept, exploring the possibilities of flexible fashion.
She now dedicates her creativity designing garments that are comfortable, changeable, and exciting, to solve the morning dilemma with style.
Effy Creations is an atelier originally opened in Shanghai’s busy Huangpu district by Effy H & G.M., a few blocks away from Xintiandi.
A space, a blank canvas, full of mannequins, fabrics (lot of fabrics), sergers, printers, mountains of brushes, plants and coffee cups, for designers and artists to discuss, experiment and create.
Early 2021, the atelier became too crowded with ideas and projects, and we moved to a larger place in Yangpu district. More space, more equipment, and larger production capabilities dedicated to produce Effy By Design’s clothing collection.
Effy By Design designs and produces everything in Effy Creations’ atelier.
Design -> Prototype -> Fabric Supplies -> Customer Orders -> Production -> Delivery
What it means is that apart from rolls of fabric and supplies (such as zippers or packaging) that we purchase from partners, everything is done in-house.
This allows a better control over fabrication, and more responsive production cycles.
All fabrics and supplies are purchased locally from long-time and reliable partners in the Shanghai-Jiangsu-Zhejiang delta region (except for leather sourced from Inner Mongolia).
Every supplier goes through our inspection and qualification process, to review and confirm their quality and social standards.
a. Pattern design to limit cutting waste: With the design and production in-house, we optimize patterns pieces to limit cutting waste.
b. Reuse: Production scraps are used to create stuffed dolls that we donate to local centers of the Shanghai Yangpu district.
c. Fabric commissioning: We never run new fabrics, and benefits from close relations with our suppliers to source from ends of stock that matches our needs.
d. Unsold stock: We supply and produce standard sizes in limited volumes, keeping most of our supplies for custom-made orders, and we intend to keep it that way. This limits risks of unsold stock (we never had any stock of materials over two years so far, finger-crossed).
All these policies combined help us target zero-waste production (we reached <1% of material supplied for 2010).
Material supplies go through our material inspection before acceptance.
All our products (standard size and custom-made) go through inspection before delivery to ensure you get the right fit and the best quality.
The “Mauving On…” collection marked a clear shift in Effy Creations history. The collection was a direct reaction to Shanghai confinement during the early days of the pandemic. The atelier closed down, expansion plans were shelved and the original spring collection was scrapped. Spring was in the air, yet fresh air was sorely needed.
Sharing a tiny table with her six years old daughter’s unexpected homeschooling, Effy H drafted a new collection from scrap, dreaming the blooming flowers outside.
The collection focused almost exclusively on flexible fashion. Reversible, fold-able, buttoned layers, wrapped around, rolled-up, convertible, removable… she just explored all possibilities and prototyped again and again, breaking her tiny home sewing machine in the process.
Patterns were made on scrap invoices taped together, and packages were delivered, so that the full collection could be completed between the different flats of our team, and shipped out.
“Mauving On…” became the first collection from Effy By Design produced without subcontractors, focusing almost exclusively on flexible fashion, and defining the urban pixies’ aesthetic.
It was a life or death bet for Effy Creations. and your reception has been amazing. So thank you, to all the little pixies out there for your support, and for showing us the way.
~ impish ladies moving on… in mauve ~.
“Take a pen and trace a line. Any line. That’s it, you’ve shared a piece of your mind!“
[G.M.]
[G.M. is a french financial artist living in China, fascinated by efficiency and simplicity.]
A little about Effy Creations
Why are we here?
Created by fashion designer Effy, “Effy Creations” is a creative workshop located in Shanghai, around one concept:
Who are we working for?
YOU
First and foremost you, our curious audience, that share our love for products that challenge the status quo, without compromising on elegance and quality (because there would not be a point of doing this otherwise). We’re extremely proud to count you as client, and would not survive without your everyday support.
& OUR TEAM
Effy Creations is an independent structure, 100% owned by Effy & G.M.. All revenues are used to remunerate staff & collaborators, and to invest into the workshop’s equipment. Incidentally, this allows more creative freedom. In line with our motto, Effy Creations deliberately chose to finance, design and propose innovative aesthetics and daring concepts that few structure could risk to believe in.
What are we doing?
Effy Creations is one roof, for two distinct poles, and a wing to develop new ideas:
“Effy By Design”
Fashion brand created by Effy H. “Effy By Design” proposes clothing for conscious and empowered women that value elegant and ambitious designs.
Each collection is unique, with limited volume, and centered around a specific concept that guide our inspiration.
All fabrics are sourced from local Chinese partners and inspected by us before production in house.
“Effy Creations Editions”
Editor and publishing house specialized in experimental books, comics and graphic novels. Our catalog includes works in english, french and mandarin; and is available worldwide directly through us, or through our distributors in selected markets.
We are open to submission for new or confirmed authors.
IIP (or Ideas-In-Progress)
Effy Creations provides a wide range of creative and technical resources for partners or individual creators to develop new projects. Do not hesitate to contact us for any query. Effy Creations’ latest curated project includes:
- Sound art project “0->1” in collaboration with Belgium label SubRosa, bringing experimental Chinese musician to explore this infinite gap.
- Music albums Acu-Electro and Acu-Rock in collaboration with French label Volvox. Two compilations gathering Chinese underground bands.
- Kwoa’s ~naive~ World Trip, a multi-support poetic odyssey to cultivate curiosity, openness, imagination and perspective.
Please visit Effy’s blog or subscribe to our newsletter to learn more about our activities, get all latest updates, exclusive offers and giveaways.
How to contact us?
You can also contact us directly through:
Address: 1 Xujiahui Rd., 3004 Bldg 2, 200000 Shanghai, China
Business hours: Chinese time 9.30 am ~ 18.30 pm
Telephone: +86 177 1706 1708
e-mail: [email protected]