Today we’d like to introduce you to Elena Bagne.
Hi Elena, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
When I was a kid, drawing was my main creative outlet. In middle school, I started exploring the world of film and photography. I saved up money to buy a Canon 70D, which I used to document life growing up in Minneapolis. I took my camera with me everywhere: the State Fair, Lake Nokomis, the skate park. During these adventures, I used friends and family as the subjects for my films. I began designing clothing in high school. During my senior year, I met Paul Ramsour of Elpis Enterprises in St. Paul. In the summer after graduating high school, Paul gave me the opportunity to spend my nights at the studio learning how to bring my drawings and designs to life through screen printing. This was the start of Minneapolis Made.
My brand, Minneapolis Made, was the culmination of all the skills I had acquired during my childhood. Photography, drawing, and film, with screen printing being the catalyst for these mediums. I was a terribly shy kid, but having a company forced me to come out of my shell, through meeting new people, collaborating on shoots, and building community with the arts scene in the Twin Cities. It truly opened up my world in so many ways.
Currently, my design process starts with hand sketching my ideas, locally and ethically sourcing fabrics, and screen printing on these articles of clothing from my home studio in North Minneapolis. As an adoptee from Kazan, Russia, my work is heavily influenced by industrial brutalism, urban architecture, and workwear. My art stays true to my upbringing in a blue collar midwestern family, and my ever-changing interrogations on the idea of ‘home’. I am also the co-founder and co-director of the Minneapolis based arts collective and venue, The Red Light House. Throughout the years, I have used my platform to share and build community with other young creatives throughout the Twin Cities, with the goal of expanding around the world.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The biggest struggle I’ve faced with my brand, like many other small business owners, was the Pandemic. I went from doing pop-ups consistently, weekly shoots, and getting invited to New York for fashion week, to starting back to square one. During the Pandemic I lost all of my jobs and the studio I worked out of. Business got slower, and the momentum I once had began to fade out. I still find myself trying to get back to where I once was, but the uphill battle is worth it.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My proudest moment as a creative was putting on my first solo fashion show, “Who’s Home?”, at The Red Light House. The fashion show was a project that I had thought about for three years. I took the themes of all that I created over the years, streamlined them, and put them into one solid runway. One of the main questions I had as the focus for the show was; How do the homes we are raised in vs. the homes we choose influence the way we see ourselves and how we dress? There are many facets of my identity that lend itself to my complicated view of home. In a lot of ways, being an adoptee from a different country automatically leads me to questioning what home feels like, looks like, and intrinsically means to me. Additionally, being a masculine presenting lesbian also affects my ideas around home. I grew up with a plumber father, with a closet full of all things workwear. As a child, I didn’t steal my mothers makeup out of her vanity, but opted instead for my dad’s green canvas Carhartt jacket and company branded work hat. All of these experiences bleed into the clothes I make.
What does success mean to you?
As much as I want the big monumental goals for my company to be met, I know that I’ll have truly made it when I am able to live a full, creative life. Having the ability to realign myself with what I truly care about: making art and aiding my friends in their creative endeavors. I want to be able to reach a point where I can pay-it-forward to all the people who have helped me along the way.
Pricing:
- Jackets: $150
- Hoodies: $50
- Pants: $45
- Tee Shirts: $30
- Totes: $25
Contact Info:
- Email: 612mplsmade@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/minneapolismade
