When MiLocks co-founder Laura Tanzer told her doctor she was considering getting her bed fixed, the answer surprised her. “She said, ‘Oh, that’s perfect because the bed is like a womb.’ Tanzer hadn’t thought of it that way before, but the analogy touched her heart.
The designer worked at Vetements before studying at Central Saint Martins, and then collaborated with Demna for three years, but this time at Balenciaga, being involved in the creation and launch of haute couture. Tanger’s co-founder, Jessica Simpson (who is also his wife), is a former professional tennis player who travels 35 weeks a year and stays in a variety of hotels during that time. Since her serious injury, Simpson has worked in a number of different industries, from working in art galleries to creating hospitality brands and venues. The two met in the UK and eventually sparked the idea of creating a lifestyle brand.
Simpson said: “Laura and I were in a long-distance relationship and it became part of our romantic conversations where we would talk about hotels and bed linens, like ‘How was the room?’ or ‘Is it comfortable?'” That sort of thing. When the two started living together and decorating their bedroom, they wanted more than what was offered. “We both loved the challenge of creating a world,” says Simpson. “So I think that’s where the idea of creating a brand based on different traditions came from; not just the notion of old-school or modern minimalism, but maximalism and eclecticism, but also fun and peaceful – all of these things.”
The name Milloux comes from Tanzer’s childhood memories. “There’s a town called Millou in the south of France, where there’s the longest bridge in Europe. I went there often when I was a kid. His grandparents had a house near the bridge, which made a deep impression on him.” “I remember it was a great house, and I found scorpions in the garden, and I thought, ‘Oh my God, look at these creatures,'” Tanzer said. “This sentimental – almost mystical – shots pervaded the whole series.
MiLocks is a high fashion “bedding” brand where each piece is made to order and tailored to needs. “The bed size is universal, but the problem is that it’s not universal,” Simpson said, explaining that different brands often create their own versions of a queen or king. “We really looked at it from a fashion design perspective and worked with fashion print makers,” Tanzer said of the brand’s development. “Like haute couture, we create collections and you can come to us and say ‘can you change the color or have a custom size’, or maybe you have a beautiful green tapestry hanging on the wall at home and you can choose.” We want to have this conversation with customers and create a one-bed home for them.
Tanzer and Simpson collaborated with Fiona Blackman to design the print. A Central Saint Martins alumnus, Blackman has a long-standing relationship with Grace Wales Bonner, having worked under Phoebe Philo at Céline and recently developed a Guinness pint print for JW Anderson. “I’ve never met someone with such good taste,” Tanzer said. The collaboration felt natural from the start. “We described our world and gave it what we imagined as a ‘house’ and the different rooms we wanted to fill it with,” she said. From there, they gathered a wealth of visual references and inspiration. “It has everything from bedroom photos to mythical creatures,” Simpson said.
Milocks launched two collections this week: Pastoral and Royal. “Obviously we wanted animal prints because we found a lot of tapestries with animal prints,” Tanzer said. “We also wanted some level of floral or garden.” While Blackman admits it can be tricky to create beautiful flowers from florists, she has had no problems. “They did it very quickly. They were great to work with, choosing which flower to use and what the meaning behind it was.” (They found a special wild orchid that comes in two colors, ivory and deep burgundy.)
The rest of the collection uses fanciful patterns, such as the triangular edges that resemble medieval flags in Royal or the zigzag and X-shapes that appear throughout the collection. The whimsical color palette for the rustic style includes shades like baby blue and candy pink, along with chocolate brown and midnight black, while the royal style includes vibrant tones like sorbet, lemon and crimson.
The collection includes two types of materials. “Laura and I love to sleep in a combination of linen and satin,” Simpson said. European linen is linen, woven in the Portuguese style and hand-washed, soft and comfortable. For the second texture, they used 610 Egyptian cotton sateen, which is spun, woven and produced in an Italian studio, Simpson explains, adding that most of it is worn out, “which makes it really gives me an amazing feeling.” All fabrics are Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certified and the dyeing processes are GOTS certified.
While some of the products in the collection come in soft ivory and gray tones, Tanzer and Simpson wanted to challenge the status quo of what bedding “looks like.” “The bedroom should be a place where you feel like everything is put together and we found that after a certain age a lot of people start having ‘adult’ versions of their sheets where everything is white and matches,” said Simpson. “We thought about creating a product where the pillowcases were sold as individual pieces and encouraged people to have four different pillowcases if they wanted and one mismatched duvet cover because it doesn’t matter what everything else is out there in the world,” she said.
“There’s no reason to only wear white sheets,” says Tanzer. “Of course, there’s nothing against white sheets because they’re beautiful, but once you’re in the bedroom, there’s no reason to stop expressing yourself.” That said, despite the collections having specific references, the brand is modular. “We’ve incorporated elements into the new imaginary house that reflect many different eras and different parts of history and many different ways that people express themselves,” Simpson said.
Taking this dream house concept one step further, the duo created a home scent to complement the collection (it will be a pouch that will be placed in an envelope sent with bedding orders). “When we first started imagining this dilapidated house with grass everywhere and a huge castle in the middle, it looked like nobody lived there, but when you walked in you felt a very strong smell of it. The smell, there were a lot of candles and a lot of stuff. “You walk into the library, the windows are open, there’s a little rain and wind outside. There are old books in there. And you can smell the grass outside, it feels like home.” (This scent was born in) a collaboration with Simpson’s aunt, who owns a company in Cape Town that creates fragrances for the brand.
For the conference, Tanger and Simpson commissioned still life photography from George Ayres, who has worked with brands such as Loewe and Ferragamo. “He has a keen sense of light and a passion for sensuality and luxury, so it was clear we had to hire photographer Isabel Brontes for the interior shoot.” “I spent a lot of time looking for the perfect castle and finally found one about an hour’s drive from Milan,” said Tanzer. The three of them packed up and spent three days at the sprawling property, styling and photographing the collection room by room. “I’ve never ironed so many clothes in my life.”
Looking ahead, Tanger and Simpson have plans to expand, but they won’t follow a seasonal calendar. “It will be more based on whim or need,” Simpson said. Currently, Milocks’ turnaround time is six to eight weeks. “I think the most unique thing about the tailors we work with is that they specialize in making bedsheets and everything is done by hand,” Simpson said. “So our relationship with them is to respect the fact that they are artisans and do one order at a time.”
This slower pace resonates with the cornerstone of the brand’s purpose. “Many of us spend a lot of time and money spending eight hours a day at home, but we don’t always think about the other place, and that’s the bed,” Tanzer said. There’s something beautiful about this ritual of where you relax and where you start your day that we’re looking forward to.”
