Gratitude Check: My Favorite Brand Partners
Every night over dinner Daniel and I will make a toast and say what we’re grateful for. This has become a tradition since we’ve been quarantined in Upstate, NY with an actual dining room table (gotta love NYC apartments lol). Over a toast last week Daniel said he was grateful for all the incredible restaurants who have ever hired him and allowed his career to happen. I stopped everything and realized- wow, he’s right! Yes, I wouldn’t have this career without you guys, but I absolutely would not have this career if brands had never taken a chance on me!
I’ve also been thinking a lot about the ‘behind the scenes’ of my brand. As content creators, I think we tend to be a bit shy when it comes to sharing how partnerships come to life. But you guys know me, I love to share! Maybe even overshare? Oh well- sharing is caring, and I want to share with you how some of my most beloved brand partnerships came to be.
In a time where we’re all just doing anything we can to stay sane, healthy, and safe, we’re shopping online more than ever in order to keep our economy afloat. And since we’re spending way more time reading blog posts than we ever did before— I decided to do a round-up of all the brand partners I’m grateful for. These are brands I’ve worked with over the last few years and have a real relationship with. Not only do I love the brand and the product they sell, but the teams behind the collaborations are real, genuinely kind people that I’m so proud to represent!
They have also all lovingly given me promo codes to share with you guys. It’s more important than ever to support the brands and businesses we love most, so if you’ve been meaning to try any of these brands- now’s your chance! Lets get to it —
I first met Katie, the founder of Ori, in Fall 2018. She reached out to my agent looking for plus size models for their launch video. They were launching a new clothing collection of key pieces crafted from incredibly soft, functional fabrics (french terry & cotton blends sourced from Japan), in elevated, modern styles. I was in LA at the time for a different job- so, they had me stop by their Venice office for a quick casting. I met Katie and a couple of other employees and instantly became a fan of the brand.
I have a couple of their pieces and they’re in heavy rotation during the summer. I love the simplistic style, but attention to detail that they make sure is with every piece. Their tee’s are perfection! There aren’t a lot of plus size specific brands that are doing what they are doing- and that’s why I love to support them! Just simple, comfortable, and affordable pieces- can’t go wrong. Plus, right now they're donating 30% of their sales of the Dreamy Duster to Project Angel Food to help them respond to the pandemic.
Since the launch of their first collection- I partnered with them again in Spring 2019 to create a Maxeymize Your Style video. They challenged me to style their signature terry dress. And fast forward to today- my good friend from the Dia&Co days, Ashby, recently started as their Head of brand.
Shop Ori and get 15% off sitewide!
Use promo code: MAXEY
Here are some Ori pieces I'm loving:
Last fall I received an email from the Fossil team seeing if I would be interested in working with them on promoting the launch our their Sport Trend collection. Believe it or not, I was literally in a Fossil store when I received the email. At the time I was at The Crossings Outlet mall in Tannersville, PA checking out their smartwatches with my brother and his fiance. I was just thinking about how I wanted one and bing- my email notification went off! ! I don’t typically partner with brands that aren’t totally in-line with my brand and technically you guys aren’t coming to me for watch recommendations, but a brand I was literally about to buy- was emailing me! It felt like fate and I knew you would agree.
Anyways, I’m a true fan of the brand. Their branding is on point and their social team is so kind. Family plays a big part on why I love Fossil too: My dad has always worn Fossil glasses, and my brother also loves their smartwatches. Who doesn’t love a fashion-forward, affordable watch?? Plus, a smart-watch has truly changed my life! I love being able to see my texts so easily.
I partnered with them again for Holiday 2019 and they let me have some fun with it. I got to bring Daniel into their store to get him a watch for Hannukah.
Shop Fossil and get 30% off sitewide!
Use promo code: SHOP30.
Valid until 4/4
Here are some Fossil watches I'm loving:
Again, last Fall I received two separate emails. One from a PR agency gauging my interest in collaborating with a new plus size brand. I also received an email from my modeling agent to see if I was available for a shoot with a new plus size brand. Both were about Ryllace! I loved knowing a brand really wanted to partner with me in a strong way, but I needed to make sure I genuinely loved them before I said yes. They sent me some of their cashmere sweaters and if you’re new around here- I’m warning you now: I wear them every single day. I instantly loved them. Ryllace is filling a niche that the plus size market is truly lacking in- high quality fabrics!
In November I got to shoot their campaign in Tucson, Arizona with one of my favorite photographers, Fumie Hoppe. Then December I shared a blog post featuring how I styled their cashmere sweater in three ways! I got to shoot it with one of my closest friends too, photographer Nicole Lebris.
Shop Ryllace and get 20% off your total purchase!
Use promo code: RYLLACE20
Valid until 4/30
Here are some Ryllace pieces I'm loving:
Back in the Spring of 2018, I was hanging out in my living room with my old roommate. She let me know she had made a new friend and she was going to swing by. I instantly hit it off with (new friend) Casey. She worked in the industry so we had a ton to talk about! Turned out she worked for a bra company, Bare Necessities, and was looking to work with a plus size influencer. She sent me an email the next day and we took it from there. Since then- Bare Necessities and I have partnered on a bunch of different initiatives. I’m one of their Elomi ambassadors. I had never tried Elomi before Bare Necessities and I was so excited to finally try the bra line everyone was talking about.
What I love the most about Bare Necessities is that they are a true one-stop-shop. They have so many different offerings, a huge array of sizes, and offer personal touches a lot of online retail stores don’t. They do phone calls with customers to make sure they are ordering the perfect size for them! I had a call with one of their Bra Fit Experts and they made sure I was fitting perfectly into my new pieces.
I’ve done a Facebook live in their NJ offices and many, many, Instagram posts.
Shop Bare Necessities and get 25% off!
Use promo code: FFMaxey25
Valid until 4/8
Here are some Elomi bras from Bare Necessities I'm loving:
Some of you may know that I was born in Canada and I hold it deeply in my heart. I know my Canadian plus size followers always have such a hard time shopping and I keep it in mind a lot when talking about brands on my Instagram. I was beyond excited when Joe Fresh reached out to me back in Fall 2019. They were a Canadian brand I knew and loved. My mom actually lives down the street from one and the store will always remind me of her! They wanted to partner to promote their new winter coats- and I jumped at the opportunity.
The thing I love the most about Joe Fresh is the ease of them. They are the kind of place that becomes your go-to. They offer so many basics, but their always a stylish fit and at an extremely affordable price. Plus, the entire family can shop with them!
Daniel and I went out on a terrible, rainy day to shoot our content. It wasn't ideal, but it was our last day before vacation and we wanted to shoot it before we left. **Winter coats don’t exactly work on the beaches of Mexico. The day really wasn’t great, but I must say I really loved the shots we got. Plus, you guys LOVED this green coat! Since then, we partnered again this Spring and I have a current partnership that has been put on hold due to Covid19. Looking forward to bringing you more content from them when this is all over!
Shop Joe Fresh and get 25% off regularly priced items!
Use promo code: MAXEY25
Valid until 4/30
Here are some Joe Fresh pieces I'm loving:
Last Winter I got an email from Loft. They were interested in featuring me in a post promoting one of their new spring dress. I FREAKED out. They were one of the first big brands who reached out to work with me on my social media and on top of that, were a brand I already loved! It was around the same time I started dabbling with styling videos- so, I decided to make one for Loft (even though they hadn’t asked for one!) I sent it their way and they loved it…and so did you guys!! It was the birth of my #maxeymizeyourstyle videos.
I’m sure if you’ve been following me for a while you could recite all the reasons I love Loft, but for you new readers- let me explain. My love for florals is real and Loft knows floral prints. The styles they offer are so aligned with my style. A lot of their pieces are more work-wear focused- which is a very underserved market. But what I love the most- for me, I can rock one of their cute blazers with jeans and make it work. I even bought a pair of their wide-leg trousers recently and have been dressing them down with a simple tee- very cute.
Since that post they have been one of my strongest partnerships, from my long-term partnership, being featured in two of their lookbook campaigns, and representing them on NY1. I’m so proud to represent a brand that is all about positivity and doing the best they can to cater to the plus size customer.
Shop Loft and get an additional 15% off all the great sales already going on!
Use promo code: MAXEYLOFT15
Valid until 4/8
Here are some Loft pieces I'm loving:
Other Brands I Love:
