For the first time since her graduation years at the Antwerp Fashion Academy, where she was part of “the Antwerp Six (together with Dirk Bikkembergs, Ann Demeulemeester, Walter Van Beirendonck, Dries Van Noten and Dirk Van Saene) Marina Yee is finally launching her own label. This first collection will be sold this fall by prestigious boutiques like Louis in Antwerp, Stijl in Brussels, Antonioli in Milan, and the Canadian website SSENSE. Since last year she has been working with Rafael Adriaensens, her agent/advisor and somebody with tons of experience in fashion retail, like at Ann Demeulemeester.
A few years ago Marina Yee already made a kind of a comeback with her M.Y. New Pro Collection. Besides this one there was also a semi-couture line (M.Y. Upcycle Couture Collection (UCC)), with pieces that she made herself in her studio from vintage coats, jackets and jeans. In August 2018, Hideo en Yukiko Hashiura from the store Laila Tokyo organized a small retrospective featuring archival pieces, new items paintings and collages. Through the Hashiura’s, she met an agent who has been distributing the M.Y. Upcycle Couture Collection in Japan, Hong Kong and Seoul ever since.