In the Media: VoyageMIA

Meet Sarah Shirley of Mersur in Little Havana

Check out the article on Sarah on VoyageMIA (click on button or read below):

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Shirley.

Sarah, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today. Mersur was started as an idea to live an ideal lifestyle of always feeling like you are on vacation, even when you are working. As a fashion industry insider, I’ve been coming to Miami to shoot on location and it always felt like that breezy holiday vibe to me. We decided to take our brand from NYC on the road to Miami.

What started as a feeling of being instantly whisked away to your dream destination of choice was made possible by making one! I gave a surfer friend of mine the idea of making one pair of board shorts. When I heard myself say that, I was like that’s genius. So I made one caftan! I sewed it myself. Then I made another one. I had a friend make me a logo and then I had a label. I kept making more until I had a small collection of beach gowns and caftans. That was 2013. Today we have caftans, beach gowns, tunics, accessories, scarfs and our famous twilly bracelets hand made in France.

Has it been a smooth road? It’s never smooth sailing here at Mersur even though we like to feel like it has been! Being an entrepreneur is the hardest physical and mental work out one will ever know. The struggles have included doing three large scale very expensive industry trade show and not getting any orders from department stores or boutiques. It was there we decided to go direct to the consumer. It’s been so much fun getting to know our customers!

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Mersur story. Tell us more about the business. Mersur is fun with no boundaries, where the endless summer is a state of mind, shock pink is a neutral, inspiration is everywhere and everything you do is an adventure. I’m proud of this mantra! I’m proud we are creating a lifestyle brand that goes well beyond consuming items or products. Mersur is all about being and feeling inspired. My personal mission is to inspire as many people as I can. Yes, we make beautiful resort chic apparel and accessories. We manufacture in NYC and Miami. We are proud to make things in the USA. We are proud to support other women-owned businesses.

I am most proud of the way we make people feel. I want people to feel fabulous when they throw on a Mersur. I want them to know that these garments were made in a loving way by people I personally know. Mersur is all about feeling like you’ve been whisked away to your dream state, so we use the finest fabrics like lightweight cotton voiles and sumputous silks. Our prints and our sillouettes really set us apart from our competitors.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade? I see the fashion and clothing industry-changing tremendously. I see fast fashion consolidating. I see manufacturing changing as well as the seasonal approach changing too. The fashion lifecycle is all going to evolve. It has too. Sustainability will be the biggest design influence we will see. I also see a return to a very high touch, hi feel boutique experience when it comes to retail. The icy cold, help yourself a model of getting the clothes will lessen as brand ambassadors will bring the products to life. The consumer desires lavish attention is various forms. The customer desires to be a part of something bigger and will hang out with brands that make them feel like they are part of the journey.

Pricing:

  • Our garments range from $49-$398

  • Our accessories range from $15-$139

Contact Info: