The Journey of Melānie Mendez Munden
- Emma Glascock
- Nov 22, 2024
- 4 min read
Melānie takes us down the path that got her to where she is now.
By Tess Pawliw and Emma Glascock
Born in the Philippines, Melānie Mendez Munden is a multidisciplinary artist, with a background in fashion design. Having worked in a variety of facets within the industry, Munden takes us along her journey as a fashion designer, mother, business owner, and film director.
Munden immigrated from the Philippines to Canada in 1986, alongside her mother and brother, finding themselves in Kentville, Nova Scotia. The cultural shock was intense. They had moved from a densely populated city, to a town with no more than five thousand people, not to mention the change of climate. The isolation cut deep, the snow was cold, and there were not many people that looked like her.
“Being myself was hard, so fashion was my armor.”
Munden speaks to her experience growing up as a minority in a small town saying, “You really experience the isolation, there's not alot of people, let alone people that look like you.”
The youngest of six children, she often spent a lot of time with her mother. Munden says her mother and two eldest siblings were a large influence on her style and love for fashion.
“I remember my mother was always dressed to the nines. Even though she was a farmer, when she came back to Manila she would always have her hair,
nails, and makeup done.”
Her father would travel across the world for his work in the US Navy, often bringing her mother home gifts and fashion pieces from across the world, only a select few were able to access. This only cemented Munden’s love for fashion and design at a young age.
In elementary, Munden went to an all girls catholic school. Having to wear a uniform every day, she quickly realized how important self-expression through fashion was to her.
High School Years
Being immigrants, there was not a lot of money to go around for luxuries, making thrifting the best option for the family. Munden started working at an early age to afford the things she wanted. Saying, “At 13 I already
knew I’m going to have to work if I want this look for the first day of school.” Munden curated a
persona to protect herself from prying eyes in the small town she moved to. Munden moved to live
with her brother in Vancouver for grade 10. By then, her sense of style had started evolving, heavily influenced by pop-icons of the time like Madonna and Jannet Jackson.
“I've known her since we were teenagers, anything she did it always had a creative flair, it always had a creative style” said Heather LeBlanc, a long-time friend of Munden.
“In grade 10 I knew I wanted to go into fashion,” Munden said. Living in Vancouver with her brother was the first time that she had her own room. She took advantage of this, plastering the walls of her bedroom with cutouts of runway shows, collections, magazine articles, and anything she could find pertaining to fashion. She later moved into making her own clothing, sewing her own prom and semi-formal dress. Saying,“I wanted Chanel but I couldn’t afford it, so I made it myself.”
Montréal - Fashion School
Munden took a year off after highschool and contemplated her mother’s suggestion that she go into psychology. One of her friends who worked in interior design, suggested they apply to College LaSalle, an arts school in Montréal. Upon finding out that Munden would be pursuing an education in arts, her mother did not speak to her for two years, and told her she was on her own financially.
Munden moved to Montréal right before the semester began, and as a result of the late move, there was only one residence available to her. It was a cold studio apartment, steps away from her school's campus located atop of a sex shop; which led to many crazy stories. After graduating, Munden went on to work with a small fashion company based out of Montréal before moving back to Nova Scotia. Munden began working at a Filipino restaurant by day, and a seamstress by night. Later offering up her talents for Halifax’s annual Shakespeare By The Sea, and numerous other side jobs.
The Past, Present, and Evolution of Munden’s Career
Later on Munden and her husband moved to Vancouver, creating their own business and finding success selling hand tufted rugs across North America and Asia.
After years of being in Vancouver, Munden and her family of four decided to move back to Nova Scotia, and she settled back into her roots as a fashion designer. In 2016 Munden and her daughter,
Keilana, collaborated on a line for tweens. Designed to fit that awkward gstage between clothing for children, and clothing for teens that the market greatly lacks.
She then dove into an environmentally-focused line, themed around respect, fittingly titled the “RESPECT Campaign”, dedicated to her son Kaidin and his experience with bullying. With both the environment and respect being so important to Munden, she was inspired and intertwined the two into her designs.
In 2021 her label, KeiKaiKoa (named after her children and golden doodle), was showcased on the runway at New York Fashion Week (NYFW). This was a huge accomplishment to be the first Nova Scotian designer to have put on a runway at NYFW. Her designs are made with textiles derived from banana fibers, with her main goal being sustainability. The fabric is woven in the Philippines by Indigenous peoples, as well as incarcerated individuals to help support their families. In 2023, KeiKaiKoa put on a runway for Paris Fashion Week, shortly after showing in Calgary, Alberta as well.
After completing New York and Paris fashion week, Munden announced her retirement from fashion. Munden later dove into the art of film and videography, directing and producing a short film, entitled maid. Which had been a goal of hers to complete before the age of 50.
Munden gets emotional as she reflects on her journey and her accomplishments. “I loved it but I
can't do it again,” She says as she laughs aloud. Munden has now taken to mentoring, handing over her skills and knowledge to new passionate local designers across. Melānie shows herself to be resilient, dedicated, and ambitious. She always chased her dreams and has accomplished so much because of it.
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