Moise Emquies

Lawyer by day, t-shirt designer by night. This is the story of Moise Emquies. Strange but true, it took an attorney with no fashion experience to create the world's perfect t-shirt. So perfect, in fact, that it became the prototype for the entire Splendid t-shirt collection.

In 1992, Moise Emquies was a law school graduate waiting for the results of his California bar exam when his friend invited him to pass the time by designing a t-shirt for her clothing store. He threw himself into the project, quickly educating himself on textiles in search of the perfect rayon t-shirt on which to put his design. He found the best quality fabric that he could and his first design quickly sold out. In the meantime he landed his first job at a law firm but the success of his first foray into fashion left Emquies curious about the possibilities of designing for a living.

Emquies began designing more and more t-shirts for his friend's boutique in his spare time, always trying to take fabrications to the next level. This led to the creation of his first fashion company, Leopold, which he owned for nine years. It was also through Leopold that Emquies met and hired Pamella Protzel, the woman who would become the head designer for another label he currently owns, ella moss.

Splendid is the culmination of Emquies' tireless search to find the softest fabric and most color absorbing yarns in the world in order to create the ultimate t-shirt. After an exhaustive ten year search, he finally discovered the right combination: 50% supima cotton (a luxurious cotton that gives the fabric body) and 50% micro modal (a form of rayon that is super soft and deeply absorbs dyes).

It was then that Emiquies finally decided on a name for his new t-shirt collection: Splendid.

In 2002, a full t-shirt collection with nine basic bodies was launched and has since grown to become an extensive collection of not only t-shirts but tanks, thermals, dresses, shorts and more. Clean, simple and effortless best describe the aesthetic of the line, which can be seen in countless magazines, movies and television.