Name: Mehreen “Menx” Mansur
Age: 24
Occupation: Designer for Menx & Marco
Location: Dhaka, Bangladesh/Washington, DC
Website: www.liveabsolute.me & www.menxandmarco.com
“Born in the DC area, I’ve lived in and out of different countries and traveled the globe from a young age. I’ll accredit my eclectic desire for change to that. As well as my refusal to claim one country as my own: I’m from no country but all.”
My style is: my very own.
My favorite designers are: Karl Lagerfeld and Roberto Cavalli.
People usually compliment my: Approachability. Apparently I turn out friendlier than I seem 😉
I’ll never forget the time: I was gifted the book, “The Spontaneous Fullfillment of Desire” by Deepak Chopra. It’s a refreshing piece of literature that explains how an intention materializes into reality on a molecular level. The power of intention and purpose was a very new idea to me at the time so I read it a bit skeptically. The book taught to follow seemingly inconspicuous signs that guide us to living a more fulfilling reality at the level of purpose. I then asked out loud for a sign to prove to me that what I was reading was true. Should I buy into these philosophies, or not? I followed the signs and found myself on a vacation to NYC two weeks later, and on my first evening at a dinner with a group of renowned non-profit founders, I was asked who my favorite author was. I said I was undecided although I was currently reading Deepak Chopra. At the instant I mentioned his name, the man who asked me the question received a text message. Ironically enough, the text was from Chopra himself, inviting him to a private party hosted with his close friend Donna Karan. And so somehow or another, my name ended up on the small guest list and I told Deepak Chopra face-to-face about the story that convinced me of the power of intention. My sign had most definitely come! He then gave me his contact information to keep in touch and email him my story. Since then, I’m a huge believer of the power of the mind. I live by it.
Worst habit: my utter disregard for organized time.
For my skin, I use: Seaweed soap. you can get it from any Chinatown “everything store”. It comes in a bar and has firming properties. Great as a bath or face soap. A nightly cocoa butter rubdown is key too.
My favorite makeup tip: A flamboyant pink lipstick followed by a dab of concealer gives the most incredible nude lip look. Also, champagne/ silvery eye shadows make the best cheekbone highlighters, as they are more shimmer packed than cheek products.
Current beauty product obsession: Pop and squeeze a vitamin C capsule once a week, and spread on your face avoiding the skin around the eyes. it’s kind of like a tingly chemical peel on a really really micro scale. Try the same with a vitamin E capsule for a nourishing and replenishing experience. Try vitamin C one week and Vitamin E the next week. Wash both off after 20 minutes.
But I also can’t live without: my boyfriend. He makes me happy and there’s no beauty product like that glow.
My favorite scent is: stay loyal to my two favs which I’ve used for years: Creed Green Irish Tweed — although it’s “for men” I’ve always been more drawn to “pour homme” scents for some reason. The only woman’s perfume I will ever wear is Escada. I am obsessed with the ultra-feminine (but discontinued) Escada Tropical Punch.
People might be surprised to know: I have a brain. And it works.
My favorite hair product is: Hair, skin, and nail multivitamins. You can get them from any pharmacy or Vitamin store over the counter. They make hair grow longer, faster, and keep it shiny and strong.
I don’t understand people who don’t like: Seafood. There is nothing like flaky, white, fillets of deep sea fish – cod, halibut, Chilean sea bass. Mushrooms too. They’re misunderstood and heaven sent.
The restaurant I can never get tired of is: Nooshi Noodles is a great relaxed spot for my ultimate comfort food: “Grilled Chicken Noodle Soup”. It’s kind of like a Vietnamese pho, with a light natural broth of chicken, scallions, and wide flat rice noodles. The difference is that it’s topped with char-grilled chicken strips that infuse their flavor into the broth. I always request it with a mixture of the wide rice noodles in addition to plain udon noodles. Eat it with loads of their homemade chili paste that you can buy as well. Divine. It’s a secret soup — not on their menu, but they’ll know what you mean when you say the magic words: Grilled Chicken Noodle Soup.
Though I can make killer: I make the best 10 layer stacked fluffy carrot cake and cream cheese frosting in the world.
Who inspires me: WWJD? But really…now that’s a superhero — somebody who dedicated his life to change the world with a message of love in an era ruled by fear.
damn she’s hot.
oh! i love her clothing line, her bags are really nice
like the info but man it looks like her head is broken at the neck!
I’ve come to respect the legitimacy of this blog simply because there was a sense of perfection associated with the content posted. However, this particular interview was somewhat of an injustice as there are several grammatical errors and a ton of redundancies.
“It’s a refreshing piece of literature that explains how an intention materializes into reality on a molecular level.”
What is molecular supposed to mean in this sentence?
I apologize for being overly critical but I think its important for Bangladeshi women to come off as confident and intelligent individuals. I feel there is a lack in adequate editing which has resulted in a verbose and unsatisfactory entry.
With that said, I do think this individual should incur recognition as a designer. She does need to work on being eloquent.
Thanks for your comment, Sara, and thank you for being such a loyal (and careful!) reader. I truly believe all the people we feature on Beauty on the Streets are inspiring, intelligent, creative and accomplished individuals in their own right. I like to keep this feature as raw as possible to preserve the integrity of their answers, though if our readers feel there is a need for the entries to be more pithy, I will keep that in mind on the editing side of things for the future.
That said, I hope this can be a place for encouraging discussion and inspiration more than anything so I hope there are more positive things you take away from it than not! Thanks again for your feedback 🙂
x
Shy
First of all, I would like to agree with the previous comments, she is very pretty and has a glamourous glow about her.
Having said that, I can honestly say that I am disappointed that BATF for featuring this designer. Though I am always excited to read posts about creative women, particularly from South Asia, I found nothing of substance to Ms. Mansur’s designs or blog. I am not going to comment on her blog, as I believe blogs are personal expressions, unless otherwise stated. Fashion that is geared towards the public, however, I feel as though I can comment on.
The line between inspiration and plagiarism can sometimes be a blurry one, but in this case, the blatant piracy is just ridiculous. As soon as I clicked on the link for her online store, I thought “Well, those shirts are copied from the Ralph Lauren Country Polo collection, and the bags are copied from Chanel and Louis Vuitton.” Upon further searching, I saw an Adidas zip-up on which she didn’t even bother to replace the three stripes, but instead slapped on some flags and is selling them as her designs (found here: http://bit.ly/aRCGpI ). It is just ironic that she says her style is her “very own.”
As a creative professional, I feel insulted that this is being marketed as a fashion line. As a half South-Asian woman, I feel like this is a prime example of why South Asian designers have such an uphill battle for respect and legitimacy.
‘People might be surprised to know: I have a brain. And it works.’
Menx is definitely a very talented designer, but she is also one smart cookie – beauty and brains. The new line is looking great.
Shy, great article and website, and I especially like the fact that the responses are unedited so as to better capture what the interviewee has to express.
I disagree with the comment about lack of editing. If you edit and perfect other people’s words, there won’t be much personality left in it. Also, I don’t see anything wrong with the sentence that Sara pointed out. She was saying that intentions can materialize in life on the physical level. According to Deepak Chopra of course.
I just checked out her designs and there’s nothing unique about them. They just seem like carbon copies of chanel and Ralph. Her designs are a complete invasion of high end talents. The only people who are going to be fooled by her are the ones who are just concerned with ‘wearing’ designer (if you can even call her that) than actually understand what it means to wear art. Might as well sell them in the corner sidewalks of New york.
I find this article and the designer totally obnoxious and unoriginal. She claims that her style is her own but as you read further into the article, it’s nothing more than the tedious, monotonous garbage that you have to weed through to find anything of substance. As I read through it, I got a sense of how she is trying to set herself apart from what is culturally expected in South Asia as a designer( bangles, makeups, baroque jewelery), only to fall sideways ( her line is composed of nothing more than stolen ideas from Polo and Chanel). Take it from me, save a few extra bucks and buy the real stuff from the designers who actually came up with their own fashion ideas. Her clothing/handbags line screams designer label rip offs. “Here’s a PVC/plastic bag that you can buy at walmart for $4.99, but I will sell it to you for $47.25. What do you think of that deal?”