Shoppers will soon be able to experience Mersea in person when the women’s lifestyle brand opens its first-ever flagship store at the Country Club Plaza on Wednesday, June 10, at 10 am. The grand opening will also feature actress and advocate Selma Blair, who will join founders Melanie Bolin and Lina Dickinson to celebrate the launch and discuss Sea La Vie, her collaboration with the brand.
Bolin and Dickinson met the way so many those with great partnerships do: through their children. Their kids ended up in the same class at St. Paul’s Episcopal Day School and a friendship took root.
Both women had spent years on the West Coast before settling in Kansas City, and they quickly realized they shared a restlessness, entrepreneurial drive and sense of style inspired by life near the water.
“We were both maybe coming to the conclusion that we missed that part of ourselves around the same time,” Bolin says.
A business idea blossomed. The two launched Mersea (pronounced “merci,” like the French salutation) as, according to them, an adventure. The brand went national from the start, building a devoted following across the country before ever planting a flag in its hometown.
The company originally began with scent products, namely candles. “Scent is a natural transporter,” Dickinson says. “Even if it’s the dead of winter, if you light a salt air candle, suddenly you’re near the ocean.”
From there, the collection expanded into apparel centered on comfort, versatility and travel, with what the founders describe as a subtle, “tailor-esque” sensibility inspired by coastal living. The Catalina sweater, a simple one-size knit, has become the brand’s signature piece. It’s packable, washable and endlessly layerable and sells in the thousands each year.
The Mersea line has grown organically from there into easy button-down shirts, soft French Terry separates and stretch denim for women who want clothes that feel polished without being overcomplicated. “Our customer is a woman who knows herself,” Bolin says. “She knows what she likes.”
The Plaza store, according to Bolin and Dickinson, will feel distinctly Mersea: bright, airy and relaxed, with light woods, whites and blues and subtle nautical touches inspired by the spirit of travel. “Kansas City is very fortunate because they get to reap the benefits of us going everywhere,” Dickinson says. “We always want to bring that experience back.”
The storefront will also focus on special projects and partnerships, including Sea La Vie, the collaboration with Selma Blair designed around what the actress called “charming details” and built on a beach-to-breakfast wearability that reflects Blair’s approach to fashion. Mersea also recently launched a collaboration with Stella Forest, the French label known for its bohemian-meets-Parisian style and hand-embroidered fabrics.
In a way, the Plaza store is kind of a homecoming. “[Mersea] was embraced from the get-go by Kansas City,” Dickinson says. “We have often attributed our success and our beginnings here.” For the first time, shoppers can now walk in, touch the denim, smell the candles and see the full scope of what Mersea has become. 602 W. 48th St., KCMO. mersea.com.
