When I was getting married last May, I wanted to give my husband something fun and thoughtful that he could wear to accessorize his plain old tuxedo for our wedding. It’s a requirement when you’re getting married that you have at least one Etsy tab open at all times, so that’s where my search started. Once I saw the Love & Victory Old Fashioned cufflinks, it was love. The tiny orange garnish! The addition of the maraschino cherry to let you know this is an old fashioned from a dive bar! I was even more delighted when they came - they were so detailed! It was clear that the artist was also passionate about cocktails, so I sent a note to say hello and let her know how much I loved her work.
Many messages and a year later, I’ve now had the pleasure of working with Meg Moornouse of Love & Victory (on a project that’s coming to our merch store soon!) and that experience has only grown my love for her brand. Meg’s story of how she built her business embodies what I like so much about her designs- they’re bold and original and show a true knowledge and appreciation for cocktail culture.
Meg’s knack for design and entrepreneurship revealed itself early- at age 5 she began painting rocks and selling them on the side of the road in her New Jersey suburb. She studied fine art and is a self taught graphic designer- she’s now been designing products for about 20 years. At first she had a line, La Voleuse, which was known for its satin ballet shoes that she would custom dye and paint with tattoo motifs and song lyrics. She then worked as a handbag designer for MZ Wallace, where she really learned how to collaborate with manufacturers, creating product specifications and traveling globally to develop designs. Meg was 27 and traveling to China solo, and the learning curve was steep.
She started Love & Victory in 2008 to bring some of her long-time ideas to market while managing her friends’ Brooklyn restaurant, No. 7. She left the restaurant in 2010, but continued doing branding and websites for No. 7’s restaurant group and for dozens of other New York restaurants and bars while running Love & Victory.
Meg incorporated barware in her product line early on, and had worked with a few liquor brands to create custom items, but it was when she created a Negroni enamel pin in 2016 that things really took off. The Negroni pin was totally unique at the time- there were very few, if any, cocktail-themed pins out there. The pin caught like wildfire, and as they say, the rest is history.
Meg has now grown Love & Victory to a studio of 3, and the bulk of their work is creating custom goods for the liquor industry, although she still does a fair amount of branding and illustration. Since founding Love & Victory, Meg has made everything from wrapping paper to Christmas ornaments to backpacks and playing cards. Meg says “It’s been such a fantastic ride so far. I consider myself very lucky to have been able to stay connected to an industry I care about deeply through design.”
So next time you see an enamel pin on your favorite bartender’s lapel, chances are it was inspired by our friend Meg.
You can fall in love with Meg’s full collection at https://www.loveandvictory.com
