WoW Woman in Sustainable Fashion | Nathalie Neuilly, founder of Dressarte Paris
Interview by Marija Butkovic @MarijaButkovic
Having worked as an international corporate auditor for a French company and lived across 5 different countries, Nathalie created Dressarte Paris, the first sustainable virtual atelier after realising there might be other women out there like her, who had no time to visit a tailor but who wanted clothes customised and cut to their body measurements. On a day-to-day basis, she and her team make shopping more personal, sustainable, and fun. In contrast to mass-market retailers, they pay attention to every clients’ needs and help them to create their perfect wardrobe.
Nathalie, how did you get into fashion tech?
Tailored clothes and new technologies have been my two passions for years. However, after graduating with a Master’s degree in management of new technology projects, my corporate career wasn't connected to fashion.
To be frank, I didn't have any plans at all to work in this industry. I didn't feel like I belonged to this glamorous world. I had been wearing my custom-made clothes for years and didn't necessarily follow the trends.
Now we would call it slow or conscious fashion, but people hardly talked about it a few years ago.
So, it was not until 2017 when I quitted my corporate career to reshape traditional tailoring business and launched Dressarte Paris.
What is the idea behind your project / product and how did you come up with it? When did you start with that business, how did you start and do you have other members in your team?
Dressarte Paris is the first sustainable virtual atelier to produce clothes according to clients’ body measurements, but also according to the designs created together with clients.
I grew up having my clothes tailored in an atelier run by my mother and created the online brand after realising there might be other women out there like me, who had no time to visit a tailor but who wanted clothes customised and cut to their body measurements.
The idea behind the brand is to reduce the waste caused by the fashion industry while encouraging women to love their bodies and feel confident by allowing them to customise clothes and adapt them to their body measurements.
I wanted to make the process of ordering tailored clothes online convenient, fun, but also affordable.
So, we make it super easy for clients to express their needs by filling in a simple questionnaire on the website indicating their preferences for style, fabrics, budget. They can also mention their body shapes and send us pictures for inspiration, so we will be able to offer the most suitable designs.
Once the form is submitted, our stylists and designers create sketches of unique beautiful garments that can be tailored especially for clients in a family-owned ethical atelier.
We want it to be a unique experience, so we update our clients of every stage of production, sharing pictures and videos of the process.
When it comes to fabric selection, we have a wide choice of sustainable luxury surplus fabrics sourced from France and Italy to offer to our clients. Textile waste is another major issue in the fashion industry as there are so many excess fabrics in warehouses around
the world. By repurposing leftovers and surplus fabrics we use the materials that already exist without the need to produce more.
I started slowly testing the idea of virtual atelier on my family, friends and colleagues. At that time my sister was doing a Master thesis related to new trends in fashion and helped me to do marketing research proving some hypotheses. When I was sure that it was the right time to launch, my sister joined me and I couldn't wish for a better partner.
How long did it take you to be where you are now?
It took us almost 2 years to build a loyal clientele. We were lucky to get support from different communities like @Instagramforbusiness for example, but also from sustainability-driven people. That helped us a lot to boost brand awareness. And there are so many things to be done!
What was the biggest obstacle? What are the challenges of being an entrepreneur in the niche you are in?
Made-to-measure clothing is a quite challenging business model, especially when we talk about designing something a completely new item when the whole process is based online.
We’ve realised that some clients feel uncomfortable when it comes to taking measurements as they have never done that in their lives. So, Skype helps us a lot to guide them. We’re also looking for alternative solutions for clients to take measurements like organising off-line meetings and scheduling appointments during pop-up stores or fashion shows that we attend.
People tend to be afraid of ordering something that they can’t try beforehand. It might be quite challenging to imagine the clothes based on sketches.
A good thing is that once they experience the whole process of designing unique pieces with us when it’s possible to modify the style and choose fabrics, they become our clients for life.
How about being a female founder / entrepreneur?
It’s great! I absolutely appreciate the freedom to set and follow your own rules!
What are your biggest achievements to date? What are your projects you are currently working on? There are a few projects at the moment that aim to help to analyse women’s style based on their clothes preferences, body shape, lifestyle in order to offer the most suitable designs within a few seconds.
Is #WomenInTech movement important to you and if yes, why?
As you can see, the ethos of our brand is to encourage women to feel more confident by creating clothes they really feel like wearing no matter what the trends or other people are saying.
Similarly, we need communities that would inspire women to find their ways in the tech industry without being afraid of being judged. The communities who would support initiatives and empower women to move forward.
What will be the key trends in the fashion tech industry in the next 5 years and where do you see it heading?
Today there are more brands that offer custom-made clothes online compared to what existed 5 years ago. Mindsets are changing, people become more aware about the impact the fashion industry has. So, they search for alternatives to fast fashion.
It is also noted that personalisation and customisation are more appreciated than ever before. And for obvious reasons, these two trends are so much connected to technology.
What is the most important piece of advice you can give to all female founders and female entrepreneurs out there?
Don’t be afraid to start. It might seem that you don’t have enough experience or knowledge, but it doesn't really matter as long as you keep doing what you love.
A lack of experience or knowledge doesn't mean a failure, it means doing things differently.
Who are your 3 inspirational women in fashion tech?
Stephanie Benedetto, founder of Queen of Raw, a marketplace that sells dead stock and sustainable fabrics online.
Pauline Guesne, founder of INDUO® - the shirt fabric that resists stains and perspiration.
Website https://www.dressarteparis.com/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/dressarte/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/dressarteparisofficial/
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/dressarte/
This interview was conducted by Marija Butkovic, Digital Marketing and PR strategist, founder and CEO of Women of Wearables. She regularly writes and speaks on topics of wearable tech, fashion tech, IoT, entrepreneurship and diversity. Visit marijabutkovic.co.uk or follow Marija on Twitter @MarijaButkovic.