Dressarte Paris is the fashion brand created by Nathalie Neuilly. Not only is she well traveled (she puts us to shame, having lived across five countries), she also created her brand with an amazing unique selling point from the get go – to be the first sustainable, virtual atelier. She realised she must not be the only woman that struggled to get tailor made clothes, custom cut to their body size, without having to visit and this is when the company was born.
We spent some time with her to find out more…
Tell us about the journey that lead you to launching Dressarte Paris…
I’ve grown up having my clothes tailored in an atelier run by my mum. I’ve always loved the idea of being able to design clothes, select fabrics and have the garment tailored perfectly to your body measurements.
However, I didn’t dream about a career in fashion, so I studied international business and politics in the Netherlands and France and then worked as a corporate auditor and consultant for a French company. When living in Paris I caught myself thinking quite a lot about designing clothes as I couldn’t afford high-end items that I really liked. When wearing clothes I was often asked where I bought them as they were truly unique.
I often heard from my women colleagues that they couldn’t find the clothes of their size or style. Although Paris is brimming with boutiques, it doesn’t make it easy to find a Perfect Garment. Thus, I saw there were other women like me who had no time to visit a tailor but wanted to have clothes customised and tailored to their body measurements.
Being fashion conscious and sustainable is at the forefront of what you do, why is this important to you?
The textile industry is one of the most polluting industries on earth and waste is at the very heart of fashion. The US has generated 15 million tonnes of textile waste each year for the past 20 years. The UK sent 235 million items of clothing to landfill.
In Dressarte we’re committed to reduce the waste caused by the fashion industry by creating custom-made & made-to-measure garments from up-cycled fabrics.
A few years ago not so many people talked about sustainable and conscious fashion. While bespoke clothing has always been one of the best examples of conscious and slow fashion, where the labour is very much appreciated.
We design clothes together with clients and produce unique pieces to clients’ body measurements in a family run atelier. As you might know, one of the main reasons for returning clothes online is the wrong size. By producing clothes according to clients’ body measurements, we eliminate this issue, which is great for clients and for the environment as well.
Before launching Dressarte I visited partners in Italy and noticed that the warehouses were full of fabrics. So, when producing clothes we mainly work with high-end sustainable up cycled and recycled clothes sourced from France and Italy.
Who is your ideal customer?
Dressarte woman is an achiever, she is confident and loves expressing her own style. To us every woman is ideal and we believe that clothes should be made to highlight her individuality.
How do you want people to feel when they wear your clothes?
Empowered. 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.
We all have different body shapes and sizes and it might be quite challenging sometimes to find clothes that fit well and meet our style expectations. So, we give clients a chance to get involved into the design process and order garments they would love and wear for years.
Are you planning on extending the range in future, if so, how? What are your plans for the brand in 2020?
We’ve recently showcased our sustainable wedding collection in the National Wedding Show in London.
Since Dressarte was launched online bespoke service has been extremely popular among future brides (and bridesmaids as well) who are struggling to find THE DRESSES that fit well and reflect their style and personality.
Everything starts with a simple questionnaire that clients fill in on the website indicating their preferences for style, fabrics, budget but also their body shapes as it will allow to offer the most suitable designs.
Once the form is submitted, Dressarte stylists and designers create sketches of unique beautiful dresses that can be tailored especially for a client in a family-owned ethical atelier.
What might seem like old school and super expensive, can be actually entertaining, fast and quite affordable.
How much does social media play a role in your business?
Since launching Dressarte, we’ve been very active on social media, mainly on Instagram. We were lucky to get support from different communities like @Instagramforbusiness who featured our brand. We’ve been quickly surrounded by sustainability-driven people as well. That helped us a lot to boost brand awareness.
Our readers love to travel, what destination is at the top of your bucket list?
I love travelling too! So far I’ve lived in 8 different cities across the world and travelled to more than 30 countries.
I’ve recently spent some quality time in Chiang Mai, in the north of Thailand. It’s a great place to recharge and now I’d like to discover more this part of the world and visit Myanmar and Cambodia.
Japan is definitely at the top of my bucket list. I love discovering new cultures and I know that Japan has so much to see.
For any one aspiring to launch a company, what advice would you offer?
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.
Where can people find out more?
Our concept is online based and our website is the right place to learn more about us and start creating one-of-a-kind garments with us:
We’re also very active on social media, feel free to connect with us on Instagram and Facebook.
Hands up if you’re already thinking about what to have made by Dressarte Paris? We know we are!
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