Michelle Dwight has a notebook of what she calls weird and wonderful ideas. These ideas become convertible dresses and swimwear for curvy women. She started her brand, Aulieude, as a young designer wanting stylish, sustainable fashion. As her business has grown, she’s learned to apply her creativity to her business and not just her designs. As she’s grown too, she’s decided what things are and are not worth compromising.
In episode 121, hear how the Aulieude customer has grown up as Michelle has, how Michelle’s lifestyle has played into her business decisions over the years, and why business values are extra important when you are ready to scale.
As a girl, Michelle loved creating beauty from the found materials around her. Often shopping clothes to sew into something new and pattern making from intuition on her spotlight mannequin with A4 printer paper and sticky tape. She made platform shoes in woodwork, leather working, making corsetry, consistently fascinated by the construction of various mediums. Michelle would dress her sister and her friends up in her creations and emulate vogue editorial shoots with an old SLR camera and a vision.
Aulieude was founded in 2017 by our then 23 year old Designer, Michelle Dwight, making dresses from her bedroom. After studying at Sydney’s Fashion Design Studio and working in the Fast fashion industry, Michelle grew tired of flimsy garments and wanted to craft quality fits that would be loved over a lifetime.
Passionate about sustainability, she set out to create conscious clothing that didn’t compromise on style. In lieu of (‘Au Lieu De’) shapeless eco fashion on the market, Michelle took pride in carefully constructing flattering feminine silhouettes that celebrated a woman’s curves – designing adjustable and multiway pieces that tailor to the wearer’s unique shape and style.
Gaining a loyal following in the Market stalls of Sydney and Melbourne, Aulieude transitioned to selling exclusively online. They have since proudly expanded their size range, introduced original prints and formal wear as well as their most recent category, Swim! Every Aulieude garment is pattern made by hand in Michelle’s Melbourne Studio by the designer herself. Aulieude samples are made for Michelle’s curvy body and she fits each creation on models of various sizes to make sure that the quality and fit of the pieces are absolutely perfect for you.
Michelle, now 32, is continually inspired by the wonderful community of women Aulieude has garnered. Strong, caring women who own their femininity and deserve to be supported and empowered. Engaging with and serving this community brings so much joy and fulfilment that continues to inspire the collections to come.
This episode explores:
Fitting the customer
- Who Michelle designs for
- What Michelle learned about her customers at markets
- The new “risky” category that Aulieude recently added
- Why Alieude changed how its pieces are sized
Fitting the lifestyle
- How much Michelle saved up to start Aulieude and fund her first production run
- The big mistake Michelle made when she attended her first market
- How Michelle’s lifestyle has played into her business decisions
- The reason Michelle didn’t want to be the face of Aulieude initially and what changed her mind
- How Michelle has grown as her business has
Fitting the values
- Why values are super important when you are ready to scale your business
- An aspect of sustainability that many fashion founders overlook
- Why Michelle travels to visit her factory (it is NOT to check in on production)
People and resources mentioned in this episode:
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