LA FEMME APERO, MORE THAN A FASHION BRAND, A LIFESTYLE
The idea of La Femme Apéro began over a glass of prosecco. On the terrace of their favorite French restaurant, FADA, in New York City, Léa Enderlin and Sarah Lequimener, Founders of La Femme Apéro, enjoyed prosecco as they conversed and envisioned what their own line would look like. “As we were dreaming about the women we wanted to dress and the clothes we wanted to make, we realized how French the setting and the moment was. It was relaxed, fun and chic, and it just made sense for us to celebrate the apéro – the thoroughly French ritual that is sexy, all about community and joy that captures the essence of our brand. We loved the ring of it and the fact that the idea of La Femme Apéro came to be as we ourselves were having an apéro together, how authentic!” said Lea.
Both Léa and Sarah, were born and raised in Paris, France, and they we’re instantly fascinated by fashion. Watching Couture Week on television, is what inspired her to become a designer. After high school, she went on to study Fashion Design and Pattern Making at ESMOD. With Fashion Design as her main goal, she still worked as a freelancer in Styling, Fashion Writing, Copywriting, and she was the Creative Director and Producer for an E-Commerce Platform, gaining essential skills to succeed in the industry. “My first job designing for a really cool designer line took me from Paris to LA and after about 4 years at that job, I had moved to NYC and started a more corporate career working for bigger fast fashion companies,” she said.
Sarah would often get together with friends cut fabric, wrap them in it, and put together looks to then create a mini fashion show for all their moms in the living room. “With tiny high heels on, I got to experience a glimpse of the feeling of what it would actually be like to work for a real fashion show years later! I studied design at Atelier Chardon Savard, an indie school worshipping Maison Margiela, Yohji Yamamoto and Jean Paul Gaultier. I immediately knew I loved the “styling” part of the fashion industry and focused on that during my studies,” she said. She graduated and worked at Vente-Privee in Paris for a year as a casting assistant and shooting assistant. In 2013, she moved to New York City to explore and discover the big apple. There, she interned with several major stylists and has been the first assistant with one of them for many years.
With a divine background in Fashion and Design, Léa and Sarah decided it was time to bring their vision of the Parisienne lifestyle to life. They wanted to bring something fun and fresh to the market, a brand that combines timeless and effortless Parisienne fashion with the French lifestyle. “We want women to feel empowered, comfortable, confident and beautiful in our clothes. All of our pieces are incredibly soft, made to make you feel powerful and at ease at the same time! The idea is that the clothes are here to highlight the woman who is wearing them, not the contrary. We also want our customers to feel like it is easy to put a look together, so we design timeless pieces, and we stay away from fleeting trends. We want to give women the keys to an easy, chic, and lasting wardrobe.” they said.
Dive into the lifestyle of La Femme Apéro below as Sarah and Léa discuss the inspiration behind the brand, their mission, and sustainable practices that represent the universe of La Femme Apéro.
What inspired the launch of La Femme Apéro?
Sarah: It has been a slow process, it is an idea that Léa threw around a few times (she has 1000 ideas a minute, which I love!) at a time, we were both at a point in our career where we felt we had done everything for others and did not quite feel fulfilled. One day we just were drinking in our backyard (as usual) and decided to start envisioning what we could create, and what we could bring to the world that wouldn’t be “just another brand”.
Léa: It was hard for me to adapt to corporate culture and I was unhappy with the lack of creativity, as well as the monotony of it. It was all about consistency and sales. Not about beauty. Talking with Sarah, we realized we wanted to bring a little more fun and freshness to the market. We spent an entire year on sourcing, supply chain, and marketing. It felt quite surreal to finally launch our first capsule in June 2019.
How would you describe the woman who wears La Femme Apéro?
La Femme Apero is confident, fun, and strong. She doesn’t take fashion or herself too seriously and is anywhere between 20 and 60 years old (our moms wear it!). The universe of La Femme Apero is a complete lifestyle, it’s about an attitude more than an outfit. That’s why we are expanding in categories like jewelry, candles, and accessories. Age is nothing but a number, especially when it comes to those products. She wants to be chic but doesn’t want to spend energy and time overthinking what she wears. She likes to dress up but would never overdress, and she likes a versatile piece, easy to dress up or down. She is conscious about how she acts and purchases regarding the environment, so sustainability is on her radar. She wants to be unique, so she likes the idea of small production and limited editions that comes with eco-responsibility.
What is your design process?
Development is a much longer process than people think! We start by pulling inspiration for the new season, looking at old shows, movies we love or our favorite fashion icons, putting together a general theme. Then, we pick the fabrics (deadstock or eco-certified qualities) that work to convey the idea of the theme. Once we have that, we get into the sketching part. There is a lot of discussion about which pieces to design. We strongly feel like our work is to build a wardrobe of fun and chic essentials, so we must edit in a smart way. Once we have landed the styles, we get into the technical part and we build tech packs for each garment. Tech packs are precise instructions and measurements that we send to the factory so they can start making a physical garment. It always takes a few tries to get it right: first we see prototypes in a sub fabric, then fit it on a model to make corrections. The sample is then made in the chosen fabric. That’s the most exciting part! It is always incredible to see a paper sketch come to life.
How do you come up with your designs?
We think about the women we dress, what they would want and need to feel sexy and chic. It’s’ not about fashion trends when we design. We think about versatility, what is timeless but not boring, what is the essence of an easy wardrobe? What’s a piece that you can wear over and over again, and always feel beautiful and like yourself in it? Capturing the vision of La Femme Apéro is our main focus, and we look to transcend it with what feels new and exciting, simple, but modern.
How do you practice sustainability at La Femme Apéro?
For us, it’s about reducing waste and toxic emissions, helping other small and women-owned businesses, and preventing waste. For our 2nd drop, we used all deadstock fabrics, sourced in NYC. We are basically buying leftovers from other companies and re-using them, instead of letting them go to waste. Everything was sourced and made locally in NYC, and we transported all the goods ourselves. People tend to forget that transportation and shipping can be very polluting. We produced the first collection in very small quantities to prevent ending up with too many unsold items that would need to be discarded and for our upcoming season, we move to a pre-order production model, meaning we will only produce what is ordered by customers and shops, no extras! Moving forward, we will introduce recycled and eco-certified qualities as well.
What are your future goals for La Femme Apéro?
We are working on creating a lifestyle and expanding the universe of La Femme Apéro. The way we see it, it is truly a way of life. We also want to be true to ourselves, and create what makes sense to us, so we are really open to what comes next and to see what life throws at us, especially after this crazy year! Our plan is to keep creating, making meaningful pieces, and to have fun doing it. We are discussing how to expand our accessories line, and we are dreaming about adding a beauty line, maybe starting with a lipstick…
