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MM.LaFleur is a company that makes purposeful clothes for professional women. Instead of following trends, head designer Miyako Nakamura, of former Zac Posen fame, focuses on improving upon timeless cuts with subtle “life-hack like” tricks made from pragmatic, high-quality materials that women will want to wear for their 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. work schedule.
However, the je ne sais quoi that makes MM.LaFleur special is hard to convey in 2D images — designs are understated, exceptionally smart and comfortable, and look flattering on a diverse range of bodies. There’s something smarter that you can’t put a thumb on but keeps you coming back.
Every business wants to make money, and while some companies might be relieved that fewer people are trying on clothes before buying them, MM.LaFleur is striving for the opposite — aiming to get more and more prospective customers into their clothes before buying anything at all — precisely because they know how well they perform in person. Instead of buying billboards and airtime to convince shoppers, MM.LaFleur is trying to get them into their clothes so that the designs can do the convincing. Not only does this make everyone happier, but it’s a much more sustainable route to gaining (very) loyal customers.
For this reason, they offer a Bento Box as a way of getting to know the clothes — a box of 4-6 wardrobe staples that a personal MM.LaFleur stylist picks out for you based off a questionnaire you take on your office dress code, preferences, and price range. You can try on the pieces at home, keep what you like, and ship the rest back for free. You’re only charged for what you keep, and it’s not a subscription service.
Like their clothes, MM.LaFleur’s success has been impressive without being ostentatious or even overtly self-promotional. One of their dresses, the Etsuko, earned them $ 3 million dollars in revenue alone (a cool $ 1 million coming from the dress in black). It sold out and was restocked over 20 times.
The “jardigan” (a structured yet soft blazer-cardigan hybrid cooked up in the MM lab) has garnered similar adoration across-the-board. The Sant Ambroeus Jardigan (2013) has earned $ 3.4 million, while The Woolf Jardigan (2015) is closing in on $ 3 million.
What’s so special about this one workwear piece that so many women tried it on at home and independently decided that it was one thing that they just couldn’t send back — especially when it doesn’t come cheap at $ 195?
The jardigan solves one of the problems that MM.LaFleur itself addresses on a wider scale as a line: It brings polished professional wear into the realm of comfort. Cardigans are soft but lack sufficient structure and blazers offer structure but lack sufficient softness. The jardigan gives you both without asking you to give anything up.
Its resume includes: removable shoulder pads, wrinkle-resistant fabric, working well with virtually any silhouette, and lastly, looking like a suit jacket on first glance. It is stretchy, low-maintenance, and comfortable, but it still executes the sharpness of a stuffy blazer.
Which is likely why The Sant Ambroeus has incurred wait lists as long as 850 people.
As MM.LaFleur would like to prove, it’s possible to get all the career perks of restrictive, traditional clothes while wearing something that feels as forgiving as a pair of sweatpants. If you’re going to be completing marathon days at the office, why not be comfortable? And why look any less elegant in order to be so?
Thankfully, you can try it out for yourself before deciding if it’s worth your investment. If you want to try more of the line or see what an MM.LaFleur stylist would pick out for you, you can sign up for a Bento Box here — and you can even request that a jardigan be included.
If you’ve been around the Bento Box block or just want to get your hands on the $ 6 million blazer-cardigan hybrid, you can grab The Sant Ambroeus Jardigan here and The Woolf Jardigan here for $ 195, respectively.
MM.LaFleur, The Sant Ambroeus Jardigan, $ 195
MM.LaFleur, The Woolf Jardigan, $ 195
