EMMYDEVEAUX started with a problem I couldn't seem to solve.
I was a curvy woman with a career that had me travelling constantly. I needed clothes that could keep up. Pieces I could wear on a flight, into a meeting, out for dinner and again the next day. I wanted to look polished without being uncomfortable. I wanted structure without restriction. I wanted clothes that worked with my body instead of asking my body to work for them.
And I couldn't find them.
Before founding EMMYDEVEAUX, I spent more than 20 years working in retail and business strategy, including serving as Executive Director of the University of Alberta's School of Retailing and Centre for Real Estate. I built my career studying customers, understanding why they buy and helping businesses build better experiences around them.
But when I became the customer, I saw a gap.
So in 2018, I designed the clothes I wanted to wear.
Designed as the customer.
EMMYDEVEAUX has never been about designing clothes simply because they're fashionable.
Every piece starts with a question:
Will I actually wear this?
Does it work with the pieces already in my closet?
Can I sit in it? Travel in it? Work in it? Live in it?
Does the fabric feel good against my body?
Does the waist hit where a woman's waist actually is?
Does the shoulder create the right shape?
Can I wear it three different ways?
Will I still reach for it years from now?
If the answer isn't yes, we keep working.
That philosophy has created what our customers know EMMYDEVEAUX for: exceptional fabrics, thoughtful fit, strong shoulders, considered waistlines and deceptively simple pieces that do an enormous amount of work.
We call them wardrobe workhorses.
The best piece in your closet isn't necessarily the one everyone notices.
It's the one you reach for constantly.
The blazer that makes a T-shirt and jeans look finished. The perfect black pant. The T-shirt you buy again because nothing else fits quite like it. The jacket that travels beautifully. The piece you throw on when you have five minutes to get dressed and still want to feel like yourself.
Those are the clothes we want to make.
Not more clothes.
Better ones.
Pieces worthy of the space they take up in your closet.
Built differently from the beginning.
We've always believed the customer should have a voice in what gets made.
That's why we created FUNDIT in 2019, our internal crowdfunding and pre-order program. Customers purchase new designs before production, helping us understand real demand before we manufacture. To date, more than $5 million in EMMYDEVEAUX product has been sold through FUNDIT.
And when an EMMYDEVEAUX piece is no longer working for you, we want it back.
Our BUYBACK program, first introduced in 2020, allows customers to return gently used EMMYDEVEAUX pieces in exchange for store credit. We wash, inspect and resell them, extending the life of clothing that was designed to last in the first place. More than $250,000 in previously loved EMMYDEVEAUX clothing has already found a new home.
Pre-retail. Post-retail. And a lot less guessing in between.
Eight years later, the idea hasn't changed.
EMMYDEVEAUX has grown from an idea I had because I couldn't find the clothes I needed into a Canadian brand worn by women who expect a lot from their wardrobes.
Women with careers. Women with businesses. Women with kids and dogs and flights to catch and dinners to get to. Women whose bodies aren't mannequins. Women who don't want to think that hard about getting dressed.
Because your clothes should be doing the work.
You have enough to do.
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