Marie Dewet from MaisonCleo: A Conversation

We caught up with Marie Dewet, from the mother-daughter team behind France’s most coveted handmade clothing. Each garment is made to order, all done by hand, and has been seen on the likes of Em Ratajkowski, Man Repeller and more.

1. Tell us about the process with your clothes - where do you source your fabrics from, and how long do the handmade garments take to make?

All our fabrics are completely natural, and sourced within France. We use deadstocks from couture houses, or from sur-production. My mum can make a piece in one hour to four and a half hours, and we make sure all the details about the fabrics and the time of making are mentioned in each product’s description.

2. What’s it like making everything by hand, and is it difficult to compete against the giant fast fashion houses?

I dont feel like there’s a competition at all because we have nothing in common with the big fashion houses, like Zara for example. I personally think very carefully about what I buy, and I would never buy anything from those larger fashion houses. I buy a lot of second hand items as well as pieces from handmade brands like us. I feel like people don’t think about what goes into the price point behind something really cheap, like pants for $10 or a top for $5.

I also don’t feel like we’re in competition with other handmade or artisanal brands, in fact, on the contrary, I’m more than happy to see that there are more and more handmade brands created these days - it makes me so happy that the world and consumers are reacting to that.

3. You have a very unique mother-daughter team, what made you want to start MaisonCleo together?

My mother has sewn since she was fourteen and I studied communication in fashion we it was the perfect match. About a year ago I was fed up about all the new brands that used synthetic fabrics and outsourced their production, so I started to ask my mum to do some one-off silk pieces to start.

We didn't think that people would like the brand a lot, but we continued and I am so proud to now have all these wonderful customers who really care about what they buy and support a very, very small brand like us.

4. How does the e-shop work?

As my mum is the only seamstress, the e-shop opens once a week on Wednesday at 6.30pm Paris time and 12.30pm Nyc time. Approximately 20 to 25 pieces are available each week as that’s the maximum my mum can make.

5. Who do you have in mind when you're designing MaisonCleo clothes?

All types of natural and beautiful girls I see in day to day life or on Instagram who inspire me.

6. In your opinion, what do you think makes a woman stylish?

Her attitude!