Local, ethical, authentic and transparent

At Marigold , a sleek workshop-boutique with profusely lit white walls, the pieces are arranged by shade, and you can tell just by the touch that it's high-end quality. The price too, although not without reason. You only have to take a look at the label. And it's a far cry from the little square price tag : here, the price reads like a book and is broken down as follows: the material, the cut, the sewing and the creation, but also the number of pieces in the collection and the operational, manufacturing and raw material costs.

“Price transparency is one of my core values. It helps us understand where we come from. Every day, I take the time to raise consumer awareness; that’s the advantage of having a store and direct contacts,” assures the owner of the place, which has had a storefront in Verdun for two years.

The artistic director launched her first line from her small workshop in 2013 and distributed it to several points of sale across the country. Previously, she had worked in the industry, a question of moving up the ladder. "But it disgusted me! Phew, every season, a fashion... The overproduction of clothing can no longer continue.

I advocate slow fashion, a local, ethical fashion, far from disposable, which recognizes the work of the entire production chain. Here, we give a new life to all the cutting scraps and no clothing is thrown away. If there is ever an alteration in the product, the customer brings it back and we repair it! », says the boss.

A bit like Lila Rousselet , who with her company Montloup is making a name for responsible fashion, Marilyne is very passionate about the subject. Textile fiber runs naturally through her veins. Her grandmother, a hatter, had annexed a shop to her house when she found herself widowed with her three children. She had rolled up her sleeves and made wedding dresses. Marilyne's father, a hunter-trapper, had taught his daughter to sew mittens by hand in fur. "I've had a needle between my fingers since I was very young. I sewed dresses for my dolls. I always knew I would do fashion design. I dreamed of being the Coco Chanel of Quebec! At the age of seven, I was in a sewing school. And I made my first wedding dress at sixteen." It is therefore no coincidence that Marilyne studied fashion design at Cégep Marie-Victorin, specializing in fur, and at the École supérieure de mode at UQAM, nor that she began her first collection with luxury fur and wool coats, for which she is recognized in the industry.

Socially responsible and committed

In addition to having deeply rooted values on which to base her business, Marilyne decided to push further. “Whatever people say, fashion is still a bit frivolous… In fact, we could all wear uniforms! But I know that behind the clothes we wear, there is a question of identity, culture, feeling good about ourselves. So to have a better conscience, I also want to be socially responsible. So I donate one dollar for each item of clothing sold to the local community foundation, Le Book humanitaire ".

Marilyne may work in the flashy world, but she remains far from artifice. We can feel her heart close to her. “Ukraine! I felt so powerless… What can I do? One evening, I called José and Rosa, my little couple of printers. Instead of Fait à Montréal pour de vrai , I told them we were going to write La guerre, c'est non! It’s my way of contributing. I sent them a batch of 80 bamboo t-shirts that were going to wholesale, already cut and ready to sew. In a week, everything had been delivered. There’s a second batch coming. I’ve sold 250 to date, and it’s still going.”

Marilyne doesn’t take any cuts on the $40 that the product costs. It’s seven dollars for making the t-shirt, five for the fabric, one and a half for cutting, three for screen printing, plus operating costs and shipping. In total, twenty dollars in expenses. And she donates the other twenty directly to the Red Cross. Which just goes to show that even small businesses with no apparent connection to the conflict can take a stand and find a way to have an impact. Maybe she can even inspire others…