The triumph of soft linen

The values of buying locally, sustainably and environmentally friendly that have seen a resurgence during the pandemic have worked in their favour. Their niche too: they create comfortable sportswear, commonly known as “soft linen” (including their famous leggings made from 80% recycled bottles) that are so popular when working from home. In the first month, they sold out of their entire inventory. They then quadrupled their production and added 16 new members to the team. “As meditation and yoga enthusiasts who co-authored a book on slow living , it was clear that we didn’t want to become unhappy and stressed out in that,” says Madeleine, co-creator of a meditation app . “So we looked to our network for people who were successful in their field.”

The solution to stay on track with their mission: increasingly detach themselves from communications and social media management to think about future collections, colors and cuts. “We don’t do fast fashion , but timeless,” says Madeleine. Maxime is very passionate about new textiles or textiles of the future. In particular, we created a bag made from pineapple “leather”. We have also just launched glasses made from biodegradable cellulose acetate. We are trying to find eco-responsible options for everyday products.”

Create, innovate, recycle

Innovation is therefore at the heart of their approach. “Our choices of materials are limited and very expensive. Eco-responsible manufacturers can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Very often, we only have one supplier option. So we learn to build despite the obstacles.”

Being a zero-waste company also comes with its share of challenges. “It’s much more complicated to find what to do with the scraps of fabric than to throw them in the trash!” exclaims Madeleine. “We don’t make money from this recycling, but we care about it. We don’t want to create more waste on earth. When we created Rose Buddha, we knew we would create products, but we really encourage our customers to only buy them when they need them.” The fabric scraps therefore become pocket linings, bralettes, headbands or jewelry. And the remaining scraps are recovered by another company that makes baskets.

In slow mode

With their ethical and caring values, Madeleine and Maxime embody slowpreneurship at its best. “At Rose Buddha, we never start before 9:30 a.m. and we never finish after 3:30 p.m. when the kids come home from school,” says Madeleine. “We organize ourselves to work within those hours. Maxime and I founded Rose Buddha to have control over our lives and our inner well-being. Obviously, the company is expanding less quickly, but for us, working 75 hours a week was out of the question.”

The vision of the two partners, who participated in Dans l'œil du Dragon and Dragon's Den , sometimes clashes with that of the mentors who want to propel them. "Often, they have the reflex to want to get us into every store in Canada," says the woman whose sales are mainly online. "However, our profit margin is not big enough with retail stores. We are open, but not at all costs."

In addition to slowpreneurship, the two entrepreneurs also endorse the philosophy of Buddhist Economics , which Madeleine Arcand, who studied Buddhist scriptures at Harvard, sums up as follows: "We cannot do business to the detriment of the planet or people in vulnerable positions. Businesses must be ethical. Success is not measured by money, but by one's level of happiness and that of others."