Fashion that creates spaces for everyone, no matter what size you wear

Andréanne Mulaire Dandeneau is Anne Mulaire, or just “Anne”. She is an award-winning Canadian fashion designer of Métis descent. Her goal is to empower the women who wear her clothing.

Her company is also Anne Mulaire. Championing fair trade and sustainable fashion, this company designs, makes, sews and sells award-winning fashions.

Anne talks about the need to pivot during COVID-19 and to increase the online side of the business, as well as how important it was to adjust the design part of her business. She says that truly sustainable fashion creates spaces for everyone—no matter what size you wear. She set out to create “a better fit for a better world”. It can be challenging, she says, but seeing the need and adjusting to it is part of being an entrepreneur.

Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD)’s support helped Anne Mulaire hire more staff and expand to new markets.

Transcript: Fashion that creates spaces for everyone, no matter what size you wear

[music]

(Text on screen: Anne Mulaire logo)

(ANDRÉANNE DANDENEAU, OWNER/DESIGNER, ANNE MULAIRE DESIGNS)  My name is Andréanne Dandeneau, and I am the CEO and designer for Anne Mulaire.

(Interior scene of Anne Mulaire Boutique)

(ANDRÉANNE DANDENEAU) So, Anne Mulaire Design is a women’s clothing line that is produced here in Winnipeg, and we champion fair trade and sustainable fabrics. We are basically a vertical company. We make, we design, we sew and we sell our own clothing.

(Scenes of the Boutique and sewing room)

(ANDRÉANNE DANDENEAU) I used to be a contemporary dancer, and so when I started doing costumes for my troupe, it really gave me the idea for design.

(Scenes of the Boutique)

(ANDRÉANNE DANDENEAU - voiceover) So, I started getting injured because I was dancing too much. At the end I decided to go and pursue my dream of being a designer, so I moved to Montreal and I went to finish my school in Collège LaSalle. It took 4 years and then I came back to Winnipeg.

(Scenes of the Boutique sewing room)

(ANDÉANNE DANDENEAU) I also use my heritage stories in my designs. So for, like you see with this print, we use different Indigenous prints. They all have a really nice story, because for me it’s important to tell the story of our Indigenous people across Canada, and I’ve always believed fashion is also history, and people need to understand, and… yeah, it’s beautiful!

(Scenes of the Boutique)

(ANDREANNE DANDENEAU) I feel very strongly about sustainability in the fashion industry because at this point, it’s not a choice, but it’s actually a need.

(Scenes of the Boutique and sewing room)

(ANDRÉANNE DANDENEAU - voiceover) We all have to make our part to be sustainable and to just actually consume less and take care of our planet.

(ANDRÉANNE DANDENEAU) The support from WD Canada has helped us immensely with the growth of the company, and it has allowed us to actually hire more employees.

(Scenes of the Boutique)

(ANDRÉANNE DANDENEAU) It has been very interesting running a company throughout the pandemic.

(Scenes of the boutique)

(ANDRÉANNE DANDENEAU - voiceover) We definitely had to pivot very quickly. But that, as an entrepreneur, you kind of learn to do that often when things have to shift. We were set up fairly well with our online, which was really good because everything went online. But definitely in the design part, I had to change my collections, understand what the needs were. So, kind of go back to the drawing board and figure out what the next demands were.

(Scenes of the boutique and sewing room)

(ANDRÉANNE DANDENEAU) You hear this over and over with other women entrepreneurs: it’s the challenge with the men in the industry. As a woman of course, I’m not always taken seriously. So, negotiating – for the first part of my career, I had to have my dad do a lot of negotiating with my suppliers. And that doesn't feel the best because, you know, this is something I’m professional in, but yet my voice is too small. So, that has always been a challenge.

(Scenes of the Boutique sewing room)

(ANDRÉANNE DANDENEAU) So the social media campaign is called “A better fit for a better world.” And it’s all about creating better fashion for all women.

(WD wordmark)

(Canada wordmark)

[Music stops]