MM.LaFleur
- M.M. LaFleur is a cult-favorite women's workwear company that makes luxurious but functional clothes for busy women.
- 70% of their clients are repeat customers.
- The Foster Pant is their highest-earning style, and we got a chance to try them out. Not only are they extremely comfortable, but they have a concealed button that adjusts the hem, so you can wear them with heels or flats within seconds.
Women's workwear is in a heyday of evolution.
One landmark company in the emerging movement is MM. LaFleur - a cult-favorite using functional and luxurious materials and delivering on the sort of understated elegance that head designer (and Zac Posen veteran) Miyako Nakamura is so adept at producing.
Recently, they sent us their Foster Pant to test. They're machine-washable and made from a thick Italian-cotton blend that's designed to strike a balance between stretch and structure. It's a cigarette leg that feels fitted without crossing the line into too tight for the office. And, it's got an inventive perk: a concealed button in the hem that allows you to adjust the length from high to low. The button is unobtrusive, and it's a game-changer for petite women or those who want to switch from heels to flats without switching pants.
You can read our thoughts below, but overall, we loved them for their comfort, versatility, and their flattering yet professional design.
The Foster Pant is their first pant style, and for the second year in a row, it's also been the highest-earning style in the company - earning millions from a notoriously difficult demographic to please. Women's workwear is plagued by a phenomenon of fast fashion and trends that, understandably, see a high turnover rate. Instead of spending the amount of money projected as necessary to make more luxurious and better-fitting clothes for women overall, most retailers are happy to continue doing business as usual.
But what new workwear companies like M.M. LaFleur and Citizen's Mark are betting on is that women do not want fast fashion for work. They do not want trends. They want comfort, elegance, and professionalism to coincide, and they want their workwear to actually make their lives easier. They want the same aura of credibility as a really great suit creates, and they likely want to spend less time in a dressing room to find it.
This ethos has turned out well for the brand. Over 70% of M.M. LaFleur's customers are returning clients, thanks to the "Bento Box" experience. Instead of forcing busy, working women to come to their stores in order to realize how great their clothes are, M.M. LaFleur offers a comprehensive questionnaire to learn about you, assigns a stylist to your case who picks out four to six wardrobe staples they think you'll love, and then sends you a box of those items to try on in the comfort of your home. You can pack up what you don't want and schedule a UPS pick-up to grab it. They'll only charge you for what you keep, and it's not a subscription service.
Not only are they addressing a lapse in the market (comfortable, machine-washable, elegant workwear), but they're doing it with notable fanfare.
You can read our individual thoughts on the pants below, or shop them directly here.
The Foster Pant, MM. LaFleur, $195 currently comes in six colors: black, chocolate, dark navy, dark spruce, monsoon, russet, and saddle, and a variety of inclusive sizes.
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