Why we named the brand “Moi-Même”

Choosing a name for the company was our first significant challenge. Dawn Verbrigghe, the founder, organized a focus group of friends and asked them to help select a name that reflected the confidence and grace of professional women. Above all, the name needed to suggest that the customer could participate in the design of her own garments to reflect something essential about herself. At last, just as the final cucumber sandwich had been plucked off the plate, the group arrived at Moi-Même (mwa-MEM), which means “myself” in French. Our brand name is evocative of the personal nature of our service, where each garment is specially tailored for an individual, unique woman.

About the Founder
Dawn serves as a frequent guest speaker on the topics of entrepreneurship and design management. A graduate of the University of Michigan School of Art + Design and Columbia Business School, she is also an adjunct faculty member in the Design and Management program at Parsons The New School for Design. Dawn lives in New York City with her spirited tuxedo cat, Jackson.

Every woman's wardrobe should be just as smart as she is.

From this simple notion -- that professional women deserve workplace attire that expresses their own confidence and grace -- we developed our collection of custom-tailored clothing.

How We Got Started

The idea for Moi-Même was conceived in 2006 by Dawn Verbrigghe, a businesswoman who needed a few well-fitted suits for client meetings, but was simply too tall to wear pre-hemmed pants. Unwilling to sport a skirt through a frigid New York winter, she set out to buy a tailored pant suit, but found the options limited. Not only was the fit poor, but the garments lacked the fabric quality and smart tailoring details she found in menswear. Dispirited, Dawn asked her friends where to find a great suit and they all told her the same thing, “I don’t know, but when you find out, come back and tell me!”

Drawing upon her career in design and management, Dawn found a way to adapt menswear practices to address the unique body proportions and preferences of women, developing a made-to-measure solution to the problem of ill-fitting career attire for professional women.

Looking Ahead

We strive to help women feel confident in the workplace by delivering well-fitted, stylish and office-appropriate clothing. We seek to become the professional woman’s preferred brand for career attire and to do so in way that is convenient for our time-crunched customers and respectful to our staff, suppliers, community and the environment.

As our customers ascend in their own careers, we will continue to grow with them -- hoping to play a supporting role in their success.