Story of our Brand-From the IT Crowd to Suits
My name is Laide and I am the founder and creative director for Style and Suit.
Style and Suit is an online clothing brand that specialises in ready to wear tailored suits for women and it was officially launched in March 2020.
I don’t have a professional background in fashion but like many women I adore and love fashion. I had the idea for my clothing line many years ago. At the time, It was a thought that came to me through my own experiences of trying to find that perfect classy but trendy suit.
I’ve always loved clothes that are classic and timeless in design. I also love rich, sophisticated and feminine colours and suits are one of my favourite styles. Skirt suits, shorts suits, trouser suits, dress suits, jumpsuits etc. Wearing a suit makes me feel very confident and powerful but I also like to exude femininity when I wear suits. This is why I tend to look for suits in rich, feminine and vibrant fabrics. Yes, a plain black or grey suit is nice, but I like a suit that can go from day to night wear easily. And I don't want a suit that mainly conveys one message like “professional career woman”. I like a suit that says “classy, chic, stylish, sophisticated, vibrant, confident bossbabe!” Like you can do anything. I really do feel like that when I put on a stylish suit. You really feel that sophistication with style.
But like I mentioned earlier, it’s always a difficult task to find that perfect suit. Either you go around hunting and perusing every high street store or searching online or you get a bespoke one which is great sometimes but can also be expensive and tailors don't always get it right.
Often, I’d see women looking really good in suits from high street stores and have a tailored fit. My issue is that whenever I purchase the same suit it usually doesn’t look as fitted on me. So, this suit sits in my wardrobe for many years with the intention of taking it to a tailor for adjustments which never happens!
This is how I came up with the idea to have a clothing brand like style and suit. At the time it was just an idea, yes, I loved fashion, but I had no aspirations to become a fashion designer. I actually studied computer science at University and I danced professionally alongside my degree and early in my career in IT. I did try to pursue a career in dance after graduating from uni but unfortunately that didn’t happen. After going on a few auditions and going through a personal tragedy I kind of gave up and just focused on my professional career. Then I got married, had kids and dance just became more and more of a pastime.
It was when I was on maternity leave after having my second child in 2018 that the suit idea came back to me again. I was coming across pictures of women wearing really nice tailored fit suits. This ignited my idea and inspired me to do some research on designs, fabrics, tailors and so on. Research then led to making contacts with fashion houses, suppliers etc. Yes, it has been quite a scary and challenging journey and I had to learn a lot along the way and still learning!
My collections are based on the different types of fabric used. Currently I have two fabric collections called Candy Plaid and City Lights collection which I also launched in March 2020 .
The fabrics are really high quality and each suit is individually handmade. I wanted the suits to be also interesting, so Style and Suit is about that vibrant sophistication and elegance. We have vibrant fabrics, stylish designs with classic cuts and chic and trendy tailored fit. You may only be wearing a suit, but you’ll walk in a room and all heads will turn.
You’ll also be able to mix and match your suit styles from each collection. The suit styles are all designed to complement each other in each collection. So, for example from the Candy plaid collection, you can pair a skirt with the different blazers in the same collection. As long as each garment is from the same collection, they’ll fit together to give you your perfect suit style.
The fabric collection is also limited so once a fabric is finished, it most likely will not be restocked in order to limit mass production. The upside is that at style and suit the suit styles can be reproduced but in another fabric collection. So, if you find your perfect suit style but not really feeling the fabric for any reason like colour or texture you will have another option of seeing the same suit style in a different fabric which hopefully will be to your taste.
What I also love about the fabrics is that it will allow you to pair the garments with something else from your wardrobe. You can easily wear the blazers with a plain pair of trousers or jeans and pair our cigarette trousers, pleated skirt or shorts with a plain tank top and blazer. All garments can be purchased individually.
I just love how dynamic the suits are. You can easily go from day to night depending on how you dress it up. You can be formal, professional, casual or glam with it. Just very versatile.
My goal with each design was that they had a perfect tailored fit and hopefully no major adjustments will be necessary after purchase. And also at affordable prices compared to what you’ll get for the same suit if you went to a tailor. I want suits to be a staple in women’s wardrobe for any occasion. Basically, whatever your style or occasion, there is a suit for you!
