Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Molly Piccirilli. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Molly, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

After living a life between urban Paris and tranquil Sydney, I found myself increasingly drawn to comfortable, yet elegant sleepwear and loungewear that mirrored my lifestyle of working and mothering 3 children. I saw a gap in the market—a lack of sleepwear that combined luxurious fabrics with practical & chic designs suitable for relaxing at home in style.

A turning point came when we relocated to Los Angeles, and I saw an opportunity to bring my vision to life. While there were many sleepwear brands, none quite captured the quality, comfort and practical functionality that I envisioned. One day I just bought some fabric, found a seamstress and made my first night gown. I loved how the product turned out and decided to make 10. My kids local public school was doing it’s first Holiday market and I decided to try my luck there. I sold them all and decided to do it for real.
I made about 7 samples of all different robes and nightgowns, photographed them and did a kickstarter campaign. The hardest part of starting any business is cash flow. It made sense to me that I could put it out there and friends and family could pre order a piece at a discount and I would be able to not only have the product out there but also raise the money to do my first production run. I’m not going to say it was seamless, because it was not at all. It was a huge learning curve, but I did it and the response was great! To this day, that first run of nightgowns and robes are still my favorite pieces because I think I was at my most creative and free thinking because I wasn’t yet aware of what a balancing act it was to run a small business. A mentor at the time said to me-really really enjoy the creating and designing process and take your time because the rest of it is a real hustle. He was so right!

Molly, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a Minnesota native, and I travelled the world working as a model living between NYC, London and Paris until meeting my husband in Sydney and settling there for 7 years and starting a family.

I already had lots of experience in fashion from working as a model and I also did fitting work for Gucci and other brands and it was there that I really learned about the making of clothes. Most of my fashion career was in front of the camera, but if you listen and watch there was so much to learn about every other creative process within.

I launched in 2017 with my signature nightgowns the Sophia and the Lilly. Since then I have expanded my line to include pjs, robes, jumpsuits, elegant slips, undies, loungewear and dresses –

I wanted every piece to provide women with a feeling of elegance, empowerment and a feminine touch. I wanted to bring back a little feeling of the old world where women wore pretty things to sleep and felt pretty in the home, but I also wanted it to be simple and easy. Being a mother and at home a lot, that was something I wanted to give myself. I have found that women do feel so much more empowered when the take time for themselves and sleep or lounge in something pretty and breathable. They wake feeling good and carry that throughout the day. Sometimes women will say, oh I don’t have someone to wear this for and I say “I don’t make pieces for other people, I make it for you”

Molly Pepper is a California made Sleep-Lounge-Lifestyle brand that was born from a love of nature, travel, beautiful sleepwear, clothing and textiles.

Designed and produced in Los Angeles, our fabrics are meticulously hand picked and made from the finest silks, beautiful French milled fabrics and French lace.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

In fashion, you are beholden to seasons. I decided to do it different. I did not want the stress of seasons, I wanted my brand to be season less. I wanted to make pieces that were timeless and to me it is a much more sustainable process. Many people said I couldn’t do it that way and that stores would always want the latest styles and the new seasons prints. So I decided ok, I wont sell to stores then. I feel like this is the only reason I have been able to keep going. Theres so many highs and lows I decided to step out of the race and do it my way. I also had a theory that when you love sleeping in something, you wear it to death and then need another one. Most of my customers return for the same style or for something in the same fabric. And when the time feels right I add a new style or new print.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I have definitely had to pivot over the last few years. People are spending less, especially
less on luxury items within a small business realm. Also the prices of fabrics and sewing have all gone up, yet I have lowered the prices on my pieces. I have also added products other than sleepwear made by other small businesses to my website. I sell beautiful socks and slippers, blankets and some jewelry made by other artisans. It gives people the opportunity to buy smaller items for themselves or as gifts and spreads the love to other wonderful makers.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://molly-pepper.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/molly__pepper/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mollypepperlifestyle

Image Credits

All photos by Michael Piccirilli