We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Shelby Mittleman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Shelby below.

Alright, Shelby thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

Founded in 2018, Madammí was created to empower individuals through fashion pieces that can be found from our boutique that houses handmade pieces as well as industry favorite trends. My journey with fashion started at a young age from learning how to sew from my Grammy, and then in later years putting my own unique touch to clothing by customizing tshirts, and cutting up jeans. I was always drawn to fashion and started out as a wardrobe stylist, styling people throughout my college years so when a friend of mine told me about a boutique she wanted to start she wanted me to assist her in styling her models and content branding for her line. A couple of months after revealing her new venture my friend passed away, so Madammí was created in dedication of my friend in hopes that her dreams can live on through me. I always knew that when I started my own clothing line I wanted it to be a single word and one day be recognized alongside the fashion houses of Chanel, Dior, Versace and so many other high end designers, so when the name finally came to me I just knew this was the name that would be recognized and rise to its potential in years to come. It was also important for me to in some way incorporate my friend into the brand and I did so by including part of her nickname “Mimi” into the name Madammí (Madam-Mí).

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Shelby Mittleman, and I am the owner of Madammí, an online women’s boutique where our mission is to make you feel empowered, one layer of clothing at a time. Growing up I would spend a lot of time with my Grammy in the summers, so watching her use her sewing machine really intrigued me, so one summer I asked her to teach me how to sew and gave up rather quickly because she wanted to teach me the basics, but I just wanted to fast forward and start using the sewing machine.

By my peers, I was always viewed as fashionable and having a unique style, so by the time I was in high school and could purchase most of my clothes I really started to create a fashion identity for myself. I was a go to person in high school for anyone who wanted customized t-shirts with paint, distressed jeans, or if someone needed help in putting together an outfit, I was the girl that could make a vision come to life. After high school, I went on to study Accounting at The University of South Florida where I would go to school full time, work my regular job, in addition to offering styling services, being booked as a creative director for photoshoots, and modeling for local fashion shows, and modeling for local photographers. Being known as a stylist within the Tampa Bay area, a childhood friend of mine reached out and wanted to start planning to work together on her clothing line she would soon be releasing and wanted me to be a stylist for her brand. My childhood friend Miani Daniels passed away in the summer of 2014, and her passing fueled me to make sure her dream of having a clothing line released came to fruition, so I started incorporating her nickname “Mimi” into hashtags of styling work I was doing by hash tagging #Stylesbymí or #Madebymí to build awareness of the future clothing brand I would soon release.

Once receiving my bachelor’s in accounting, I landed a career in my profession by working for one of the Big Four accounting firms, but my goal was still set on coming out with a clothing line. I finally resonated with a name to call my fashion line and “Madammí” was born. In the fall of 2018, I released my first collection which was a combination of custom handmade items and trendy pieces. Since launching my business I’ve been involved with local pop-up shops and fashion shows within the Tampa Bay area. In 2019, I took a pause from my business as I had just moved to Dallas and wanted to focus on getting settled in and shift back into a student role as I went back to school to get my MBA with a focus in accounting at the University of North Texas at Dallas. In March of 2020, despite being a full-time student, and still working for a Big Four accounting firm, I started back creating and rebranding Madammí, and in the fall of 2020 I released a custom line of corsets I designed.

Since rebranding, I’ve been constantly coming out with new inventory while making sure each piece represents what Madammí is all about which is “Making you feel empowered, one layer of clothing at a time”. Today Madammí is primarily online and operates out of Dallas, TX. We also have a storefront presence at one of the local boutiques (Project 1919) back in Tampa, FL. My hope for Madammí is to expand the brand’s presence in Dallas and really make Madammí a household name everywhere and to expand and feature Madammí in multiple storefronts in the near future.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I know some people get loans and business credit cards to fund their business, but I funded my business by using my own money I saved up from bartending on the weekends. I started small, so for my first launch I had logo tshirts made, some pieces from wholesale websites, and for my handbags I used recycled denim from various thrift stores. My launch party was successful, so I used the money from that event to reinvest in my business and from there I just kept building my business.

We’d really appreciate if you could talk to us about how you figured out the manufacturing process.

For custom pieces I find it best to go the manufacturing route so my designs can truly be executed how I envisioned them. For my first manufacturer I did extensive research on a manufacturer that made custom corsets. Corsets can be a timeless wardrobe piece, so I wanted to incorporate that concept but throw my own style to it by adding designs to the corsets so they can be worn as a fashion statement piece. One piece of advice that I would give to anyone looking for a manufacturer is to identify what items you are looking to manufacture and request samples of work to be delivered before buying in bulk. My manufacturer was excellent at corsets, and I loved every sample that was sent but for other styles of clothing I wanted to try different manufacturers and be more hands on, so I wanted to find US based manufacturers as I got more into designing because I wanted more hands on experience with fabrics and textures that I would consider for future collections.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.madammi.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shop.madammi
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/shop.madammi
• Other: Email: [email protected]

Image Credits
Chris Holbrook Tyree Anderson