Founders Project Best Dressed

No.326

Michelle DeLoach

REVELRY

Three-year growth 1,423.4% | 2018 revenue $3.8M Austin | Founded in 2009

- Marli Guzzetta

Inc. 500 alum and savvy e-tailer Sarah LaFleur of M.M.LaFleur mentors Revelry founder Michelle DeLoach, who runs a wedding wear startup that cracked this year’s Inc. 500.

To commemorate Inc.’s 40th anniversary, we’re matching 40 aspiring founders with 40 experienced mentors for the Founders Project. Our mentor in this issue, Sarah LaFleur, was once a recent Harvard graduate and jetsetting associate at a private equity firm who worked on luxury goods deals. She always felt underwhelmed by her clothing options—but of course she would be: LaFleur was raised by a mother who sported Parisian suits and worked in fashion.

So LaFleur ditched the cosseted world of private equity to channel her enmity for “frumpy pantsuits” into the women’s workwear startup M.M.LaFleur. Named after her mother, M.M.LaFleur puts Japanese and Italian fabrics in the hands of pedigreed designers to create tailored women’s suits and separates. The direct-to-consumer brand launched in New York City in 2013, but found its groove a year later with the Bento Box—a customized, try-at-home sampler of chic. In three short years, the company rocketed from about $300,000 in sales to $22.5 million, making M.M.LaFleur No. 43 on our 2017 list of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. The company is still expanding rapidly, with revenue estimated at more than $70 million in 2018.