How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits
Alison Hoenes | women's apparel patternmaker
127 episodes
1 week ago
How Fitting® is the podcast for slow fashion designers who want to create clothing and grow a business that fits their customer, lifestyle, and values. In biweekly episodes, hear how relatable fashion entrepreneurs (the kind who run their businesses from kitchen tables and cutting tables, not boardroom tables) navigate the fashion industry with integrity and define success based on their own principles.
In each conversation, host Alison Hoenes (a freelance women’s apparel patternmaker) explores the things that all slow fashion business owners experience: the vulnerability of launching something new, the deeply empathetic process of designing clothes that fit a niche market, the challenges of pursuing both financial and environmental sustainability, the late nights of reckoning with your values that make you consider shutting the whole thing down, and the rewarding moments that make it all worth it.
In addition, hear from experienced fashion industry resources that are helping indie designers make a difference and a profit – like low MOQ factories, fashion marketing and business coaches, or sustainable fabric suppliers.
How Fitting® offers validation that you are not alone in your fashion entrepreneurship experience, ideas to try on in your fashion business to create a better fit, and a curious look into how other slow fashion brands are making it work. How fitting is that?
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How Fitting® is the podcast for slow fashion designers who want to create clothing and grow a business that fits their customer, lifestyle, and values. In biweekly episodes, hear how relatable fashion entrepreneurs (the kind who run their businesses from kitchen tables and cutting tables, not boardroom tables) navigate the fashion industry with integrity and define success based on their own principles.
In each conversation, host Alison Hoenes (a freelance women’s apparel patternmaker) explores the things that all slow fashion business owners experience: the vulnerability of launching something new, the deeply empathetic process of designing clothes that fit a niche market, the challenges of pursuing both financial and environmental sustainability, the late nights of reckoning with your values that make you consider shutting the whole thing down, and the rewarding moments that make it all worth it.
In addition, hear from experienced fashion industry resources that are helping indie designers make a difference and a profit – like low MOQ factories, fashion marketing and business coaches, or sustainable fabric suppliers.
How Fitting® offers validation that you are not alone in your fashion entrepreneurship experience, ideas to try on in your fashion business to create a better fit, and a curious look into how other slow fashion brands are making it work. How fitting is that?
Intentional Fashion Looks Different as a Founder with Lucielle Salomon of ARIMMA
How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits
54 minutes 1 second
2 weeks ago
Intentional Fashion Looks Different as a Founder with Lucielle Salomon of ARIMMA
In slow fashion, we like being intentional with our clothing choices. We want our wardrobes to be aligned with what we care about and how we live. It is a reassuring kind of intention. Then there is another type of intention that affects fashion founders – the way we intend things to go. We have intentions for the launch, product development timelines, or what it means to be a good founder.
But as anyone who has started a business knows, things don’t always go quite as intended. So how do we balance intention and reality? In episode 126, ARIMMA founder Lucielle Salomon shares how she moved past her assumptions about what it means to be a founder and finally launched her brand. Through the process, she now sees fashion in a new light.
Lucielle Salomon is a Dominican-American founder, fashion editor and storyteller advocating for a slower, more soulful approach to style and business. With a background in journalism and a sharp editorial eye, she blends thoughtful design with meaningful storytelling, inviting her audience to dress with intention, find beauty in the everyday and redefine what success looks like through a values-first lens.
She is the founder of ARIMMA, an on-demand women's wear brand rooted in romantic silhouettes, timeless details and environmental responsibility. Every piece is crafted only after it's ordered—minimizing waste, reducing overproduction and creating space for clothing to be made with care. ARIMMA designs use natural or low-impact materials and are constructed with durability, emotion and longevity in mind.
Through her Substack newsletter, Woven Letters, and growing digital platforms, Lucielle shares a curated blend of sustainable fashion finds, emerging brands, and everyday rituals—from what she's wearing to how she's slowing down. As a mother of two, she also explores the intersection of creativity, motherhood and entrepreneurship, offering a rare behind-the-scenes look at building a conscious business without burning out. Lucielle is available for interviews, panels, collaborations, and essays that explore the future of fashion, identity-driven entrepreneurship and intentional living.
This episode explores:
Fitting the customer
How Lucielle follows feelings, not trends with her designs
The part of development that was the biggest challenge for Lucielle
Fitting the lifestyle
What Lucielle would do differently now if she was starting over
How our mindset can hinder or help us in entrepreneurship
What Lucielle thought a good founder lifestyle should look like and why that didn’t work for her
Why Lucielle didn’t go all out for the launch
Fitting the values
How becoming a founder changed what Lucielle values about fashion
Why Lucielle reached out to factories before she even had designs
People and resources mentioned in this episode:
Arimma website
Arimma Instagram
Lucielle’s Instagram
Do you want fashion business tips and resources like this sent straight to your inbox? Sign up for the How Fitting newsletter to receive new podcast episodes plus daily content on creating fashion that fits your customer, lifestyle, and values.
How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits
How Fitting® is the podcast for slow fashion designers who want to create clothing and grow a business that fits their customer, lifestyle, and values. In biweekly episodes, hear how relatable fashion entrepreneurs (the kind who run their businesses from kitchen tables and cutting tables, not boardroom tables) navigate the fashion industry with integrity and define success based on their own principles.
In each conversation, host Alison Hoenes (a freelance women’s apparel patternmaker) explores the things that all slow fashion business owners experience: the vulnerability of launching something new, the deeply empathetic process of designing clothes that fit a niche market, the challenges of pursuing both financial and environmental sustainability, the late nights of reckoning with your values that make you consider shutting the whole thing down, and the rewarding moments that make it all worth it.
In addition, hear from experienced fashion industry resources that are helping indie designers make a difference and a profit – like low MOQ factories, fashion marketing and business coaches, or sustainable fabric suppliers.
How Fitting® offers validation that you are not alone in your fashion entrepreneurship experience, ideas to try on in your fashion business to create a better fit, and a curious look into how other slow fashion brands are making it work. How fitting is that?
