Today we’d like to introduce you to French Dressing.
Hi French, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Pardon me for being brutally honest, but Things changed for me after prison. Upon getting released in 2014 I just knew I didn’t want to go back lol. I furred I would go with something that was effortlessly to me. My real name is La’France, a French name, and everyone already knew me for dressing, so I put “French Dressing Approved together”.I started with an online store called “French Dressing Approved” selling some of my peers clothing in 2015. The ultimate goal was to always have my own brand ,but I needed to do analysis on the. industry before introducing something so delicate. After experiencing the industry, few trade shows etc, I launched my first clothing brand “Prestej” in 2015- 2016 in Los Angeles. Found some contacts overseas and got right to it! Learning on the fly of course came with trial and error, but I was open to it! Once I became competition to peers and others I was on my own. (No 1 wants to really share when you competition). I continued to network until I figured out how to make the brand move and eventually landed my brand in Foxhill mall and the Beverly center. Being as though I didn’t have direction or know what was next, I eventually plateaued. Went from having names as big as Snoop Dogg and the Oneal’s family supporting the brand to wondering what’s next. I was approached by 2 investors, but it just didn’t seem genuine and right at the time so I shut it down. I continued to sell and travel to do popup shops with influencers for a bit more, then I just got bored, complacent with not much of motivation being things took off so fast without a plan. That’s. when I realized that although I had extreme love for fashion, I was bigger than just CLOTHES. I look at myself as an Enterprise! My mom got diagnosed with breast cancer so that made me go back home a bit more, while simultaneously awaiting a kid to be born. It struck me that I needed something therapeutic to engage to keep me leveled at the time so I learned how to sew and came back to revive my first brand FRENCH DRESSING! Started selling one of one pieces and brought an industrial embroidery machine. In the mask of that I got custody of my son, which redirected in a major way. The one of one pieces caught a wave and did well ,even shipping as far as Europe. Having endured so much and learning so much , I packed up me, my son, and my new ideas and I moved to the midwest with a bigger and brighter vision. Son number 2 arrived lol!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Super hard not knowing and just jumping out there. People not supporting just because it’s yours, things of that nature. Lot of wasted time and money in the process, with that also came great lessons, experience, and relationships which are priceless. People you know can be your biggest fan and also be your biggest doubter. Learning how to communicate overseas, budgeting, and timing with production was one go my earliest issues. Nothing so great and meaningful could never be smooth, in my opinion! Doing something and proceeding without knowing if its gone work or not is a struggle within itself. I think things like that separate the “sayers” from the “doers”! I was always a person of less words my entire life, I always been a “doer”, never one to talk much! Believing in yourself is a tough task, not many succeed in that lol.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I recently started a non profit organization in Texas called Session House Community Wellness Foundation with the mission to improve the health, confidence, and opportunity of youth and adults through accessible fitness, wellness education, scholarships, and community partnerships. To remove barriers to physical activity and preventive wellness by providing inclusive programs, scholarships, health education, and community resource connections. I believe in having a HEALTHY HEART! Im currently a serial-entrepreneur, as I said before, Im bigger than just clothes. I use more faith than usual nowadays so I really move off what feels right along with some type of logic. My vital skill is to be able to see something, assist scaling it, and create the platform. When I speak or move I try to make it count! My DISCIPLINE might be the biggest thing that sets me apart from others. If I say this what I’m doing, that’s what I’m doing lol. My will! My drive! This a V12, this aint no 4 cylinder lol! I’m most proud of taking the chance and going into the world of not knowing, I jumped on a bus at 18 to go to school in Kansas lol, I always been with it. You can still keep up with what’s next on ig frenchdressedu and prestej15! Still supporting and sponsoring the youth for life.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
biggest mistake was not having a plan and just having money with no direction.. figure out what you want your brand story to be.. people buy into your story, not just because you got clothes.. gotta stand for something.. as far as exposure you need to figure out the marketing tools for today’s market.. it’s a new generation..try something, it could catch or it could not.. your ideal customer would be whoever you picture in your brand (ex.. preppy white boys, urban communities, etc..) that’s how you find your customers.. goes off the type of shit you promoting and selling. Most importantly be you if that’s the goal. If not invest in something you see from a far , that might could have legs. You could be the difference! I wish I would’ve known a lot , but that’s the ideal situation. All of that would’ve took away from my journey, my story, my character! I LOVE who Ive become because of all of that. Just go through it lol, you can’t duck no levels of this sh*t!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frenchdressedu/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Frenchmotts/directory_privacy_and_legal_info
