Meet Rachel Lefort | Founder & Designer of Midnight Oil

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rachel Lefort and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rachel, every day, we know how much execution matters, but we think ideas matter as well. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
Prior to starting Midnight Oil, I was a personal stylist for both men and women. Styling men was much easier than styling women because menswear companies offered made-to-order options for achieving a better fit, with high quality materials and customization choices. This, however, was rare for women, especially reasonably priced made-to-order options with customization for women. I struggled to find affordable, quality pieces for my female clients, especially in neutral colors that make dressing easier. Rather, I would often find only trendy pieces, frequently made with low quality fabric. If I was fortunate to find a stylish classic garment, I then worried about how the garment would fit. Through many years of personal styling, personal shopping and giving presentations about style, I saw a need and a problem to be solved, thereby inspiring me to create Midnight Oil. Midnight Oil is a go-to resource for women to find well-fitting, modernly stylish, classic garments that can be worn both in a professional and casual environment. Made-to-order clothing is no longer just a boys’ club.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I believe that the aggregate of my professional experiences brought me to creating Midnight Oil. As I mentioned above, I attended Syracuse University and obtained a degree in Fashion Design. Afterwards, I landed a job in New York City at Ann Taylor Loft, where I worked as an assistant designer. This provided me with design experience in womenswear. But I had the yearning to work in the Haute Couture industry, which required me to go to France. So, I learned French and went to Paris, initially at the Parsons School of Design and subsequently at the École De La Chambre Syndicale De La Couture Parisienne. As part of my Haute Couture education, I interned at Christian Dior and Pierre Balmain. This was a remarkable opportunity that very few American students and designers get to experience, working with some of the industry’s most skilled craftsmen and women, as well as with the highest quality materials. [Note: one additional person who I’d like to send a shoutout to is François, who has been a mentor to me throughout my career. François provided direction for me in my pursuit of studying Haute Couture in Paris, as well as helped me obtain one of these incredible internships.]

These rare skills that I obtained in France, as well as an introduction by my mentor François, led me to working back in New York City as a designer for an American couturier, namely Maggie Norris Couture. After working with Maggie Norris for several years, my husband and I were relocated to Colorado for his job. Soon thereafter, my daughter was born, and I spent the next few years focused on raising her. When I had more time to do so, I started to figure out what I could do in Colorado with my fashion experience. After women started asking me to teach and to style their wardrobes, I became a Personal Stylist. I helped individuals define and elevate their image and style by streamlining, supplementing and styling their wardrobe. I initially started doing this for just women, and then I branched out to also styling men. As I mentioned above, I struggled to find affordable, quality pieces, especially in classic colors that make dressing for women easier. And I represented a line of made-to-order menswear, which made styling men so much easier than women. But again, this option didn’t exist for women.

While I was a stylist, I landed a position in 2018 assisting with the installation of the Christian Dior exhibit at the Denver Art Museum. One of my tasks included carefully removing the historic Dior garments from their shipping containers, reshaping the mannequins to fit the garments, and delicately placing the garments on the mannequins. I was in awe that I had the opportunity to see up close and touch these inspirational garments, and it gave me flashbacks to when I interned at Dior in Paris.

This gave me the final motivation to move forward with Midnight Oil. Based on all of my experiences, (1) As a Personal Stylist I worked directly with clients, and I recognized there was a need for women to have made-to-order clothing; (2) I knew how to design the clothing; (3) I knew where to source the desirable fabrics, (4) I knew where to have it manufactured with quality and care, and (5) I knew how to sell it. So, I started the business and named it “Midnight Oil” in recognition of all of the hard-working women who are playing so many roles in their life and staying up late to get those jobs done.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
a. Day 1

i. Shopping in Cherry Creek
ii. Lunch – Favorite Spot for Healthy Creative Lunch – True Food Kitchen

b. Day 2

i. Touring the Denver Art Museum
ii. Dinner at the Art Hotel

c. Day 3

i. Brunch at Snooze, Downtown at Union Station
ii. Walk around shops in LoDo
iii. Go to Colorado Rockies game

d. Day 4

i. Morning – Walk around Red Rocks Amphitheatre
ii. Lunch – Spruce Farm & Fish at the Boulderado Hotel in Boulder
iii. Walk around Pearl Street

e. Day 5

i. Afternoon at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver
ii. Drinks and Appetizers at the Cooper Lounge in Union Station

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
The first two people who I would like to recognize are my daughter and husband, who see me go through the day-to-day ups and downs of starting a business and are there to celebrate the victories and provide emotional support when I need it. I would also like to thank my parents, who have been there since I took sewing lessons as a child, sent me to Syracuse University, as well as Europe and Asia, to study fashion design.

There is one particular person, who has played a very special role in helping me with my business—let’s just call him Mr. H (because he’s a little modest and he may prefer that I don’t use his name). He has been a mentor, advisor, resource, etc. for me since I started thinking about starting this business. He’s been there every step of the way, and always available when I need to speak with him. I don’t know where I’d be without Mr. H, and I have to assume that most entrepreneurs have someone who serves in this type of advisory role (or they wish that they did).

My current team is also great and deserve a lot of credit for getting Midnight Oil going in the right direction. This includes Laura, Stacy, Katie, Lindsey, Nora and all my Stylists, who are the ones making the Sales that drive the business. My team also includes the wonderful manufacturers with whom I have been fortunate to establish relationships over the past few years. They have believed in me and my vision from the beginning, for which I am very grateful. I’ve really enjoyed and feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to get to know all of these people, and to have them on the team!

Website: https://midnightoilcollection.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/midnight_oil_collection/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/midnight-oil-collection/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MidnightOilCollection

Image Credits
Nicole Mickel (https://nicolemickle.com) is the photographer of photos 1-4, and Caroline Miller (https://carolinemillerphotography.com) is the photographer of photos 5-8.