- 3 years ago
Much like you, founder Sopi Mitil always found shopping for new, stylish wear a challenge. For this reason, she decided to create her own sophisticated petite line with inclusive sizing options.
What began as an effort to solve a personal challenge and find creative fulfillment led her to reconnect with what she truly valued as a creative: authenticity and purpose.
What began as an effort to solve a personal challenge and find creative fulfillment led her to reconnect with what she truly valued as a creative: authenticity and purpose.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 Hello, hello, and welcome to another episode of Shop Essence Live in partnership with the
00:05 New Voices family.
00:06 I am your host, Noni Donovan.
00:09 And if you have never been here with us before, this is a show where we bring you new Black-owned
00:14 brands to shop with us every single week.
00:17 They are a part of the New Voices family and they are Essence approved.
00:20 Now on this show, I am so excited to bring you this incredible fashion line.
00:26 If you're a petite girl, if you're a curvy petite girl and you have trouble finding things
00:31 that fit you and are flattering on your amazing curves, well, we got somebody that has come
00:39 to solve your problem.
00:41 Everybody, welcome.
00:42 Sophie Mattel.
00:43 She is CEO of Sophie Mattel Co.
00:46 The Sophie Mattel Co., I should say.
00:49 Welcome, welcome to Shop Essence Live, Sophie.
00:52 Welcome.
00:53 Noni, thank you for having me.
00:55 I'm so excited to be here today.
00:56 So excited.
00:57 I'm so excited and I can't wait for a show and tell.
01:00 And yes, I am wearing the Sophie Mattel Co. right now.
01:03 We'll show you a little bit later.
01:04 Before we get into this line, please tell us your story and how you came up with this
01:09 amazing brand.
01:11 So listen, it was, one of the things is I'm four feet, 11 inches tall, right?
01:17 So I am short to begin with, you know, but on top of that, I'm an attorney by trade and
01:21 been in corporate America for several years.
01:24 And so with me, professional attire is still required, you know, so we still have to show
01:28 up in our suits.
01:30 We still have to show up in our blazers, you know, and it was just becoming such a hard
01:36 time for me to find it, right?
01:37 So we need to find something that's going to fit me and fit me the way it needs to fit
01:40 because I am a, I'm curvy, right?
01:43 I'm a size eight curvy, meaning that, you know, I just have more curves in certain areas.
01:48 And it became a challenge finding something to wear.
01:50 And I remember I'm in this major department store because I had this big event and I go
01:54 and I'm looking for a suit to wear.
01:57 And the recommendations are always, Hey, you can buy that suit, but then go to our tailor
02:01 to get it tailored to you.
02:02 And I'm like, okay, so I'm paying all this money for this suit.
02:05 And then you want me to pay all this money for a tailor.
02:07 There gotta be a better way.
02:10 And so that's how this brand came about.
02:12 It came about through my frustration and my own experiences with looking for fashionable
02:18 things to wear that looks good, feels good, you know, and made of quality.
02:24 I'm so glad you said made of quality.
02:27 Cause I feel like a lot of the times, the things that are in option are not as quality
02:32 and this is luxury.
02:34 Okay.
02:35 This is luxury that we are living in right now.
02:38 So I am so, so, so excited that you took a leap to come up with this incredible brand.
02:43 So why don't you let us know what's the range?
02:47 It's office wear.
02:48 So what are the kinds of pieces that people can expect when they are shopping the Soapy
02:52 Matil comb?
02:53 So we talk about as being transitional wear, right?
02:56 So yes, it's office wear, but it's also office wear that you can easily transition into happy
03:01 hour or transition into, and Erin, you have to run with the kids or the girls or whatever.
03:06 So what you have is, so our primary products are, we do the suit collection, right?
03:11 So the blazer, the pants, the skirt, that three piece, and they're all separate, right?
03:16 Because every piece is meant to be worn together or separate or a match and match based on
03:21 the colors in the collection, right?
03:23 And so we have these long sleeve shirts, button up shirts.
03:26 We have, of course, the shirt that I have on right now, because most of our things have
03:29 like that V-neck on it.
03:32 Cause I love to show just a little bit of skin.
03:35 I love it.
03:36 I love the signature Soapy Matil V-neck.
03:37 Before you go any further, cause I don't want them coming after me.
03:41 You have a promo code for the people.
03:44 Can you tell us what the promo code is?
03:45 Because as people are shopping, they get the Shop Essence Live discount.
03:48 We do.
03:49 So for our Shop Essence Live family, we have a promo code of 20% off, which is SEL24.
03:56 And that lasts through the entire month of February, right?
03:59 So we're going to celebrate black history.
04:00 We're going to celebrate our boss babes, and we're going to celebrate some positivity and
04:04 empowering our wardrobes.
04:05 I love, now I know you're running through the products.
04:10 I need us to pause on a second about these button down shirts.
04:16 Cause it sounds simple enough, but ladies, if you got a little, if you're a little healthy
04:23 up here, you know, a little busty, I don't know.
04:25 I don't show it off too much, but I don't, I stopped wearing button down shirts because
04:30 I had that problem of this area was always pulling apart.
04:35 You know, it always looked like that.
04:36 But the Sophie Mattel, the way that, look at this and the sit, come on.
04:41 It's just so intentional design.
04:45 So one of the things, right?
04:46 So the line is we're manufactured in Italy.
04:48 And so I have a great team out there in Italy who helps me with these ideas that I come
04:52 up with.
04:53 And again, I talk about coming through it with my struggles, right?
04:56 Cause I'm, I'm busty at the top too, right?
04:57 When we talk about curvy, you can be curvy in different areas, some good, some bad, whatever
05:01 it may be.
05:02 And so with me being busted at the top, one of the issues that I always had was that button
05:07 that pops open like that people like I'm here.
05:10 Hello?
05:11 No, I don't want you to be here.
05:12 You know?
05:13 So I'm like, you know what?
05:15 It's not a hard fix, you know, just reposition the buttons on a shirt and you can stop the
05:20 popping.
05:21 So for us, we have more buttons on the top in the areas where, so even if you're up high,
05:26 even if you go down a little low, you're still going to have complete closure.
05:31 And that was the goal, you know, kind of with, with that shirt and how it was made.
05:35 And also it's also when we talk about that transitional wear, right?
05:37 So that shirt there, you know, you got it on right now as the complete suit, which I'm
05:43 loving it.
05:44 You know, also it looks great with a pair of jeans, you know, with throwing on some
05:48 jeans, throwing on some heels and, and going out to where you got to go.
05:52 Right?
05:53 So when you're looking at, even when you're at somewhere that's business casual and that's
05:56 the whole goal, you can dress it up or you can dress it down, but the goal is for you
06:00 to be comfortable in it.
06:02 Sophie has opened up a whole new world of possibilities in my wardrobe.
06:06 Okay.
06:07 Cause I had given up on the button on the shirt.
06:09 I didn't even think about wearing these jeans.
06:12 So thank you very much.
06:13 We will be rocking it.
06:14 Follow me on Instagram if you want to see how I rock this, cause I cannot wait.
06:19 And then also the material of the suit.
06:24 Can we talk about that?
06:25 Cause they all asked me for my sizes.
06:26 I was like, well, I'm a medium large.
06:29 And then when I saw it come, it was medium.
06:31 I'm like, Oh no.
06:32 Cause sometimes the medium don't medium.
06:34 Sometimes the medium is small.
06:35 Yes.
06:36 The medium is really great.
06:38 And it's like, so the material is very comfortable and stretchy.
06:42 It looks super luxury, luxury, but it is stretchy too.
06:47 Can you talk a little bit about what the decision process was behind what kind of material you
06:53 wanted your suits to be?
06:55 So the goal was that my weight fluctuates, you know, depending on the time of month,
07:01 depending on if I have something going on, depending on the holidays where I just gained
07:05 10 pounds, you know, and my, and my goal was to make sure that when you try on these garments
07:12 and when you're wearing these garments is that it's giving and it's forgiving if something
07:17 may have happened, you know, recently.
07:19 So when you, when you talk about the makeup of the garment, right, where, what you have
07:23 on right now is, is a viscose polyamide and elastane blend.
07:27 Right.
07:28 And so what it does is that that's also part of our multi-size fit collection because it
07:33 can go between sizes.
07:35 So in my mind, no matter how much weight I gain, I am a medium and I will stay in that
07:41 medium.
07:42 Right.
07:43 And so when we talk about an example of coming through the holidays, gaining 10 pounds and
07:47 still being able to wear that same size medium is what that is and what that material did
07:52 for me.
07:53 It's so good.
07:54 Many of our women.
07:56 It's so good.
07:57 And I was telling Sophie, like I'm so straight up and down y'all, so straight up and down
08:02 and putting this on and the jackets got that little flare out.
08:05 Oh, I'm in love.
08:09 And you know, one thing I want to talk about the jacket, right, because I talk about the
08:12 fact of having this multi-fit collection and what that basically means is that it goes
08:17 between sizes.
08:18 And so when you think about the construction of that jacket that you have on, right.
08:22 So one of the things with our brand is that I wanted to make sure that you didn't have
08:27 to worry about going to a tailor.
08:29 Right.
08:30 So the jacket that you have on, we're going to get to that.
08:35 No.
08:36 Oh, go ahead.
08:37 Go ahead.
08:38 The jacket that you have on the arm lengths come in three different lengths.
08:42 Right.
08:43 Because all of our arm lengths are not the same.
08:45 Right.
08:46 So you pick different arm lengths for that jacket.
08:49 And then when you talk about going between sizes, so what you had just noticed was we
08:55 have this little technical detail in the waist.
08:58 And what that does is you can stretch it.
09:03 You can make it longer.
09:05 You can make it wider or you can make it tighter.
09:07 Right.
09:08 And then even depending on how you're wearing that jacket, because of that string that's
09:13 there, I've seen some of my clients who will have on some very casual dress, tie around
09:18 a string and throw on the jacket and go to work.
09:20 You know, because it gives it a different type of look.
09:23 I'm about to tie this as tight as possible.
09:27 Oh no.
09:28 I'm going to make me look more sexy.
09:31 Oh no.
09:32 Oh my gosh.
09:33 It gives you a little bit of, and it gives you a little bit of shape.
09:41 Right.
09:42 And it's forgiving in that area.
09:44 So you don't have to worry about, Hey, for me who yo-yo between my weight, that was the
09:49 goal.
09:50 Like I'm a yo-yo between this weight and I'm going to be comfortable in what I wear.
09:54 Listen, Sophie has got us covered.
09:57 Okay.
09:58 Y'all need to go to this website.
09:59 If you're watching on Essence.com, we're going to be putting the button there to take you
10:03 straight to our website to purchase.
10:04 Don't forget to use this promo code here.
10:07 She's got so many things.
10:09 You could be in the office fly and comfortable in luxury, showing off your curves in a very
10:16 luxurious classic way.
10:19 And they're just multi-versatile.
10:20 They're multi-versatile.
10:21 Wait, versatile and multi means the same thing.
10:24 I'm just too excited.
10:26 Okay.
10:27 So what, what are the other items that you would like to feature?
10:31 What's the, what's the fave that people love?
10:34 So what's been a popular fave is, so one of the things with us, short babes is buying
10:41 jumpers.
10:42 Jumpers are always a challenge for us.
10:44 Getting a jumper that fit and also getting a jumper that I don't have to wear Spanx with,
10:49 you know, cause sometimes I do not want to wear shapewear.
10:53 And so we, we have this jumper that has been one of our best sellers.
10:59 Right.
11:00 And so with the best seller.
11:03 So it comes in this color and it also comes in black.
11:06 And this is also one of those materials that can stretch between sizes.
11:09 Right.
11:10 And so the reason I say that you don't need shapewear, I call this my shapewear optional
11:13 jumper is because I also have this little peplum here in the front and that peplum is
11:19 there just to be a bit more forgiving in the waist.
11:21 And the way that this garment is constructed, it cinches your waist anyway, without you
11:26 having to put on some shapewear, you know, and that's a one piece on the front and we're
11:30 covering you in the back and like with the rest of our garments, this also comes in three
11:35 lengths because we recognize that a petite who's 5'4" and a petite who's 4'11" it's not
11:40 going to wear the same length.
11:41 And so we got you covered there too.
11:44 So, so good.
11:45 And that is a jumper that's one piece.
11:47 It's a one piece jumper.
11:49 Come on.
11:50 And I love, love, love that print.
11:52 What's the inspiration behind that print?
11:55 Can you hold it up a little bit closer?
11:56 I'll go full on it.
11:58 Hold on.
11:59 Let me see.
12:00 Wow.
12:01 That is gorgeous.
12:02 Look at that.
12:06 And I know that we sometimes associate some of these prints with like diamonds, right?
12:12 Because sometimes diamonds is a girl best friend, you know?
12:15 And so part of the brand, I wanted to make sure I found something that I can incorporate
12:19 the brand colors with.
12:21 And so when I was working with my design team, they was like, I think I might have the perfect
12:25 thing for you.
12:26 And I'm like, okay, so whatever you have, I need to be able to see my pink.
12:30 I need to be able to see my blue.
12:31 And I need to be able to see my white.
12:32 They was like, so you can't have all those colors.
12:33 Why can't I?
12:34 And we did, right?
12:37 And so part of this is that one thing you will see, because like this, this is part
12:42 of what we call our classic, classic pieces.
12:44 These are the pieces that are going to always be there.
12:46 You know, this is, they're just going to come out in different colors.
12:49 These are our staple pieces because they've been popular.
12:51 And so that's kind of where we got this particular jumper from, which actually is my favorite
12:57 piece in the line.
12:59 I love, love, love that.
13:01 It's going in my cart.
13:02 Come on.
13:03 I love that.
13:04 And then I think I saw on the website, you had a short dress version of that or a knee
13:07 length dress.
13:08 Yes, we do.
13:09 We have a short dress version of this, which it's, some people used to mistake it for a
13:14 wrap dress because it's also one of the dresses that it has a cinch at the waist, right?
13:19 And so you can tighten it and you can unloose it just like the jacket.
13:23 Come on.
13:24 Just, just killing it.
13:26 I absolutely, absolutely love that.
13:28 Is there anything that you want to highlight before we move on?
13:31 You know, I do want to highlight one more thing, right?
13:33 So I know we have this, this classic collection, right?
13:36 And so I want to give a sneak peek into, so I'm from the Caribbean.
13:40 My family's from the Caribbean and we love, we love, love, love colors, right?
13:44 And so going in into a sneak peek into what we have coming in our spring collection, you
13:51 know, is colors, right?
13:52 And so in our spring collections, we're going into having, which I love, right?
13:58 Another thing that I couldn't wear, a shirt dress.
14:01 Oh, forget it.
14:03 Yeah.
14:05 And so this won't be available until the end of the month, but this is a shirt, shirt dress
14:09 in nice, bold colors.
14:11 And it's something, one, for my Caribbean heritage and for two, just to make sure that
14:17 I know sometimes we like to get bold.
14:19 I got you covered.
14:20 First of all, this is going to be a part of my Essence Festival wardrobe because I already
14:26 know that's going to be a showstopper.
14:29 You're seeing this here first, the Essence Festival.
14:32 Y'all need to follow the Sophie Mattel co.
14:35 Where can they follow you to make sure when that drops?
14:38 You can follow me at Sophie Mattel.
14:41 And I'm Sophie Mattel on all platforms.
14:43 Perfect.
14:44 Yeah.
14:45 Make sure you guys follow her on Sophie Mattel.
14:46 I will be following because I need that for Essence Festival.
14:50 I absolutely love, love, love that.
14:52 So your products are so incredible and so intentional.
14:57 Every single detail just has your customer in mind, which is amazing.
15:03 You're a part of the New Voices family where all the products are like that.
15:07 All the brands are like that.
15:09 What has that experience been like for you being a part of that community?
15:13 Oh my gosh.
15:14 Being with New Voices have been a game changer.
15:18 So one of the things that we like to say, right?
15:20 So being a first generation coming from immigrant parents, there's a lot of things that I don't
15:25 know, right?
15:26 And we're learning it as we go because we had no one there to teach us.
15:29 And so one of the things that we lack a lot is kind of that access and that support.
15:34 And that is one thing that I've gotten from New Voices is access.
15:37 Look, I used to grow up reading Essence.
15:40 Never in a million years would I have thought that I'll be sitting on an Essence show.
15:44 And that's the testament to New Voices.
15:47 And they're there, they're providing us with coaching, they're providing us with mentoring,
15:49 they're giving us the tools that we need to succeed.
15:52 And you know what the best part about it is that it's all genuine.
15:55 So Noni, you know how you have those people and they be like, if you need me, you just
15:57 reach out and you reach out and they don't answer.
16:00 That's not the issue with New Voices.
16:02 I mean, they're even proactive in sending things to us like, hey, you said you had this
16:07 issue.
16:08 Check this out.
16:09 This might help you solve that issue.
16:11 You know, and that, look, I love it.
16:14 I love the experience.
16:16 I'm so glad I found them because it has been a game changer for me.
16:19 I absolutely love that.
16:21 So you heard Sophie.
16:23 This is such an incredible community.
16:25 If you are an entrepreneur and watching and building your own business, trying to scale,
16:28 trying to take it to the next level, join the New Voices family.
16:32 We have the information on the screen.
16:33 It is absolutely free to join.
16:36 So what you got to lose, bet on yourself.
16:38 Sophie, it's been so great to have you on the show.
16:42 Thank you for providing me with my festival wardrobe because I already know I'm going
16:45 to be shopping here.
16:46 She's got a promo code.
16:48 When does the promo code run out?
16:50 It runs out at the end of February.
16:51 So we're celebrating it for Black History Month.
16:54 Come on, you got Black History Month.
16:55 Let's get the wardrobe together.
16:56 Okay, you're going to be turning heads at the office.
16:59 So make sure that you guys buy.
17:01 When you buy on Shop Essence Live, you're buying directly with these black owned brands.
17:04 So make sure you go on and support.
17:06 You want to feel the luxury.
17:08 You want to get your waist snatched.
17:10 You want to do all of those things.
17:13 Make sure that you buy.
17:14 Sophie, it was incredible.
17:15 you on. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you for having me.
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