Women spend nearly 3,000 hours a year in what they wear to sleep. That’s about 125 days, or one-third of the earth’s annual orbit around the sun. So, shouldn’t their pajamas have as much panache as what they wear to leave the house?
That’s one reason why Amy Crouse and Elizabeth Mathes chose to launch their sleepwear line Project Love last September. The duo’s other intention: to help women feel good by offering them the chance to buy something that looks great and pays it forward.
“Elizabeth and I were on a trip last year in San Diego and started talking about some of the hardships women face around the world. We had just met with a group that was helping to fight the rape epidemic in the Congo and started talking about what it would look like to integrate our daily business lives with being advocates for women who need them,” Crouse recalled. “We decided on that trip that we wanted to be advocates for women who don’t currently have advocates and connect with other women in the U.S., so that we could all partner together to help those in need.”
And they chose sleepwear because they wanted to create a product that most women wear on a daily basis.
“We wanted to design a line that was extremely comfortable, beautiful and reasonably priced. When we were in development, we kept thinking that we wanted to create products that could help make women’s days better by making them feel beautiful and by helping others,” she added.
Comprising styles dreamed up by Dallas-based designer Michael Faircloth (who designed Laura Bush’s inaugural gown in 2001), the debut collection consists of comfy pieces ranging from nightgowns and robes to rompers, as well as a variety of mix-and-match tops and bottoms, all made in Los Angeles from a 50-50 blend of modal and cotton sourced from California.
“The fabric is thick enough to not be see-through, but thin enough to breathe well and feel super soft on your skin,” Crouse said. “And the colors and patterns give the pieces a resort style, so they can also be worn outside of the house at the beach or by the pool.”
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Currently sold online and in about 20 stores throughout the Southeast and Texas, Project Love wholesales from $18 to $45 and 51 percent of the brand’s net profits benefits a group of women in Haiti.
“Elizabeth and I are extremely passionate about helping out other women around the world, as we want all women to have a shot at living out their hopes and dreams. We started with Haiti because I have been going down there a lot since the earthquake in 2010 and we wanted to pick a place where we had strong ties to test our model,” Crouse explained, sharing that she and Mathes personally funded the line while it was in development and now it supports 11 Haitian women. “As we grow, we’ll move into other countries around the world. Next on our list is Uganda, as I traveled there a few years ago and fell in love with the women there.”
Project Love is showcasing both its Spring ’16 and Fall ’16 sleepwear collections at CurveNV@Magic (Feb. 16-18) as part of Magic Marketplace at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
“We think we’ve filled a gap by creating products that are stylish and can easily transition from the bedroom to everyday living,” she continued. “A lot of sleepwear you wouldn’t or can’t wear around your family and friends. Project Love allows you to roll out of bed and not have to change before you go have coffee with your husband, friends or in-laws so that you can spend more time with those you love.”