Meet Deidre Sidlauskas: Founder of Dre.Denim

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your brand.

My name is Deirdre. I was born and raised in Boston, and have loved fashion ever since I was little. I’ve always been creative and inventive, especially when it comes to clothes and my style. That’s how I started making my custom hand-painted denim jackets.

What inspired you to start your brand or craft?

Dre Denim all started one day when I was bored and found paints in a closet at my house. I had an old leather jacket that got ruined in the wash, so I painted on it for fun. I loved the way it came out, so I moved on to denim. I began wearing my jackets when I went out and people would come up to me and ask where I got it. I would make jackets for my friends and it kind of just grew from there.

How did you come up with the name of your company?

I came up with the name “Dre Denim” because my friends from college called me “Dre”.

What does an average day look like?

An average day for me starts with working my full-time job as a copywriter on the creative marketing team at a retail company. As soon as I close my laptop, I go into painting mode for about five hours until I’m too tired to keep my eyes open. It’s super therapeutic for me after a long day of work. Then, I wake up and do it all again!

What’s your favorite part of the job?

I have two favorite parts of the job. I love that moment in the design process where I get a vision that I’m excited about, and know exactly what I’m going to paint. My second favorite part is seeing people wearing my jackets out in public. That will never get old.

When you’re creating do you have a person in mind?

My jackets are typically custom made, so people usually request a design. If I’m selling them at a store or doing a pop-up, I try to keep the designs general and trendy.

When was your business founded and how has it evolved over time?

I started making my jackets when I was in college. It evolved by painting them for myself and wearing them out, and then for friends and it just grew by word of mouth. Now, I’m doing pop-ups and selling my jackets in boutiques. I never expected this to be anything but I love what it has become.

Are there any challenges that you’ve had to overcome?

The challenges that I’ve had to overcome are sourcing materials, managing my full-time job while trying to meet the needs of my customers and learning how to run a business.

What is one piece of advice you have for a female entrepreneur just starting out?

While I’m still learning and starting out myself, my advice to female entrepreneurs would be just to go for it and figure it out along the way. You can have all the faith in yourself, but the people who love you will believe in you even more than you do. I’m so grateful to have the support that I do and I truly believe that everything will work out the way it’s supposed to, despite the hard times. Also, work hard.

Let us know where we can follow you.

You can follow me at @dre.denim on Instagram. I’m always posting the latest updates!