Check Out Madeline Cook’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Madeline Cook.

Madeline, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I went into college at Colorado State University as undeclared, and after meeting with an advisor made the most random decision of my life to try and get into the Fashion Design program. This required a portfolio entry, so I dedicated my first semester to creating this. I had no sewing experience whatsoever, just a dream and decent writing skills. My hard work paid off and at the end of my first semester I eagerly and anxiously opened my letter to find I was accepted as 1 of 20 students into this program. I graduated 3 and 1/2 years later, and my internship with a small business in Denver encouraged me to start my own business. At the time I was focused on festival fashion and sold my wild creations on Etsy. This was fun and on par with where I was at my in life, but in 2018 I was pushed to focus more on sustainability. This encouraged me to find eco-friendly fabrics and to learn how to dye things myself.

The fabrics I found were so soft it made me think about creating underwear. I was sick of wearing undies that had elastic that bit me in all the wrong places, or lacy pieces that were super scratchy. So I spent the next 6 months in trial and error of my first underwear pattern. Once I got the right fit, it was like a sigh of relief in clothing form. I knew this is exactly what I was meant to do. Too many women have the base layer of their outfits as something that is super uncomfortable or unflattering, and I wanted to spread this out into the world. To show women they deserve the utmost comfort and to feel cute too! I worked on my dye techniques and had my first underwear release in early 2019. I now offer one bra style, one tank top style and four different underwear styles: High Waisted, Low Rise, Cheekies and Thongs. All patterns are drafted by me, everything is sewn by me and colored by me – my goal is to infuse each piece with love in as many ways as possible.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road, the road to entrepreneurship is a hard one indeed. The hardest part is trusting yourself, to put a lot of time and energy into things and hope that they take off, all while holding a full time job elsewhere to provide the capital needed. In addition, creating patterns from scratch requires a lot of trial and error and then making multiple sizes requires sample models. I took feedback from all my sample models to create the size offerings I do today, so it was a slow process full of twists and turns, but my heart was set on this path and that was my fuel to keep going.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I create intimates and loungewear from scratch! My pieces are made from eco-friendly fibers like bamboo jersey, tercel, or stretch hemp. From a sustainability perspective, I believe it is important to remove manufacturers from the picture if possible. Everything happens in my studio in my hands so I have full say on what is used and what is thrown away. I keep basically all scraps to either use in future patchwork pieces or scrap releases, or to pass off to other designers who utilize scraps. The only pieces I throw away are absolutely tiny and not usable.

The same is said for dyeing, the amount of water used in mills that dye is outrageous. This is the main reason why I use a marble technique in most of my pieces instead of solid dyes. Solid dyes require multiple gallons of water, while the marble technique is a low-water immersion dye, meaning I only need enough water to cover the pieces that are scrunched up. The dyes I use are fiber-reactive so they are certified low impact and they don’t require heat. I also have practices for rinsing to conserve water because this is where things can get excessive. Instead of doing a big rinse where water flows for a long time to remove the dye, I use rinse baths. Basically I put water in a bin, place the pieces that are ready to be rinsed in the bin, and place that out in the sun. Essentially I replace water flow with time. On occasion when I have enough material stored up from my kitchen, I will use natural dyes like avocado skins and seeds.

My product is niche, it’s not often you hear about someone who makes underwear, so in general this is what sets me apart from others. I’m sort of known as the underwear lady around here. I’m really proud of the work I’ve done to get my product to where it is at today, I like to call them clothing hugs or bum hugs. Once you try a pair, the difference of slow fashion and hand made is extremely prevalent, and I’m proud of that difference.

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I wouldn’t say I’m a lucky person, everything that has come to me through this business has been from my own persistence, hard work, and dedication over time.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.madzinnia.com
• Instagram: @madzinnia
• Other: TikTok: _madzinnia_

Image Credits
@emilyelizabethphotog – Emily Elizabeth Photography