Check Out Monique Toulouse’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Monique Toulouse. 

Hi Monique, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
The story of July Five/Mountain Legs starts in Telluride, Colorado in the early 1990s. I was a Ski Bum, Mountain girl, single mom, loving the Apres lifestyle and the activities that went with. This quickly incorporated FASHION. I got my first Booth at Telluride Bluegrass Festival in 1995, to see if I could make some money selling my wears. 

I had driven out to Colorado, from NYC via Vermont, with my grandmother’s Kenmore sewing machine. I was self-taught, always customizing, altering, and creating clothing with fabric and trim. I very quickly had a following of music-loving, mountain climbing, footloose and fancy-free, ski-loving festival folks, including some of the musicians themselves! I have since vended at 25 Telluride Bluegrass Festivals as my clothing line, “JULY FIVE”, appropriately named after the day I was born, always following the very festive 4th of July Holiday. A name I would never abandon, because, well, it is ME. 

Fast forward 25 years: many more shows added to my summer tour, thousands of Mini Skirts and Velvet Bell Bottoms made and sold, and precisely 4 more acquired Industrial sewing machines… I’d say, I made a mark on Rocky Mountain, Apres Living, Festival going, Ski Bum Fashion. 

In 2017, still living in Telluride, I was approached with the idea of printing Ski Trail Maps on Leggings. At first, I was reluctant to add anything to my creative plate. Eventually, having marinated on this idea for a few months, I realized that I knew EXACTLY how to choreograph this new project. It basically entailed the culmination of all the resources I had been gathering for July Five during the past 2 decades. For example, where to find fabric, and how to sublimate and digitally engineer the art onto the fabric, so that it wraps around the body panoramically. Then of course, designing the Leggings, getting the license from Ski Areas to print the maps, producing them, and ultimately… MARKETING. So many people along the way ask, “where did you get this fabric of the Maps?”. My answer, “I created it!”. And so was born: MOUNTAIN LEGS! Which I kept under the corporate umbrella of July Five, inc, because really, it takes one, to support the other, financially. 

I have now successfully been the Official Licensee for Vail Resorts, Telluride, and Jackson Hole Mountains for the last 5 years. Somewhere in there, I relocated to The Front Range, with my teenage daughter, 3 cats, and both businesses. It took a while to accumulate the accounts that I have. In fact, it is only these last 3 years that I have had Vail Resorts Retail carrying Mountain Legs. This year, upon many requests, I added a base layer Shirt for women, and Kids leggings. I have a website… www.julyfive.com, where you can easily view both July Five and Mountain Legs. 

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
UMMMMM…need I say COVID??? There have been so many challenges. The Fashion industry itself is a brutal one. 

I know this from my years of experience with July Five. I believe my blessing has been, bringing all of my creative ideas and selling them in the mountains of Colorado. Fashion here seems a little less competitive than NYC or LA. Regardless though, growing these 2 clothing companies has not come without its peaks and valleys. Whether it be financial… I am a one-woman show. No investors, no business partners, no shipping and receiving, no bookkeeper. 

All my creative ideas are my own, no pattern maker, no grader, and barely any contract sewers! (that’s how I met Peggy…she does the cover stitch hemming for me). WEATHER…. rained out Festivals, Tents blown away by high winds, FIRE, etc… Sometimes I wish I was further along, more employees, more accounts, more income. COVID has obviously been a minor setback. Sales decreased, Ski areas closed early, Festivals were cancelled! Truth be known it was a much-needed reprieve for my mind, body, and spirit. To gather my information, organize my office, clean my sewing machines, rest myself from the outer world. I actually built my website during this time. I would have never been able to visualize the layout and mechanics of it, had I been racing around. 

I have graciously learned and grown from every business challenge I have been presented with. 

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My favorite part…Bumbling around the LA Garment District. I observe style, colors, textures, people. I hunt for fabric and trim that I upcycle off the streets. I build business relationships that I have nurtured for decades to a first name basis. I often dream up my designs in my sleep or while I’m hiking. I miraculously put it all together at my drawing board and design my patterns that end up being long-lasting. My library of patterns dates back to the OG days of the ’90s. When I design a ‘new’ style, I often build off of one of those original patterns. July Five basically offer a line of clothing for women where the styles stay the same and the fabrics and prints change from year to year. More recently, I have fallen in love with Recycling Cashmere Sweaters. That is a treasure hunt!!!, Scouring all of the ARCS in the Denver Metro area, and whatever other Thrift Stores I find along the way. I wash, dry, procure and transform these sweaters into anything from… Ponchos to Scarves, Gators, Pom Hats, Ski Vest Sweaters, and Glovies. Then of course there’s Mountain Legs, which is almost becoming a well-oiled machine. I’ve got the Leggings which are constant. Now, with the recently added Top and Kids, I’ll see where it takes me. The possibilities could be endless, and I’m sailing this ship as long as I can. 

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc.?
Music is my inspiration. Love my playlists and my forever bands. Running 2 businesses has never left me much time to read. 

I actually just started inquiring about some podcasts…gratitude, crime solvers, “Huberman Lab” 

Pricing:

• Mountain Legs Leggings $75 Retail
• Mountain Legs Tops $75 Retail
• Cashmere Ponchos $125 Retail
• Velvet Bell Bottoms $65 Retail
• Mini Skirts $35 Retail

Contact Info:

• Email: julystarfive@gmail.com, mountainlegs@gmail.com
• Website: www.julyfive.com