VOL. 03 — July 2026 This Month in Marieloulou
Hi hi. July was chaos in the best way.
Marieloulou took a little bit of a backseat this month because I opened a cafe. Yeah, you read that right. Deloulou is officially open in Fort Worth, and we are SO busy.
Between that, SS27 designs, the Cozy Cowboy two-toned sweatpants chaps drop, the Mixtape campaign, and it feeling like the surface of the sun outside, this month looked different. Not bad different. Just very full, very real, very “how is all of this happening at once?”
Let’s get into it.
DELOULOU CAFE
A month and a half of work, and we finally had our soft opening.
Deloulou comes from Marieloulou, and from being delulu enough to chase your dreams. Which honestly feels very on brand because I really do think you have to be a little delulu to build something from scratch.
My friends and I built this together, and the branding and marketing is what’s setting us apart. It has the same energy as Marieloulou, just in cafe form.
Youthful. Cozy. Creative. A little unserious, but still thoughtful. The kind of place where you can grab a drink, take a picture, sit with your laptop, talk about ideas, or just exist for a second.
That’s what I wanted it to feel like.
Deloulou is not just a cafe to me. It’s also placing a solid local community around my brand, and that part has been one of the coolest things to watch. The community has already shown up hard. Word of mouth has been spreading, our social media marketing has been moving like wildfire, and I’m just standing there like, okay wow, this is real.
Starting a coffee shop is also significantly harder than I expected.
Nobody warns you about that part lol.
There are so many tiny things that have to happen every single day. Things you do not think about until you are the person responsible for them. The drinks, the supplies, the team, the timing, the customer experience, the brand, the space, the photos, the content, the actual operations. It is a lot.
But it is also so rewarding.
There is something really special about watching people step into something that used to only exist in your head. I feel that with Marieloulou all the time, and now I’m feeling it with Deloulou too.
COME VISIT IF YOU’RE LOCAL!!! You won’t regret it.
TWO-TONED SWEATPANTS CHAPS
I released the original chaps in April, and this month, it was time for the next version: two-toned sweatpants chaps.
Contrasting fringe. Exciting colors. Small change, completely different attitude.
That’s one of my favorite things about design. Sometimes you do not need to rebuild the whole piece to shift the entire energy. You can keep the DNA, change one detail with intention, and suddenly the product has a new personality.
The original Cozy Cowboy Sweatpants chaps already had that comfy-meets-Western thing I love. They felt like something you could throw over an outfit and instantly make it look more styled. But the two-toned version adds more attitude. More contrast. More “wait, where did you get that?”
This drop kind of set the tone for my whole month.
Last month was all matching sets. This month is mixing and not matching. Different textures, different eras, nothing coordinated on purpose.
I love when an outfit feels like it should not technically work, but it does because the person wearing it commits. That’s the energy I’ve been into lately. Less perfect matching. More personality. More pieces that look like they were collected, not assigned.
The two-toned sweatpants chaps fit right into that.
They still have the comfort-first Marieloulou base, but they bring the drama. And not drama in an uncomfortable way. Drama you can move in. Drama you can wear to class, to a coffee run, to a shoot, to a random Tuesday where you just want the outfit to feel like something.
That will always be my favorite balance.
THE MIXTAPE
I built a whole campaign around the mixing-and-matching energy.
90s theme. Summer playlist. The whole thing.
The Mixtape campaign is the campaign I’m most excited about this year so far. It feels so clear to me. Sometimes campaign ideas take forever to find their shape, and sometimes they show up with a whole personality already attached. This one had the personality immediately.
It felt nostalgic without feeling old. Fun without being childish. Styled without feeling too polished. And it gave me a way to tie the two-toned chaps into a bigger world instead of just being like, “new product, go shop.”
I don’t want Marieloulou drops to feel random.
I want each piece to feel like it belongs to a moment, a mood, a story, a playlist, a version of you that you’re stepping into. The Mixtape campaign does that. It gives the collection a sound, not just a look.
The whole thing is about mixing.
Mixing colors. Mixing textures. Mixing eras. Mixing comfort with statement pieces. Mixing what technically “matches” with what just feels right.
And yes, the playlist is on Spotify.
If you haven’t listened yet, go listen. It’s summer, it’s 90s-inspired, and it makes the clothes make even more sense.
CURRENT OBSESSIONS
This month’s obsessions were very specific, which is usually how I know they’re real.
Turning a Persian rug into floor mats
For my ’86 Mercedes convertible.
Do not ask how long this took.
I love the idea of taking something that already has texture, history, and personality, and putting it somewhere unexpected. A Persian rug as car floor mats feels like exactly the type of unnecessary detail that makes me happy.
Is it practical? Maybe not. Is it cute? Yes. Did it take too long? Absolutely.
But sometimes the best ideas are a little inconvenient.
Cassette tape belt buckle
I built this to go with the mixtape inspiration.
Wearable campaign merch basically.
I’ve been really into the idea of campaign details that are not just props. I want the accessories, the visuals, and the styling pieces to feel like they could actually exist in the Marieloulou world.
The cassette tape belt buckle is one of those details. It is small, but it adds so much. It makes the whole Mixtape concept feel more physical, like you can literally wear the campaign.
Staying inside
It is over 100 degrees in Texas.
Not even linen breathes in this.
I’ve accepted defeat and I’m staying in the AC.
I love a summer outfit in theory. In reality, Texas summer is humbling. There is a point where no fabric, no styling trick, no “breezy” piece can save you from that heat. So for now, I am choosing indoor activities, cold drinks, and outfits that do not make me regret leaving the house.
WHAT’S COMING
Fringed crewnecks are dropping.
Matching, two-toned, same energy as the chaps.
If the two-toned chaps were about mixing, these are about matching it back up. Contrast fringe, contrast lining, but built as a set this time.
I’m really excited about these because they pull the whole world together. The chaps brought the bold color and contrast. The Mixtape campaign gave it a story. The crewnecks are going to make it feel complete.
They still have that playful Western-meets-streetwear thing, but in a way that feels more wearable for everyday life. A crewneck is already one of the easiest pieces to throw on, so adding fringe and contrast lining gives it that Marieloulou personality without making it hard to wear.
That is always the goal.
Pieces that feel special, but not complicated.
More details soon.
WHAT I LEARNED THE HARD WAY
Working with friends and meeting a lot of new people this month taught me that communication is everything.
And I mean everything.
It’s genuinely one of my biggest challenges. When you are moving fast, building multiple things, trying to make decisions, and also trying to keep everyone excited and involved, communication can either hold everything together or make everything ten times harder.
When everyone is on the same page, everyone can actually do their part. That sounds obvious, but living it is different.
This month reminded me that people cannot read your mind, even if the vision feels super clear to you. You have to explain things. You have to repeat things. You have to check in. You have to be honest when something is not working. You have to make space for other people to say what they need too.
And patience matters just as much as communication itself.
Especially when things get stressful, which they definitely have.
Opening Deloulou, keeping Marieloulou moving, designing SS27, launching products, building campaigns, and working with friends all at the same time is a lot. It has pushed me in ways I did not expect.
But I think that’s the point.
Every month teaches me something different. July taught me that building cool things is fun, but building cool things with other people requires clarity, patience, and a lot of grace.
We’re learning. We’re building. We’re figuring it out in real time.
THAT’S THE RECAP
July was busy, hot, chaotic, exciting, and very much not what I expected.
Deloulou is open. Two-toned chaps are here. The Mixtape campaign is live. Fringed crewnecks are coming. SS27 is still pulling at my brain. And I’m trying to become a better communicator while staying inside because Texas is doing way too much.
That’s the recap.
buh bye till next month :)
Lou
More New Marieloulou coming soon.
Two-toned fringed crewnecks, more Cozy Cowboy updates, and even more pieces with comfort-first personality are on the way.
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