Dodiee Makes Clothes For A Grand Life

At 20 years old, Elisa Dahan started her career at a small Canadian outerwear company. Over the following two decades, as co-chief creative officer, she’d build Mackage into the globally recognized luxury outfitter it is today. For Dahan, however, that was just the start. “We didn't realize as 20-year-old kids that we were going to build a global brand and actually be acquired,” she says. “I stayed on for five years, then I realized, ‘I love building, I love the hustle, I love the challenge. It's time to start a new chapter.’"

Enter Dodiee, a groundbreaking hybrid of knitwear-meets-shapewear, created with a true high-end, luxury touch and made in Italy’s top factories, and specifically designed by women for women. The name itself is a loving tribute to Dahan’s own mother. “I bought the domain name for Dodiee 20 years ago,” Dahan says. “It's something I wanted to do. I didn't know when and I didn't know what [it would be], but as the years went by, I realized that I love knitwear. I love embellishing women's silhouettes and fusing fashion and function.. It's all about the women. It's always about how to empower and support women and make you feel confident and beautiful.”

Since it’s launch in late 2022, Dodiee has amassed a devoted fan base that includes Brooke Shields, Paris Hilton, and at their most recent dinner during Paris Fashion Week alone: Daria Strokous, Irina Lazareanu, Lindsey Wixson, Christie Tyler, and countless fashion editors and influencers. Here, Dahan shares the secret to her success, from making shapewear sexy to why parties are always part of the equation.

I love the idea of a knitwear-shapewear hybrid, because it is so simple yet genius. How did that idea come to you?

I really, really love knitwear, but I find it unforgiving. I always put on knitwear dresses and then I take them off because it shows a little too much. I thought, “Shapewear is so democratized now and it's OK to wear it, so why not combine it?” And then it slowly evolved into this. I left Mackage in October '21, and by November '22 I had launched Dodiee, so a year later, which is pretty crazy.

After working at one company for 20 years, how did you go about introducing this new one?

I launched by opening a pop-up in New York, which was really fun because it was a great way for me to introduce the brand and to have its home, to be able to share my story, but also to see how consumers felt about the product. As a brand, you're constantly evolving and you're constantly learning and being able to be there. I was literally there every day for a month. I would just love seeing women come out, either lighting up or not lighting up, but understanding why, and then understanding what works for who.

It was a really fun experience. We ended the store with a closing event, which was hosted by Helena Christensen. For me, this is so new to be able to see women dressed in the product, because I mean, I always did outerwear, so when we would do events, people would take off their coats. So to be surrounded by women wearing what I made made me feel like it was just amazing.

I can only imagine. What were some of the big moments that came for the brand out of that first pop-up?

It was a pinch-me moment when Helena left the store that evening, and she went for drinks with Brooke Shields, and Brooke Shields liked her dress. The next day I get a call, "Can Brooke Shields come to the store?" This was two months into me launching. I was like, "Is this really happening?" She ended up coming to the store and trying on clothes for two hours.

Honestly, I love telling this story because I think it's so easy to dress perfect women, but to dress real women is the challenge, and to allow real women to be able to wear trends. It's like my booty shorts — women can wear them. They're booty shorts, but they cover the right areas. When I look at a picture of a model wearing a product, I want to know that I can actually wear the dress and it's going to look just as good on me. It's like, OK, “Yes, we want to be aspirational when we're showing the collection, but how do real women feel when you put it on?” That's really what my drive is: how to make women feel celebrated.

I remember going to a dinner that you and Brooke co-hosted, wearing a cut of a jumpsuit I’d normally feel insecure about, but felt truly confident because of how the fabric held in the right places.

That's what I want women to feel. I also love to design timeless pieces that become wardrobe staples. I love having those events. Seeing everybody and the way they style the clothes, it’s a gift. Every time I feel like a kid in a candy store. I'm like, "Oh, that's a good way to wear it."

For the current collection, you have this one crochet knit that I’ve seen worn a million different ways.

It's all about making pieces that are timeless and that last and have good craftsmanship. Spring was a huge challenge because I'm like, “in people's minds, knitwear is too warm.” To be able to do sheerness and crochets, but still find ways to bring in the compression when I can, that was a fun challenge. I'm always pushing myself to develop new techniques in order to be able to give that support, but also have that fluidity, because you don't think of fluidity when you're thinking about knitwear.

How much is the compression and the shapewear of it all still informing the designs of each collection for you?

I would say a good 60% has [compression fabrics]. I really like designing as outfit. I have a little bolero with a pointelle sleeve, and a matching pointelle skirt; the bolero doesn't have any shapewear, but then the skirt has a micro mini inside that has the compression. In general, my dresses all have it except for the crochet one. But in separates, it depends. Sometimes it's the top, sometimes it's the bottom.I don't like putting a bottom and a top that have compression together.

As you’ve started seeing how women are wearing and styling the clothes, has who you're designing for changed?

No. I think that it's evolved in the sense that at the beginning, I was so hyper-focused on the compression component that everything had it, and my design creativity was a little bit dimmed in the setting. Now that I'm super comfortable with how to do the compression, I feel free. It sounds bizarre, but I feel like creatively, I can do anything, which is fun because I'm constantly challenging myself. I have more and more fun every season, and I'm discovering things that I want to do.

Do you want to expand the brand into further categories?

For fall, I added a leather jacket. I added a faux fur. It's fun to have these additional things because to me, it is about wardrobing. I would love to eventually have a total look. And when I feel like a look needs a leather jacket, it's hard for me not to do it.

Plus, the Dodiee woman feels so global at this point.

She really is. When I launched, it was nowhere but to me, it was a global brand. I think you need to think like that when you want to build a global brand. You have to design that way. My woman travels. She's on an adventure. I always say one of the reasons I launched Dodiee was to make women live a grand life because my mom didn't have a chance to. That idea of grandeur to me means travel and being worldly.

Do all of the dinner parties and events you host play into this grandeur?

Yes. It's really about bringing women together and celebrating women. Life is supposed to be a party, and it's supposed to be fun. I want to bring women together. In a perfect world, we would be dancing like crazy. I think everything should be a celebration, and especially in moments like Fashion Week where all of you guys are going from one place to the next, and it's like hustle and bustle. To be able to have a moment for yourself and to celebrate and unwind with girls, there's nothing better. Women together, there's nothing better.