story of our encounter

Portrait of the designers

In Paris in 1989, their passion for fashion brought them together

JULEI is first and foremost the story of a meeting between two friends who meet again after 25 years. It is a marriage between two fashion designers: a Quebecer from New York, Leila Ligougne, and a Quebecer from Montréal, Julie Magnan. Together, they share the desire to collaborate and unite their talents.

Julie Magnan has been passionate about fashion design since the age of 8. She became an entrepreneur at the age of 28 by founding her own loungewear brand called Touch of Me, which she marketed internationally. In 2018, after returning to study full-time at HEC Montréal, she acquired a specialty in brand management. With JULEI, she combines her passion for fashion design and marketing, and implements her vision of a fashion ideal for women: that of combining comfort and femininity in coherence with respect for the body and nature that surrounds it.

Leila Ligougne was influenced by the artistic talents of her parents. After studying fashion in Paris, she settled in New York where she learned the ropes of the trade and developed her talent for high-end creation with Catherine Malandrino, Vivienne Tam, Jill Stuart, then at Victoria's Secret, as a design director. She then created an eponymous line, until the advent of the pandemic. JULEI allows her to implement her expertise and pursue a project combining function and ethics, which is close to her heart.