biographie

Aurelie Wenkel was born in France, and lived her early childhood frolicking the beaches of the french riviera and hiking trails in the foothill of the Alps. Her multicultural upbringing influences her creativity in many ways, and her devotion to empowering women comes from all the strong women who have supported her family generations after generations. From her great-grandmother starting her own business at the turn of the century, to her grandmother continuing the legacy, and her mother who didn't say no moving halfway across the world in order to give her children the opportunity to experience something new.

Her love of fashion and designing first came from helping her mom make her figure skating costumes when she moved to Michigan in her childhood. Later she moved to San Francisco to attend a french high school located in the heart of the iconic Haight-Ashbury, spending most of her lunch hour running down the hill to forage at all the vintage stores on Haight street.

Fast forward to 2008- after spending many long hours designing, sewing, sweating, crying, and laughing she received her MFA in fashion design from Academy of Art University in San Francisco, CA. Following her love of snow, mountains and snowboarding, she moved to Truckee, in the beautiful Lake Tahoe region, to start her own sustainable clothing company. From sewing in a walk-in closet of an 8 bedroom 70's party house, to then making her studio in the very cold garage of her A-frame cabin. She now resides in the south of France, in a sleepy village nestled in the foothill of the Alps, living the true slow life.

Staying true to her roots, Les Flaneuses is a blend of American, french and vintage fashion, while making everything in a sustainable way. She is involved in all parts of the process in Les Flaneuses, from designing, sewing, wrapping up orders, and everything in between.