The idea for Balodana started when founder Dana Todd found herself frustrated with the retail shopping experience in America. Even at high-end stores, she noticed that garments didn’t fit her body or were made poorly. Boutiques were better, but often had shapeless garments that didn’t feel powerful or stylish. She found this to be a common complaint among her friends of all ages and body types, but it was particularly an issue for mature women and women who wore larger than a size 6.

Separately,reports emerged about the significant environmental damage being wrought by the fast fashion industry, which creates mountains of overproduction waste and chemical impacts to water and land. Not to mention, the labor practices of the garment industry frequently injure or even kill workers.

Then, Dana found a designer in Romania who manufactured original designs on a made-to-measure basis at a price competitive to most US department store clothing. She was hooked! She decided to build a marketplace that connects women with custom clothiers from around the world, in a setting that combines the convenience of Internet shopping but with the high-touch customer service of a posh retail store. She found more great designers and tailors and invited them to help “bring back the dressmaker” for American women. The resulting Balodana company brings together old-fashioned customer service and dressmaking skills, but with the best new technology to help support you better.