This North Jersey mother-daughter duo are changing the luxury clothing industry

Growing up, Margot Adams’s relationship with her mother Gina Kuyers wasn’t always smooth. But as adults, they learned to work well together ― literally.

In 2019, Adams joined her mother's business, Luxeire, which creates comfortable women's clothing using ecofriendly fabric, as head of marketing and sales.

Mother and daughter's different skill sets make a perfect fit

Kuyers learned to sew at a young age, designed her own clothes in college and always had a sewing machine for quick fixes, but doesn't consider her skills professional-level. She does know how to find information, though; a 20-year career in school psychology instilled research skills that benefit her self-proclaimed clothes obsession. To launch Luxeire, she dug into the history of design, textiles, and fashion shifts through the ages.

Kuyers eventually pivoted from her career in school psychology to dedicate herself to Luxeire. “There’s no way we could accomplish what we do and have different focuses,” Kuyers says.

Adams attended Parsons School of Design in New York City, where she studied strategic design and management to earn a business degree. Along with the business savvy she brings to Luxeire, her longtime photography interest made it easy to take pictures of herself in the brand’s clothes for the website (she’s the model featured in every photo on the site, too).

That dream started to take shape as Kuyers’ hobby, but in 2019 it grew into a business that generated profits. But she needed someone with the skillsets she didn’t have before the business could take off. She didn’t need to look far to find the perfect match to complement her capabilities.

Adams learned from interning with a small shoe brand how to get the business moving at a low cost. Her knowledge coupled with her mother’s eye for fashion brought their luxury clothing business Luxeire to life.

Adams became her mother’s business partner with enough experience to manage many duties, but “A lot of it has been self-taught,” she says, including some coding in order to update Luxeire’s website. “I’m constantly learning, and I think working with my mom … being able to do something that will potentially help the family … has been very rewarding,” Adams says. “I have a lot of stake in the company because I care about its success beyond the finances involved.”

Selling classy yet cozy clothing

Luxeire sells “timeless” staple clothing items “that women want in their wardrobes everyday”— solid-colored button-ups, long sleeve shirts, tank tops and turtlenecks — made with breathable, easy-to-wash fabrics.

The idea stemmed from Kuyers’ lifelong adoration of high-end and vintage fashion and her garments collected from thrift stores and auction items over the years.

“I found that a lot of beautiful fashion, almost like pieces of artwork, are impossible to keep clean (and) they’re not that comfortable,” Kuyers says. “I wanted create something that was stylish and comfortable to wear beneath so that I could enjoy all these crazy, fun clothes I had.”

“We are all victims of having purchased something that looked great, we put it on and it’s not really that comfortable” Adams agrees.

Kuyers realized people want to look good, but also feel as comfortable as possible, something that grew even more apparent as everyone hunkered down at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Edgewater-based family’s clothing brand took off with its first and best-selling item, a white button-up shirt. It’s not just a standard collared dress, though. Luxeire’s shirts look “tailored and sophisticated,” in Kuyers’ words, but comfortable enough for everyday wear.

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As the business took off, the concept evolved from innerwear to tops that look good on the outside while also feeling soft against the wearer’s skin. The scoop-neck shirts and turtlenecks are versatile, Adams notes. Friends have worn their Luxeire tops under clothing to warm up on a ski trip and again to go out on the town.

Karen Macartney, a close family friend who helped them with some accounting tasks, has not found anything quite like it anywhere else.

“I support (Luxeire) for two main reasons: the quality and design of the garments, and to support a small, American-made, woman-owned manufacturer,” Macartney says. “What really makes a difference in Luxeire pieces is the very high-quality, breathable & stretchy (but not clingy) fabric … and the design and cut of the tops and shirts. The styles enhance so many different body shapes.”

Adams and Kuyers’ clothing uses nylon and spandex blend fabrics sourced from a mill in Bergamo, Italy, and made entirely from recycled materials. That quality, along with its unique softness and ability to machine wash, sets Luxeire’s items apart from other clothes. But the material is not typically used to create a structured garment.

“It’s difficult to work with … which is why other companies aren’t doing it,” Kuyers says. “But our fabric is what makes the product, so there’s no way around that.”

Only one person in the New York studio they used for manufacturing was trained to sew it. Physically putting together Luxeire clothing is one of the few tasks the mother-daughter duo outsources. Mainly, though, they’re a “lean, mean team” of two.

The Luxeire leaders anticipate more success in their business future. They’re growing fast, so they need “more hands,” Adams says. She hopes to hire an intern with expertise in areas she’s not as familiar with.

Recently, Luxeire introduced two new fabrics that feel similar to athleticwear or lingerie. Kuyers and Adams are eager to launch their first-ever seasonal collections, starting with a fresh color pallet coming in the fall. Shoppers can also expect new shirt styles coming to the online shop, and they hope to gain many more customers in the coming year.

Adams and Kuyers say they got to where they are today by navigating obstacles, both in their relationship and with the business. “Every time we hit some kind of bump in the road, that’s really the time I’ve noticed when we’ve buckle down and been like, alright, something needs to change,” Adams says. “Our business, I think, has always improved after those bumps in the road.”

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Edgewater NJ-based Luxeire is mom-daughter duo's cozy clothing brand