Maxie J. knows that a brand cannot survive on good clothes alone. It needs a customer, a point of view, and the infrastructure to meet demand when the moment comes — and that’s where her brand, Ellaé Lisqué, comes in.
For more than a decade, Ellaé Lisqué has dressed a specific kind of woman: one who wants sharp tailoring, edgy separates, statement-making dresses, and dazzling occasionwear without having to choose between quality, confidence, and price. Worn by Summer Walker, Amber Riley, Saweetie, Meagan Good, Tamar Braxton, and more, the brand has built its reach without losing sight of the customer who made it possible.
As Ellaé Lisqué continues to expand its world with the summer edition of the CEO capsule, Maxie J.’s approach feels especially clear: the clothes are only one part of the business. The real power is in knowing who you serve, how you serve them, and how to build something that can last.
We spoke with Maxie J. about design, growth, direct-to-consumer power, fashion’s gatekeeping problem, and what it takes to build a brand on your own terms.
Ellaé Lisqué sits between aspiration and accessibility. When you were building the brand, did you think you were creating a brand or solving a problem?
I thought I was doing both, honestly. When I started out as a stylist, I would go to malls and pull clothes for clients, and something was always off about the garments — especially when it came to how comfortable and confident a woman felt in the design.
Tugging and pulling at yourself all night is uncomfortable — no matter how cute it looks. I really consider functionality when I’m designing dresses, women’s suits, and everything else. I’m big on the functionality, and the confidence that you will have when you’re wearing it, and the flattering fit. So, yeah, I was trying to solve a problem in that sense, but I was also building a brand.
Ellaé Lisqué is known for statement pieces, especially birthday and occasion dressing. What does that say about how women want to be seen right now?
I don’t desire to sell to every woman. I’m okay with selling to a specific type of woman — I just had to make sure there were a lot of those women. And honestly, those women are me.
I like to get dressed, and I don’t believe you have to spend thousands of dollars to have a quality garment. That’s why I pride myself on being in that happy medium. I’m not cheap, but I’m not extremely expensive either. My muse is the girl who likes to get dressed, likes to stand out, loves luxury, and knows how to mix her highs and lows.
What did you understand about your customer early that other brands missed?
Branding. My branding has been consistent from the beginning. My logo is the same, my colorway is the same, the way I speak to my customers is the same, and the font choices are consistent. I got a lot of things wrong, but one thing I got right was brand identity.
I didn’t rush into just making clothes. I was obsessed with every detail — what type of logo spoke to the brand, what fonts made sense, who my customer was, where she was going, what kind of money she made, and what she was willing to spend. A lot of people skip over that part and go straight to making clothes, but then the brand can feel all over the place. You have to know what you want to be known for.
You manufacture in-house, which most emerging brands can’t do. How has that changed your level of control?
A lot. Being able to be vertical gives me the flexibility to be on time, even when I’m late. With having our own manufacturing facility, I can prioritize which styles get produced first, what can wait, and what needs to happen now — even if we’re technically behind on perfecting a collection.
I’m in my own factory, so I could turn a style around in two weeks if that’s what I want to do. That has helped me a lot. Before, you could end up getting your spring collection during the holidays and your holiday collection in the summertime. Then you’re trying to find creative ways to sell items in the wrong season. That was tough. It was my biggest hurdle when I was building my brand.
A lot of brands have one viral moment but struggle to grow past it. What systems did you put in place that allowed Ellaé Lisqué to scale?
Consistency outworks everything. A lot of people go viral and get overwhelmed, so they pause the business to get control. But momentum is harder to rebuild than it is to reach the first time.
You also have to control your growth. How did you get thousands of orders if you don’t have thousands of products in stock? I like to grow at a pace I can control, versus growing past my capacity, my team, and my inventory. You have to structure yourself as a scalable business from the beginning.
You’ve mentioned losing around 50% of sales after relocating. What did that moment force you to rethink about your business?
During that moment, I learned a really expensive lesson. Your business has seasons, and sometimes it has permanent growth spurts. You have to know how to discern which one is which.
I had a three-month run where sales were growing, and I immediately expanded to a bigger location. But the location had less foot traffic, and because I had invested my savings into the move, I didn’t have the capital to keep restocking and marketing the items that were actually carrying the business. I learned to stay in my overflow. Make sure the growth is real before expanding. I made that mistake at six figures so I wouldn’t make a seven-figure mistake later.
Do you feel brands like yours are still labeled “Instagram brands” versus fashion brands, and does that distinction even matter anymore?
Good question. I have a few different emotions about that. Since I’m not hitting people over the head with prices, I don’t feel like the fashion industry treats me like a real brand or designer. They’ll invite me to entrepreneur panels because they know I built a successful business, but when it comes to fashion, they don’t always see me as valid.
That’s why I create my own shows and experiences. I’m not going to force anybody to accept me. I think my price point plays a role in how the industry sees me, and so does the fact that my customer base is majority African American.
Was there a specific moment when that became clear to you?
Yeah. I was in New York for Fashion Week at a showroom, and it was my first time presenting in that kind of space because I had dominated e-commerce.
It was a beautiful showroom, but they had me in a back room with other designers, while other brands had dedicated conference rooms, displays, and branding. Looking around, it felt like the brands in that room were being treated differently.
Then a buyer from a major retailer pulled me aside and said she was shocked they had me positioned as an emerging brand when I had already been in business for years and had something every wholesale brand wants: a direct-to-consumer base.
I immediately packed my stuff up. That was the moment I realized, “I don’t really belong here — and that’s okay.” I can do my own thing and not try to fit into that industry.
When celebrities started wearing Ellaé Lisqué, did that change your approach or just amplify what you were already doing?
It just amplified what I was already doing. I never made my brand celebrity-driven. My influencers are my customers. If you go to my social media, we repost anybody who looks good. I don’t care if you have 500,000 followers or 500 followers — if you put it on and the picture is eating, you’re getting reposted.
Celebrities are not what put my brand on. It was the round-the-way fly girl who came to me every time she needed something to wear. It was the girl who shopped with me every birthday after she found out about my brand. I appreciate celebrities wearing my garments, and it gives us authority, but my business model is not wrapped around celebrity placement.
With having something like SheCom Club under your belt, what do people misunderstand most about building an e-commerce brand today?
SheCom Club is a spin on e-commerce, so I’m teaching women in e-commerce no matter what product they’re selling. I didn’t want to narrow it down to just fashion because online businesses all have a similar formula when it comes to scaling and sustaining.
The biggest misconception is that people think it’s easier than it is. Your whole business is online. Your storefront is your website, your Instagram, your Facebook — everything. It’s beyond making cute clothes and posting them on Instagram.
If Ellaé Lisqué disappeared tomorrow, what part of your impact would you want to remain?
That’s one of the reasons I started SheCom Club. I want women to say, ‘I learned how to make money from that girl. She didn’t gatekeep. She gave me the actual resources I needed.’ Not fluff, not smoke and mirrors, not information you could have Googled.
When I was struggling, I promised God that my success would make room for other people to win. I want to be known as the woman who showed other women the way; who helped them build businesses, take care of their families, and create success that was bigger than themselves.
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