Denver designer Rachel Lefort launches 23-stop national trunk show tour for made-to-order women's suiting
As corporate employers enforce strict return-to-office mandates this fall, Denver designer Rachel Lefort is taking her semi-custom womenswear label on the road. Midnight Oil, which offers made-to-order women's suiting in 19 sizes with five interior pockets, will host 23 trunk shows across eight states between October 6 and December 31, bringing bespoke tailoring typically reserved for menswear directly to executive women.
Midnight Oil is staging 23 trunk-show runs across 11 cities and eight states through December 31, beginning with a downtown Minneapolis retail pop-up running October 7 through November 30. Stops range from Orange County, California, to North Kingstown, Rhode Island.
At each stop, clients select from over 75 fabrics sourced from Italian mills including Reda and Vitale Barberis Canonico, undergo in-person fittings, and order pieces cut and sewn to order in Portugal. Garments deliver within six to eight weeks.
Founder Rachel Lefort trained in haute couture at Christian Dior and Pierre Balmain before pivoting to styling men in made-to-order suiting in Colorado, where the disparity in tailoring access became obvious.
"For years I styled men in clothes made just for them, then went back to my women clients with nothing like it to offer," said Rachel Lefort, Founder and Designer of Midnight Oil. "Nobody should have to choose between an 8 and a 10 when she is a 9."
Midnight Oil's blazers, trousers, skirts, and coats are cut across 19 standard base sizes (0 to 18) with customizable sleeve, jacket, and inseam lengths. Every blazer is built with five functional interior pockets. To eliminate inventory waste and fit uncertainty, clients receive two try-on sample garments by mail before final fabric is cut. Blazers retail from $550 to $1,275 and trousers from $285 to $525.
Trend context
With companies like Fidelity and Best Buy mandating four- to five-day office weeks this fall, apparel demand is surging even as women face an unregulated retail sizing system where arbitrary brand measurements force costly alterations. By pairing Savile Row-style custom measurement with in-person regional trunk shows, Midnight Oil targets corporate women navigating mandatory office returns without access to traditional bespoke tailoring.
About Midnight Oil
Why we exist
Men have long had easy access to custom tailoring. Most professional women are left with off-the-rack sizing, arbitrary brand measurements, and hefty alteration bills. Rachel Lefort spent years styling men in made-to-order suiting, realizing women lacked the same operational ease. Midnight Oil exists so executive women do not have to fight their clothing before walking into high-stakes rooms.
How we do it
No tailored piece exists until a woman orders it. She chooses the fabric, one of 19 sizes, her jacket, sleeve and trouser lengths, then the lining, buttons and thread. Try-on samples reach her by mail before anything is cut. Her order is then cut and sewn in Portugal, in fabric from Italian and Portuguese mills. A stylist guides the fit, in person or virtually, at no charge.
What we do
Midnight Oil designs and sells semi-custom womenswear: made-to-order blazers, trousers, skirts, coats and tuxedos, plus ready-to-wear silk blouses, belts and scarves. It sells direct at midnightoilcollection.com and through personal stylists around the United States. Founder and designer: Rachel Lefort. Based in Colorado. On public sale since August 9, 2022. Blazers $550 to $1,275 and trousers $285 to $525, before options (October 6, 2026).
Why it matters
If Midnight Oil vanished at midnight, its customers would lose the in-between size, the sleeve cut to their own arm and the fit check before the fabric is cut. The enemy is the rack: clothes cut for an average woman who does not exist, in sizes no one regulates. The victim is the woman who is still the only one in the room and knows her jacket is being read before she speaks. The victor is the woman who ordered once, months ago, and has not had to think about it since.
Who it's for
The woman who walks into the room and is still the only one. She has the pitch, the board meeting or the deposition of her year coming, she is between sizes, and no sleeve has ever stopped at her wrist. She does not want fashion. She wants to order once, know it fits, and stop thinking about it.
Proof points
• 19 sizes on the order form: every whole number from 0 to 18, on blazers, trousers, skirts and coats (midnightoilcollection.com, October 6, 2026).
• More than 75 blazer fabrics on offer, with 48 lining colors and 26 button styles (store listings, October 6, 2026).
• Jacket lengths from 22 to 27 inches, sleeves from 20 to 25.5 inches and trouser inseams from 24 to 34 inches, or unhemmed, or a custom measurement (product pages, October 6, 2026).
• 5 inside pockets in each blazer (product pages).
• 2 sizes of try-on sample mailed before production: the size ordered plus one other (company ordering guide).
• 6 to 8 weeks from confirmed fit to delivery; up to 12 on late-summer and early-fall orders (company FAQ, October 6, 2026).
• 3 Italian mills named on its product pages: Reda (founded 1865), Guabello and Vitale Barberis Canonico.
Traction & credibility
• Founder's training: internships at Christian Dior and Pierre Balmain in Paris, then work for Maggie Norris Couture in New York.
• 2018: she assisted with the installation of the Denver Art Museum's exhibition "Dior: From Paris to the World."
• 2021 to 2022: a year-long pre-launch with paying early customers, then the public launch on August 9, 2022 (company blog, August 8, 2022).
• Interviews and features: Cherry Creek Fashion (September 2022), Energize Colorado's Ten Minute Triumphs (October 9, 2024), Shoutout Colorado (April 16, 2025).
• August 2026: Angela Jia Kim, founder of Savor Beauty, introduced as a Midnight Oil ambassador (Power Threads, August 19, 2026).
• Milestones in 2026: the Fall/Winter 2026 collection (August); the Strength Collection for Breast Cancer Awareness Month (September); trunk shows on the road this fall (September 22 to December 31).
Spokespeople
Rachel Lefort
Founder, Designer & CEO
Origin scar: her training was in haute couture, with internships at Christian Dior and Pierre Balmain in Paris and work for Maggie Norris Couture in New York. A family move to Colorado brought what she calls a career pivot into personal styling. Unfair advantage: years of styling men in made-to-order clothes, where she was chosen to train other stylists in the Denver market, so she knows how a garment is made and how it is sold. The pivot: "Styling men was much easier than styling women," she told Shoutout Colorado in 2025, and Midnight Oil is her answer. In the same interview: "Made-to-order clothing is no longer just a boys' club."
Talking points
The shift
Midnight Oil Launches 23-Stop Trunk Show Tour Across Eight U.S. States for Made-to-Order Women's Suiting
The story
Midnight Oil is taking its semi-custom womenswear model on the road with 23 trunk shows scheduled across 11 cities and eight states between October 6 and December 31, 2026. Beginning with a retail pop-up in downtown Minneapolis on October 7, personal stylists will conduct in-person fittings for professional women, offering 19 base sizes and custom measurements with garments produced in Portugal.
Why it matters
Employers are calling staff back: Fidelity went to five days a week in September, and Best Buy said its headquarters would go to four (WBUR; FOX 9). Women's sizes are not regulated (The Pudding, February 2026). Lefort has said styling men was "much easier" because menswear came made to order; her answer is to take the same idea to women, in their own towns.
Who does it impact
Executive women facing five-day corporate office mandates across Chicago, Minneapolis, Seattle, Orange County, Jacksonville, Northern Virginia, Wisconsin, and Rhode Island can access bespoke tailoring without traveling to fashion capitals or relying on standard rack sizing.
Proof points
The tour includes a dedicated pop-up in downtown Minneapolis opening October 7, 2026, alongside scheduled runs in 11 cities. Midnight Oil holds a zero-inventory production record with try-on samples sent across 19 sizes and fabrication sourced from Italian mills including Reda, Guabello, and Vitale Barberis Canonico.
CTA
Book a complimentary in-person fitting or reserve a virtual styling session with try-on samples at midnightoilcollection.com.
Get in touch
Rachel Lefort
Founder, Designer & CEO
Drop me a note and I'll reply by email.