FINDING HER FIT

Lake Forest entrepreneur Emily Delfino followed an unexpected path to building the career she always imagined.

EMILY DELFINO DIDN’T SET OUT to build a custom clothing business.

When the Lake Bluff native graduated from Purdue University with a degree in nutrition science, fashion wasn’t part of the plan. But careers have a funny way of finding us. Today, Delfino is the founder of Lake Forest Custom Clothiers, a by-appointment showroom tucked inside her Lake Forest home, where she creates custom wardrobes for clients across the North Shore.

“I loved dressing people,” Delfino says of her early days working weekends at Ralph Lauren in Chicago. “I loved putting things together. I thought if I poured my heart and soul into learning this industry, maybe one day I could create something for myself.”

That “someday” would take more than a decade. Delfino spent the next 13 years immersed in the world of custom menswear, learning every aspect of the business while quietly preparing for the opportunity to one day build something of her own.

Life took her and her husband, Brandon—a fellow Lake Forest High School graduate—far beyond the North Shore before eventually bringing them home again. Along the way, they welcomed daughters Mia and Coco and found what they hope will be their forever home in Lake Forest.

Then the phone started ringing. Former clients wanted to know if she would create custom clothing for them once again.

“It kind of sparked something,” Delfino says. “When those clients started calling, I realized maybe this was my moment.”

She spent the next several years sourcing luxury fabrics, establishing manufacturing partners and transforming the library of her home into the intimate showroom that now houses her business.

On any given afternoon, her showroom might be glowing with a fire, a glass of whiskey waiting on the bar, and a client standing before a mirror as Delfino guides him through fabrics, colors, and silhouettes.

Every consultation begins not with measurements, but with conversation.

“What do you wear to work? What do you wear on date nights? Weddings? Funerals?” Delfino asks. “I want to understand their lifestyle first because we’re building a wardrobe around the life they live.”

Only after understanding how a client lives will she begin taking nearly 50 measurements and helping select fabrics, linings, and details that reflect both the client’s personality and needs.

Her philosophy is simple.

“You don’t buy a wardrobe,” Delfino says. “You build a wardrobe.”

Rather than replacing everything at once, she helps clients create wardrobes piece by piece over time.

While balancing a growing business with raising two young daughters and serving on the Lake Forest Caucus, Delfino says the work has never felt more rewarding.

“When I see a client put on his clothes for the first time and the way he stands a little taller, it’s the best feeling,” she says. “It makes me excited to do it again and again.”

Like many entrepreneurs, she admits the biggest hurdles are often the ones she creates for herself.

“I’m so afraid of disappointing people,” Delfino explains. “But this community has been incredibly supportive. The more I remember that I’m here to support them—and they’re supporting me—those fears go away.”

For Delfino, custom clothing has never really been about jackets or sport coats. It’s about confidence.

“I always tell people that first impressions last a lifetime,” she says. “Within a millisecond, people form an impression of you. Whether it’s your wedding day, your first interview, or the first day of a new job, show up looking and feeling like your best self.”

Looking around at the life she has built, Delfino knows she has found exactly what she spent years working toward. “It’s such a natural feeling,” she says. “I’ve finally come into something that I care about so much.”