About Us

Who We Are

Cape de Coeur is the expression of my life’s work.

Born into the culture of European design and shaped by Vienna’s artistic heritage, I trained in fashion design and technical innovation before founding my first private label in the late 1990s. My career evolved into costume design and runway illustration in Paris, followed by more than two decades designing for internationally renowned sportswear brands. Later, I moved to Vancouver, a technology hub of the Pacific Northwest, where I served as Design Leader at Lululemon.

I have lived in two worlds:
the disciplined precision of European couture,
and the engineering-driven performance culture of the Pacific Northwest.
Cape de Coeur is where these worlds meet.

Living in one of the rainiest cities in the world, I experienced a personal contradiction. I could design high-performance outerwear, yet I could not find a weatherproof garment that allowed me to feel elegant and powerful in my own life.

Technical rainwear protected the body but compromised presence. Fashion offered beauty but failed in the elements. There was no outerwear that allowed a woman to walk into a meeting in the rain and arrive composed, protected, polished, and entirely herself.

I refused to accept that compromise.

My aesthetic draws from the architectural discipline of mid-century haute couture — Elsa Schiaparelli, Cristóbal Balenciaga, Charles James, Christian Dior, and the surrealist imagination of Salvador Dalí. Vienna’s Art Nouveau and Art Deco heritage inform my sense of texture, while Japanese design shapes my pursuit of clarity and silhouette. The industrial philosophy of Dieter Rams and the architectural vision of Zaha Hadid reinforce my belief that innovation must always serve aesthetic excellence.

Each piece is developed with couture-level discipline and engineered with performance-level precision, where fabric, construction, texture, and silhouette are conceived as one.

Cape de Coeur exists in a rare space:
where heritage informs innovation, and engineering serves elegance.

Our Mission - Why We Exist

We exist because compromise should no longer be the standard.

For decades, women have been asked to choose between beauty and protection, elegance and performance, presence and practicality. We reject that choice.

Our mission is to unite sculptural design with uncompromising performance, creating outerwear that moves seamlessly through the realities of modern life.

From city streets to coastal winds.
From business meetings to evening gatherings.
From movement to stillness.

We design for those who expect more:
more intelligence in construction,
more refinement in silhouette,
more intention in every detail.

Cape de Coeur exists to ensure that protection never diminishes presence, and performance never compromises elegance.

Why The Cape

I was once asked in a press interview, “Why capes?”
My answer was immediate:
“I love the drama. I love the history of the cape and the psychological strength it carries.”

The cape has always been more than a garment. It carries centuries of symbolism — protection, authority, presence. It changes posture. It alters how you enter a room. It moves with intention.

But beyond its emotional power, the cape is profoundly intelligent.

Unlike a traditional coat, it allows air to circulate freely beneath it. Garments remain unwrinkled. The structure is preserved. The silhouette underneath is not compressed, it is protected.

It shields without confinement.
It offers freedom without sacrificing form.

For me, it was never about designing another coat.
It was about reclaiming a form that is at once historic and modern, architectural yet fluid, expressive yet functional.

The cape is protection refined.
Engineered with precision, it becomes quiet power

What We Believe In

We believe beauty and performance are equals.
You should never have to choose between elegance and protection, presence and practicality

We believe true luxury is restraint.
Luxury is not excess, noise, or display.
It is choosing carefully. Living deliberately. Investing in what endures.
Fewer pieces. Greater meaning. A wardrobe that reflects the life you are building — not the noise around you.

We believe clothing should strengthen your presence.
What you wear should not distract from you, it should clarify you.
It should move with your ambition, support your evolution, and accompany you into new chapters.
When women stand firmly in their power, the world shifts.

We believe in culture over trends.
You are not defined by seasons. Neither are we.
We create outside the calendar, releasing only when a piece is ready, when it meets our uncompromising standard.
In a world driven by speed, we choose patience.

We believe in human creativity.
Creation is a human act.
Our campaigns and craftsmanship are shaped by real hands, real vision, real expertise. Technology may support the process, but it never replaces human imagination.

We believe responsibility is non-negotiable.
Excellence and ethics are inseparable.
We take responsibility for every step, for the people who craft our garments, for the environment, and for the standard we set.
That is why we work exclusively within a European supply chain built on the highest social and environmental principles.

How We Create & Honour The Craft 

In a world of mass production, we choose mastery.

Every Cape de Coeur piece begins long before it is seen.
Our proprietary CoeurTex fabric required nearly two years of research, testing, and refinement before it met our standard.

Each silhouette evolves over more than a year through multiple prototypes, rigorous fitting sessions, extensive wear testing, and adjustments measured in millimetres.

Development is exacting.
Proportion, movement, and protection must align precisely.
We refine until performance and sculptural clarity exist as one.

The inside of a garment matters as much as the outside.
Every seam, every finish, every hidden detail is considered with the same discipline as the silhouette it supports.

Production takes place in small, exclusive runs within a highly specialized division of our European manufacturing partner, a team of high-tech artisans who unite deep craftsmanship with advanced technical precision.

Physical prototypes are tested in real conditions.
Advanced 3D development tools support refinement and reduce waste.
Innovation serves precision.
Craft remains central.

From fabric to final production, we work intentionally within a European supply chain that meets, and often exceeds the highest social and environmental standards.
We do not overproduce.
We restock selectively. Nothing is made without purpose.

A commitment to garments whose integrity you can see, and whose performance you can feel.

Who We Design For

We design for those who understand presence.

Each Cape de Coeur silhouette resonates differently, some are drawn to composure and quiet authority, others to lightness and movement, others to refined strength. These are not costumes. They are reflections, facets of conviction, sensuality, grace.

Our muses have always been women of substance and singularity, Audrey Hepburn’s effortless elegance, Romy Schneider’s depth and intensity, Joan of Arc’s fearless resolve. Not icons to imitate, but energies to interpret.

We design for those who move between worlds.
Who require performance without sacrificing refinement.
Who choose garments that express who they are - or who they are becoming.

A Cape de Coeur piece is not worn for attention, although it often receives it.
It is worn for alignment.

If one of our silhouettes speaks to you, it is because it recognizes something already within you.

Our Community 

Cape de Coeur is not built on volume.
It is built on relationships.

Although we are an online house, we cherish meeting our community in person, through intimate pop-ups, curated design fairs, and private presentations.
We value conversation and human connection as much as the garments themselves.

We listen.
We want to understand how you move through your days, the challenges the elements present, what you carry, what you protect, and what matters to you.

Choosing a cape is not transactional.
It is personal.
We guide you toward the silhouette that feels aligned - your companion for wherever life takes you.

From the moment you begin considering a piece, whether online or in person, we are available. We advise on proportion and sizing with care, because how it feels on you matters as much as how it performs.

When your cape is prepared for shipment, it is wrapped by hand in paper, never plastic, and packed with the same care with which it was made.

Our relationship does not end at delivery. If something feels uncertain, we are here. If a question arises, we answer. If an issue appears, we resolve it. You will never be left standing in the rain, literally or figuratively.

Nothing confirms our purpose more than hearing from you later: that you were stopped in the street, that your cape performed exactly as promised, that it became indispensable.

Our community recognizes one another not by logos, but by presence.

You are the reason our community continues to grow.
And we are deeply grateful.

What's In The Name

Cape de Coeur is a play on the French adage coup de coeur, used in the fashion world to describe the moment you discover a piece you instantly fall in love with.

From this sentiment, Cape de Coeur was born - a labour of love driven by design and innovation, created to redefine your wardrobe and your lifestyle.

A name, however, is not only origin.
It is intention.

A coup de coeur describes recognition, the moment something feels inherently right.

That is what we seek to create: Outerwear that does not simply perform.
But resonates.

If your cape feels aligned with how you move, how you lead, how you live, then the meaning of the name reveals itself.