Meet Danielle Mangana, the promising designer behind D.elle Studios. For this story, we explore her relationship with beauty, including her low-maintenance routine
It was in October 2021 when D’elle Studios captivated the world with its first-ever Dream Girl collection. Notably, the prêt-à-porter label made a mark for its pieces that are equal parts feminine, sexy, and cool. “I started the fashion business when I was 21 from my curiosity about slow fashion,” Danielle Mangana reminisced about her early chapter as a designer. Given the success of D’elle Studios, it’s surprising for her to say that “It was just an experiment and a chance to play creatively. And at the same time, learn the ropes as I apply for my business degree while pursuing fashion.” However, her dedication and commitment to her craft changed a part of her life, sharing, “4 years down the line, it has now become my main livelihood.”
For today’s beauty profile, we caught up with Danielle Mangana, the promising designer behind D.elle Studios. We sat down and explored her definition of beauty, her best-kept beauty practices, and her growth as a creative.
Meet Dani
Danielle Mangana has made a name for herself as the brain behind D’elle Studios. In fact, a delve into her portfolio showcases her creative eye and talent as a designer. However, if there is anything that is hard to miss is her genuine love and passion for artistry. “Fashion designing is me in my most natural state,” she shared. “I could say my best skill is making anything look fab. My eyes are always quickly attracted to beautiful things—from clothes, pieces of jewelry, and shoes, to great architecture, well-designed furniture, sunsets, and panoramic views.”
As we continued the conversation, Dani reflected on how she identifies herself as a designer. “At this point, I could describe myself as a mixture of my admiration for archetypes with so much personality. Also a Chelsea-woman-meets-Parisian-chic, can never be boxed into one, but will always give off effortless posh energy into things I create for my customers and clients. Always with the purpose of creating timeless & pretty things. Supporting the lifestyle of those who fully want to enjoy the best things in life.”
Outside of work, the fashion designer also confessed that her interest and activities are still in line with her craft. “My fiancé always tells me how unfair and easy it is for me to do my work since my craft is just basically branches of my main hobbies.” While she’s at it, she also offered a preview of what her off days look like. “All activities in the realm of arts, never outdoorsy,” she shared. “I usually fill my days with art & dining, spending lots of time in galleries as I dream to be an art collector one day, seeing live jazz bands with a glass or two of pornstar martini. Supporting friends that host parties from time to time, it’s always fun seeing different archetypes at parties. And walking around the city for as long and as far as I like. This is how I enjoy my free time to myself the most.”
On her beauty perspective
Despite establishing a name in the fashion scene, Dani’s approach to beauty can’t be unnoticed. “Beauty to me is being elegant and confident—it’s both a character and attitude. Lavishness does not matter,” she smiled when asked about what beauty means to her. The creative also revealed that she feels the most beautiful when she feels most herself. “Looking how I want myself to look, in clothes that I feel best and most put together. Just the right amount of makeup, suitable for the occasion. Hair is full of volume. Skin looks moisturized. That’s when I feel I am at my most beautiful, sexy, and attractive state.”
Perhaps it’s the influence of her beauty icons. “I super love Linda Evangelista, Kate Moss, and Marion Cotillard,” she excitedly shared when asked about her favorite personalities. “I love their French girl-ness, especially Linda and Kate who both are not French. I love the energy they give off—not in your face. But very strong sexy and femme energy.”
On her relationship with beauty
Beauty origins are undeniably the best story to tell. Dani, for example, shared that she already had a fascination for everything beautiful at an early age. “My parents always caught me staring in awe at well-made women in malls, sales ladies wearing stockings, mini skirts, and stiletto-type heels. Women wearing red nail polishes, red lipsticks, and large diamond rings.” She also confessed, “My mom told me that after I met my most elegantly dressed auntie, I asked her to buy me my first set of makeup at [five years old] and started to only wear special dresses that are hand-beaded at home. Always wanting to look and feel fabulous.”
There is no such thing as a perfect relationship with beauty. In fact, the fashion designer became candid about her own insecurities. “When I was in my teenage years, I was so insecure about my big forehead.” However, as time went on, she began to embrace her feature. “I learned to appreciate it now that I’m working in fashion. As my huge forehead combined with my other unique features and rich thick hair is what defines me physically.” She added, “When I learned to embrace all these natural features of mine, I also started loving and appreciating my physical attributes more. Now, I am more attracted to unique-looking muses as well.”
On her beauty routine
Dani’s beauty routine reflects her minimalistic approach to beauty. Her top-shelf product? Glossier Milk Jelly Facial Wash. “For daytime, it’s only La Roche Sunscreen, Caudalie Moisturizer, and Caudalie Elixir after my makeup for special days,” she revealed. “For night time it’s just The Ordinary Niacinamide Serum and La Mer Eye Cream. I recently tried implementing a bit of the Gua Sha trick into my nightly routine for some detox.”
The fashion designer also gave us a look into her makeup rotation, which consists of her lightest concealer, a perfect shade of neutral brown eyeshadow, mascara, plum blush, and her favorite lip gloss as she’s proud of her lips’ natural shade. She also named three of her favorite lipstick formulas, indicating, “I just bring my Sunnies Face Fluffmate in Vacay and Glossier Gloss on casual days, and Chanel Rouge for fancy dinners.”
As for scents, Dani oscillates between a bottle of Prada Infusion D’Iris Eau de Parfum and FlowerBomb by Victor & Rolf. “Out of all the scents I tried, these perfumes suited my natural scent the most. They give off better scents on my skin throughout the day.”
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On that one beauty product that makes her confident
It’s a given that there will always be one beauty weapon that any enthusiast can rely on for a boost of confidence. In our conversation, Dani shared that a swish of her perfect neutral brown eyeshadow is her choice. “My eyes are my favorite feature. So when I accentuate them more, I feel so powerful. They’re very expressive. I look at the eyes of people first to identify their faces,” she explained. “And I like looking people right in the eyes—you can tell a person’s true genuineness.”
On her beauty philosophy
As mentioned, a beauty conversation wouldn’t be complete without an exchange of a beauty lesson. As we closed our chat, Dani shared a simple yet impactful piece of advice for every beauty fan. “Through my works and through everything I put out, I think it is evident that I am not a woman who sees beauty as something that has to be perfect. I like seeing real skin textures more. Defining techniques in makeup, never altering. Real eyebrows, real eyelashes, real everything.”
