Daria Andronescu on Building Wonder Wardrobe, Fighting Fashion Waste, and Empowering Women Through Sustainable Style

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As part of the Morning Lazziness series highlighting empowering women who are making a remarkable impact with their ideas, I had the pleasure of interviewing Daria Andronescu.

Daria Andronescu is the founder of Wonder Wardrobe. Over the past 15 years she’s been working as an international personal stylist, creating multifunctional seasonal capsule wardrobes for clients worldwide. For the last 10 years, she’s also been educating women through her sustainable fashion community platform.

After gathering this experience, she developed the Wonder Wardrobe method. Now she shares this proven approach with thousands of women. They learn to curate stylish and versatile wardrobes with clothes they already have. The result? Beautiful style that reduces fashion waste and supports the sustainable fashion movement.

In this candid conversation, Daria shares her journey, insights, and the strategies that have helped her build a results-driven business—and empower other entrepreneurs to do the same.

What inspired your journey into the fashion industry, and why did you choose to focus on sustainability?

My mother made costumes for theatre actors. Watching her choose materials mindfully and make the most of what she had were the first seeds that were planted in terms of sustainability. After that I went to Milan to study fashion and styling. The real turning point came during a wardrobe decluttering session when I discovered 80% of my client’s wardrobe was unwearable. She sat down looking at this huge pile and said “I don’t even know how this happened – this was on sale, this from a vacation, these were gifts I never liked.” Seeing all that waste really bothered me – it was so wrong and wasteful. Fashion education back then didn’t include anything about sustainability, so that’s when I started researching and learning about it by myself.

How do you define sustainability in the context of fashion, and how does your brand reflect that vision?

Sustainability means meeting our present styling needs without compromising future generations’ ability to meet theirs. 

For me, it’s simple: choose better quality, wear what you have for longer, buy less. Wonder Wardrobe reflects this by teaching women to fall in love again with what they already own first, then make thoughtful additions. We’ve helped over 15000 women worldwide reduce fashion waste through education. It’s about giving women better knowledge about what actually works for their lives.

What were some of the biggest challenges you faced while building a sustainable fashion business?

The biggest challenge? People thinking I’m an influencer trying to sell them clothes. No matter what styling principle I teach on YouTube, someone will always ask where my top is from! Even “slow fashion” influencers are part of the problem – I had a client with 10 unworn blouses because she followed someone doing sponsored hauls every two months. It’s the consumerism culture and fashion influencers treating clothes as disposable that I’m fighting against. Social media algorithms feed us fear-based content that creates insecurity and pushes consumption.

How do you balance style, education, and accessibility in your program offerings?

I start with making education accessible. Our Wonder Wardrobe app is completely free with no ads or brands trying to sell you clothes. 

The Wonder Wardrobe method works regardless of budget because it’s about understanding what you actually need for your lifestyle. Some students create 20-outfit wardrobes, others have 100 outfits. Both get beautiful results. Our new Studio+ program adds personalized color and body analysis because true style comes from understanding yourself, not blindly copying others.

How do you ensure your educational content promotes truly ethical fashion practices?

I curate only sustainable brand recommendations, and I’m very thorough while checking their materials and practices. I teach about natural fabrics, second hand, vintage, fair labor practices, and environmental impact in our community app. But honestly, the most ethical garment is the one already in your closet. You just have to fall in love with it and wear it again. That’s why most of my content focuses on maximizing what you already own before buying anything new.

How do you educate your customers on the value and impact of sustainable fashion?

I show women the concrete benefits of having a Wonder Wardrobe. Smart savings come first – you make planned purchases, buying only clothes you need and will actually wear. You learn what, where and when to shop for the best quality at the best price, shopping only 1-4 times per year instead of constantly. Personal curation means discovering your authentic style that fits any body shape and age. The multifunctional aspect is huge – everything is tailored to your lifestyle with interchangeable items that you might need for work, leisure, vacation or more. You know exactly what you have and how to wear it, divided by seasons so you never get bored. The sustainable impact comes from the fact that now your wardrobe lasts 5-10 years, includes only eco-friendly materials and creates minimum waste. When women see these real benefits in action, they understand sustainable fashion isn’t just good for the planet – it’s better for their lives.

What’s one misconception about sustainable fashion that you often come across?

That it’s boring or lacks variety. This misconception exists because toxic fashion content has trained us to equate style with constant newness – we’ve been brainwashed to think we need fresh purchases every week to stay interesting. But I have app members creating incredibly diverse, personal styles with their wardrobes through creativity and discovering new styling techniques. Real sustainable fashion is about breaking free from that cycle that feeds on newness and instead enjoying what you have, caring for it, and feeling genuinely confident in your own style.

In what ways has consumer behavior changed in recent years around ethical fashion, and how has that impacted your brand?

Women are finally asking “Will I actually wear this?” instead of just “Does this look good?” But they’re still getting manipulated. Even after watching “shop your closet” videos, algorithms show them ads for similar items until they buy. That’s why we launched our ad-free app in late 2024. It’s been growing rapidly with new members since then which proves women crave education over consumption, but they need safe spaces away from algorithmic manipulation.

How do you stay innovative while staying true to your sustainable mission?

Every innovation I make asks one simple question: “Does this help women wear more of what they own and buy less of what they don’t need?” That’s why my newest Studio+ program focuses on personalized styling because I realized one-size-fits-all advice doesn’t work for everyone. Or, for example our mobile app creates a community without consumption pressure. If something doesn’t serve that core mission of helping women love what they already have, I simply don’t do it.

What role does community building play in your business model?

Community is everything. What social media calls “community” is just monologue – you leave a comment, maybe get a like. That’s not a community. Real community is dialogue where your voice matters and can actually help other women. Many times, inspiration comes from connection. Our app members do this daily. They share outfit solutions and support each other’s style experiments without judgment. When you realize your style struggles aren’t unique, solutions become clearer. That’s why I spend more time in our app than on social media, away from all the noise.

What’s your vision for the future of fashion, especially for women-led sustainable brands?

I can’t sit around waiting for the fashion industry to change. Big companies lobby politicians to protect their profits while I focus on women who want real change. The future lies in community-driven businesses empowering women to break free from consumption manipulation. Women leading sustainable brands understand the emotional relationship with clothes. We’re changing mindsets from quantity to quality, from algorithm-driven trends to personal authenticity.

What advice would you give to aspiring female founders looking to break into sustainable fashion?

Start by asking “Who are you helping today?” – genuinely helping, not selling to. Don’t let external factors dictate what you think people need. I believed women needed to reconnect with fashion, see it less as a dopamine hit and more as a tool they can use daily to empower themselves, to express their values. Be generous with your knowledge, find your people, and lead them somewhere better. Trust your own conviction about what women actually need, not what the market tells you they want.

Where can our audience connect with you and learn more about your work or offerings?

The best place to start is our free Wonder Wardrobe app. You’ll find our community and lots of educational content there. You can also check out my YouTube channel for practical styling tips and follow me on Instagram for daily inspiration. Everything connects through our website.

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