Chelsea Mani spends her weekends at local markets, where she displays an assortment of lingerie ranging from new lace bodysuits and silky robes to carefully sourced, cleaned and pressed vintage pieces. Passersby stop to examine the fabrics, ask questions and sometimes find themselves opening up unexpectedly.
For Mani, those moments are the point.
The core of Anastasia is just making women feel good.
“It really comes down to just connecting with people,” she says.
That connection is the foundation of Anastasia’s Bedroom, the online boutique she launched in November 2025 and continues to build from a basement workspace.
“I’m still down there,” she says with a laugh. “I’m still building that community and trying to get myself out there.”
The business already has a clear identity, but Mani is candid about the learning process behind it. Her path into intimate retail was anything but traditional. Her background is in restaurants and architectural spec writing, not fashion or product sourcing, so building a lingerie-focused business meant learning supply chains, merchandising and branding as she went.
What guided Mani was a personal connection to a formative time in her life.
“The name came first,” she says. “I was in a yoga class and thought, ‘I’m going to go back to one of the best times of my life.’ And it just went back to my first job at Anastasia’s restaurant when I was so young, figuring life out and finding my own confidence.
“Then the idea itself really came down to what can I do that makes women feel good, empowered, confident,” she says. “Through my love of lingerie, that just felt natural. The core of Anastasia is just making women feel good. I want them to feel empowered, confident and just really feel like themselves.”
The Value of Face-to-Face Retail
Although Anastasia’s Bedroom operates online, Mani regularly participates in local markets, often once or twice a month.
“It’s the best way to get myself out there,” she says. “I can’t do it behind a computer screen, but at least when I go to the markets, people will come to my booth, and I get to tell them what we’re all about.”
The format also offers the tactile experience e-commerce cannot. Shoppers can touch fabrics, see colors in person and ask questions in a setting that feels conversational.
Mani adjusts her assortment depending on the audience. At family-friendly markets, she brings more general-interest items such as oils, robes and “lightly loved” lingerie while leaving more explicit products at home. Adult-oriented events give her more freedom to display vibrators and the broader assortment.
In either setting, the larger goal is the same.
“The more we discuss it, the less taboo it becomes,” she says.
Giving Lingerie Another Life
One of the boutique’s most distinctive categories is Mani’s “lightly loved” lingerie, a curated selection of thrifted pieces that has quickly become an important part of the assortment.
“I feel like if anything’s really taken off, it’s been that,” she says.
Mani finds pieces at thrift stores, takes them home and cleans them with a lingerie wash before hanging and steaming them for sale at markets. The process takes time, but the appeal is about more than resale value.
“I feel like all those pieces have their own stories to them,” she says. “I get such a kick out of it. The sexier it is, the more I feel like I have a win.”
The collection also gives shoppers a reason to browse and discover something unexpected. For Mani, it fits a larger business philosophy built around connection rather than transactions alone.
That philosophy extends to collaborations with other Canadian businesses. After discovering a magnesium oil she liked, Mani contacted the founder of 12 Petal Botanical about developing a signature scent for Anastasia’s Bedroom.
“We became really close friends,” Mani says.
The idea has since expanded into other projects, including a custom candle and a vintage-inspired lingerie set developed with another designer. Mani sees those collaborations as a way to support businesses in her community while giving customers products and experiences they can’t find everywhere else.
Building Around Real Life
Behind the growing brand is a schedule familiar to many early-stage entrepreneurs. Mani runs Anastasia’s Bedroom while maintaining another career, raising two young children and managing a household.
“I don’t balance it,” she says candidly. “It’s not balanced at all.”
Her days shift between school pickups, dinner and late-night work sessions. She also credits her husband with helping make the schedule possible.
“My husband’s been a huge reason why I can keep going,” she says. “If it wasn’t for him, I probably would not be where I am now.”
Despite the demands, Mani describes Anastasia’s Bedroom as a source of energy.
“Anastasia’s Bedroom is definitely my happy place,” she says.
For now, she is focused on incremental growth through more markets, collaborations and opportunities to introduce the brand to new customers across Canada. Longer term, she envisions a physical retail space that brings together scent, texture, conversation and discovery.
The scale may change, but the strategy remains remarkably consistent: show up, listen and keep building relationships.
“I just keep on grinding, keeping the connections,” Mani says.
