Amy Collier and Wendy Gillman began their collaboration while working together for an east coast wedding gown designer. Both women shared a passion for fashion, a keen sense of design, pattern making and construction skills, and meticulous attention to detail that is necessary for the wedding gown industry. Both women are originally from the Midwest. Amy is a Kansas State graduate with a bachelor's degree in Apparel and Textiles and Wendy is an Iowa State graduate with a bachelor's degree in Apparel Merchandising, Design and Production. After their time on the coast, both were drawn closer to their friends and families in the Midwest. They began working together for a Kansas City based apparel sourcing company. They also wanted to continue their creative endeavors so they began scheduling monthly meetings and setting goals to establish this end.

Sophie and Gwendalynn was born through these meetings. The name stems from their fantasy alter egos. Amy had wished for a more unique name like "Sophie" and Wendy had always romanticized "Gwendaylnn" to be the longer version of her own name. The names seemed to conjure up soft and feminine images for the clothing that they had planned to create under this label. Sophie and Gwendalynn made their debut at the 2004 Italian Summer fashion show presented by Birdie's on 18th street in the Crossroads district. Five models strutted the cat-walk in frothy pink and black creations. Since then, Sophie and Gwendalynn have produced a line of sexy and feminine lingerie each year.