N: Hi Laura, it's a pleasure to interview you. As someone well-known for enjoying a good party, could you share some memories from the last memorable party you attended?
L: Hi, thanks for having me here. I'm feeling great these days, especially since spring is here and the hibernation phase of the year is almost over. As for the last good party I went to, I can't really remember it, but that's how you know it was a good party!
N: Early in 2022, Sean Monahan predicted an upcoming "Vibe Shift" - a move away from the pervasive moral purity and performative activism of "woke culture" and towards more cynical and amoral attitudes reminiscent of the late 90s and early 2000s. Now that we are in 2023, have you noticed a shift?
L: I definitely think there has been a vibe shift, for sure. We were oversaturated with trying to be this perfect person—drinking green juices, saying only the correct things, almost like social justice warriors. It just got really tiresome being this ideal human. In the art and fashion industry, there seem to be two kinds of people now: the very woke and the anarchic, chaotic individuals who embrace mental health issues and aren't afraid to be messy. I believe this is a reaction to the woke culture that has been present since 2015, or even earlier.
Although the emergence of woke culture was necessary to address the many issues in our society, we've now reached a point where, personally, I just want to fuck shit up, be politically incorrect, embrace an anarchic lifestyle, and bring back some fun because life is really short.
N: Can you give us some insights into your design process, specifically regarding the fabrics and silhouettes you gravitate towards?
L: My design process is very intuitive and focuses on emotions.
For every season, I explore different aspects of youth culture. The first season was emo, the second season was the rock and roll party girl, and the third season was about skaters and ballerinas.
It all revolved around anxiety, teenage angst, and substance abuse. My point of view is always to create a feeling and emotions, and everything I do is quite emotional and close to my heart. It's almost like a self-portrait, but in different stages of my life. I was never a ballerina, but I've experienced a lot of anxiety in my life.
In terms of tailoring, the first two seasons focused on body distortion, like the emo culture with enlarged shoulders and hunching. The third season was less about tailoring and more about an overall vibe, but I still played with body distortion in some looks. I drew inspiration from various characters and enjoyed exploring how clothes would fall on them.
Fabric-wise, I'm obsessed with beautiful fabrics and always try to source the best ones I can find. For example, I found a small factory in Italy where I sourced all the tweeds for the last season, and I discovered a French factory that produced a gold lame fabric, which was previously used only by McQueen.
I love finding these little gems and mixing high-end and low-end fabrics.
N: Thanks, Laura. To conclude this interview, do you have any fun projects on the horizon?
L: I'm currently working on the next season, which will probably launch in September. I also have some exciting projects in the pipeline that I can't talk about yet, but stay tuned! Thank you for having me.