Hello. If you're here, you're probably already acquainted with me in some way, shape, or form from my work primarily in fashion. First, I was a runway model. Then, I transitioned into an actress for a brief (and very mediocre) stint. Then, I dabbled in social media, which never really took off. Finally, I've reached my final form and found my passionate calling using the amalgamation of my skills through the years as a current designer fashion and luxury lifestyle writer and editor.
If there's one thing that's remained consistent across all of these forays into multiple fields, it's that I am consistently reminded just how much one can make for themselves out of so very little (and also consistently reminded just how little so many of us are compensated for our efforts, yet we do it anyways out of true love.) It's the New York City way, and it's why I finally moved here in February of 2024.
I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to write here. In fact, I've started and restarted a publishing section of my personal website four times now over the years, each vastly different from the iteration before. This one feels right.
I've been continually inspired more than I could ever have dreamed by the talented, driven, dedicated, and passionate people that make up this fashion industry, and who make this all worth so many of the ever-out-of-reach dangling dreams, sleepless 4am nights, designer-worthy under-eye bags, and stress over missed rent payments. Not only do they remind me that anything is possible if you've got a little luck and enough grit, but I am privileged to call so many of them my friends over the years.
The fashion world is one that is often gate-kept, as the Gen Z kids would say. (Or is it actually a Millennial term?) The fact of the matter is, we present it as this sparkling facade where everything is designer shoes and endless champagne and flitting from show to party back to show again... But the grit and underbelly of it secretly bely so much unspoken vulnerability, uncertainty, and strength to overcome difficult days -- until one day, someone you just met asks you how "you made it," and you realize for the first time that you actually did.
I love writing runway reviews, and I love writing glowing things about the latest runway collections and launches I've loved. I will very much continue to do so (while quietly not saying much about the collections that, quite frankly, I very much did not love.) But here, I want to use this space to talk about the pyrite of the fashion world and beyond: All that glitters is not always gold. It might be just as shiny and pretty in the end, but it was formed from a different composition completely.
Speaking about things that are new is scary. Speaking candidly in an industry that so often shies away from the less-than-shiny is absolutely terrifying. But it's worth talking about, and I hope through this column I can give you an insider look behind the curtain...
...In the chaotic moments when the show is almost starting and models are still bleary-eyed without half their makeup done.
...On the floor of a pharmacy crying in five-inch loaned designer heels as your teammate wraps your bleeding feet in blister plasters over numbing aid.
...As the unexpected city rainstorm pours down and your Uber cancels, and you had to be across town at the PR runway check-in booth ten minutes ago.
...When you're confirmed for a new show minutes before its scheduled time, but didn't get the return invitation to the show that meant the most to you this season at the same time.
...And while you dive headfirst into the press riser with a friend, chests heaving from a sprint and stomachs forming a pit with the only thing you ate all day: a singular 6" Wegmans sandwich inhaled in under three minutes, which you may or may not have accidentally stolen in the haste to leave when that "the show is starting!" text came through from your crew.
Fashion is so, so pretty to look at. Many times, the people working in it are, too. But it's not always pretty, and Laur's List serves to inspire you with the stories and highlights from some of the best names in the fashion industry and adjacent entrepreneurial fields as they live through both the golden moments, and the times where something shiny turned out only to be pyrite.
This is a list of moments that I think about when I'm lying in bed alone, feeling overwhelmed, or contemplating whether it's all worth it. This is a list of the genuine people who most inspire me in fashion and in luxury, and I hope their stories serve to inspire you too - both in fashion and beyond.
x Laur
Laur's List: Interviewing the Fashion and Luxury Industry
