Here at UrbanInsider my goal with every person I work with is to cultivate an experience based on friendship, love, admiration, and respect. Needless to say my conversation with Isaac made that a seamless process, his aura radiates as bright as his knack for fashion. You could say that it was ingrained in his DNA to be successful, hailing from a impressive home background with a mother who is skilled in art and a father who played in the NFL. Taking notice of Isaac's impressive ability early on to imitate his mother's drawings, his parents enrolled him in private art classes, he would then go on to meet his teacher in high school that advised him to pursue fashion professionally. Armed with his superior illustration skills, Isaac left his L.A. home behind to pursue his education in fashion, he soon learned that it would be no easy task. Having never been near a sewing machine before, he was introduced to the full dynamics of the fashion world, initially he wanted people to construct his garments based off of his illustrations, his education taught him the downside of that kind of predicament. Being able to design from a pattern, and actually develop the garment yourself not only keeps your overhead costs down, but it keeps the designer from being taken advantage of in the sense that a manufacturer doesn't know how a garment is supposed to fit from looking at a sketch, so often-times a designer has to go back and forth with getting the sizing correct which ends up very time consuming and costly.
Isaac will never have that issue which will make him a very profitable designer, much like his fashion inspiration "House of Balmain", creative Director Olivier Rousteing. The androgyny in the designs of "Balmain", is one of the things Isaac is most drawn to, in addition to the way Rousteing built his whole creative team from the ground up. Isaac did just that before graduating this spring by creating his second public fashion show, and first for his university, he not only scouted and trained his models for nine months, he put together and directed his own creative team. Starting with just his sketch book he made 25 different looks with about 40 pieces, with one of the last garments being made on the day of the show, he describes the event as being one the most happiest moments of his life. Below are some the excerpts from my conversation with Mr.Lawrence from his own point of view....
Who would you most like to design for.........
I would say Charlize Theron, and Rihanna because they exude a certain type of class.
Have you designed for any celebrity clients yet......
No but I plan to.
Does the Isaac Lawrence brand have a target audience that he specifically designs for......
Yes, my aim is to make my designs appeal to people in their teens to early 30's, as far as my pieces go you can't compare them to anyone because I don't use other people's designs as my influence. My brand is one that is different and comfortable with taking risks, because it's worked for me thus far.
If your brand was being pitched to department stores and boutiques, where would you see your brand being sold at.....
Definitely using staple pieces at the shopping district on "Melrose" for buyers who want to be different.
What does fashion mean to you, and how do you come up with concepts or visions in order to produce a piece....
For me fashion is a way of self-expression and freedom, because it's the closest thing to changing my environment. I usually just touch fabrics to visualize a finished garment, in addition to tiles, architecture, everyday life, are all ways I get concepts for my pieces.
What are your favorite designers, and describe your personal style.....
Balmain, Giorgio Armani, Roberto Cavalli, Valentino, Donna Karan, Oscar De La Renta. I would describe my personal style as very relaxed, simple as possible, and not doing too much.
I have to ask you this, we both have a Creole background, which parent is what and where is your family originally from.....
My mother's side is Creole from Louisiana, and my father is African American from Oklahoma.
5 year goals personal and professional as many as you can think of as fast as you can think of them....
I see myself in a healthy relationship, working on having a virtual shopping store, and being apart of the fashion/entertainment industry using that tool to market my own brand.
Photos Courtesy of El Von Images
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