Laura Laurens returns to OC this season with a new “menshirting” collection, a series of fresh, crisp shirtdresses made from fabrics like eco-friendly cotton and poplin. In crisp whites, painterly, military greens, cotton candy pinks and blues, Laurens adapts different shirt styles to the dress—like the classic Oxford, T-shirt, and Peter Pan collar—and adds flair with layers and a voluminous, trapeze silhouettes. Et voila! An origami creation you can wear.
It's the crisp, live-in dress we imagine hosting a winter brunch in, or picnicking in Central Park, accessorized with a messy topknot, a glass of rose, and the apricot Lele bag.
Check out the designer's whimsical drawings that influenced Pre-Spring 2015 in the slideshow above, and our chat with her below.
Shop all Laura Laurens here
NOOR BRARA: Tell me a little bit about your foray into fashion from art; why did you make that transition and what initially inspired you?
LAURA LAURENS: I made the transition by accident. I used to make my own clothes, because I didn´t like what you could find in the local market. It was a kind of innocent rebellion. It all started with an idea and an impulse, just like you do in the art world. I wanted to say something through that particular gesture, even though art and fashion are quite different worlds.
Your last collection was heavily influenced by themes like culture and dance. What are you currently inspired by and how do you feel that's reflected in the clothes?
The latest collection, made with poplin and ripstop, is influenced by the men´s shirting and the uniforms of the army (that I also used in my former collection). I´m inspired in the things that can no longer be seen, because they all create a world we are used to, but a world we stop seeing because of our familiarity with them. I´m interested in that space between those lines: that chasm where you can turn, whirl. That´s why I design for women who don´t like evident things, people who take their time to find themselves through their relation with clothes.
What kinds of silhouettes do you gravitate towards? You use a lot of ruffles and layers in your pieces.
Silhouettes that play between an excess of fabric and others that frame the body. In any case, I like to use enveloping layers (layers over layers), following an almost sculptural process. I usually don´t follow patterns to create my dresses: I create the dress and then make the pattern.
Which creatives—either designers or artists, or both—are you inspired by?
Hieronymus Bosch, Kazimir Malévich, J.W. Turner, Cy Twombly, Marcel Broodthaers, Madame Grès, and Rei Kawakubo.
Laura Laurens PS1
It's the crisp, live-in dress we imagine hosting a winter brunch in, or picnicking in Central Park, accessorized with a messy topknot, a glass of rose, and the apricot Lele bag.
Check out the designer's whimsical drawings that influenced Pre-Spring 2015 in the slideshow above, and our chat with her below.
Shop all Laura Laurens here
NOOR BRARA: Tell me a little bit about your foray into fashion from art; why did you make that transition and what initially inspired you?
LAURA LAURENS: I made the transition by accident. I used to make my own clothes, because I didn´t like what you could find in the local market. It was a kind of innocent rebellion. It all started with an idea and an impulse, just like you do in the art world. I wanted to say something through that particular gesture, even though art and fashion are quite different worlds.
Your last collection was heavily influenced by themes like culture and dance. What are you currently inspired by and how do you feel that's reflected in the clothes?
The latest collection, made with poplin and ripstop, is influenced by the men´s shirting and the uniforms of the army (that I also used in my former collection). I´m inspired in the things that can no longer be seen, because they all create a world we are used to, but a world we stop seeing because of our familiarity with them. I´m interested in that space between those lines: that chasm where you can turn, whirl. That´s why I design for women who don´t like evident things, people who take their time to find themselves through their relation with clothes.
What kinds of silhouettes do you gravitate towards? You use a lot of ruffles and layers in your pieces.
Silhouettes that play between an excess of fabric and others that frame the body. In any case, I like to use enveloping layers (layers over layers), following an almost sculptural process. I usually don´t follow patterns to create my dresses: I create the dress and then make the pattern.
Which creatives—either designers or artists, or both—are you inspired by?
Hieronymus Bosch, Kazimir Malévich, J.W. Turner, Cy Twombly, Marcel Broodthaers, Madame Grès, and Rei Kawakubo.
![](http://www.openingceremony.us/userfiles/image/news/2015-1/jan15/012115-laura-laurens/lede.jpg)