This is an episode of the Glossy Fashion Podcast, which features candid conversations about how today’s trends are shaping the future of the fashion industry. More from the series →
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Fashion designer Laura Kim, the creative director behind fashion labels Oscar de la Renta and Monse, is on a roll. Kim has been with Oscar de la Renta for over 20 years and started Monse in 2015 with her creative partner, Fernando Garcia, who also happens to be the co-creative director of Oscar de la Renta.
Aside from designing and leading two fashion brands, most recently, Kim made her debut in the home category. Announced on June 6, Kim collaborated with home goods company Crate and Barrel on a collection that includes over 110 pieces across kitchen, decor and entertaining essentials.
“Designing clothes, cooking and what I did for Crate and Barrel designing home goods, it’s all very similar. You have an idea and you have to think about the atmosphere at the end and how it’s gonna come together,” Kim said on the latest episode of the Glossy Podcast. “You buy raw materials, you collect images and you have a team that helps you execute it. [For Crate and Barrel], we did a photoshoot when everything was finished, and for fashion, it’s a runway or a photo shoot. The content creating at the end is very similar.”
On this week’s episode of the Glossy Podcast, Kim discusses how she navigates designing for two major fashion brands and what’s next for her in the creative space. Excerpts from the discussion, below, have been lightly edited for clarity.
Finding inspiration for the home collection
“I’ve been collecting so many images over the last year of what I want for home. Then I edited it down to a summer-oriented collection. I personally love summer clothes and summer everything — I love the weather. I don’t care if it’s too hot or sweaty — summer is my thing. So it was summer-themed, and one thing I love about summer is gardening. I’m pretty new at gardening because I’ve lived in New York City for almost 24 years, so you don’t get to have a garden. But, I grew up helping my parents garden. Luckily, over the last three years, I’ve had a very cute garden in SoHo on my roof. The Crate and Barrel collection is very much inspired by my garden — and so is our Oscar [de la Renta] collection with the flowers.”
Separating the two fashion identities
“It’s not just me. There are days when [consumers] want to look like Oscar [de la Renta] women, and they have days when they don’t want to look like Oscar women. That really helps me because I love wearing Oscar to evening events like a cocktail [party] or gala … but there are days [when I want to be a] downtown girl who wears a cutoff jacket with a tank top. I try to make my work very relatable to my own life because, as a woman, if you don’t like or relate to the items of clothing you design, then who would want that? I make sure [my designs] also work for me.
Ninety-nine percent of the time I know where my designs are going, but then there are moments where I’m like, ‘Can I push this at this brand and see what happens?’ [For example], there was an Oscar [de la Renta] show with big petticoats … and that inspired my Monse show a couple of springs ago, which was just the petticoat and sports bra. You never know where the inspiration will come from.”
Working with a co-creative director
“Fernando [Garcia] naturally is more of an Oscar [de la Renta] person. And I’m more naturally a Monse girl, but we do it together. There are still days when he shocks me with what he can deliver. … We talk to each other all day in person or over the phone or through DM. … I don’t think we sit down and have [formal] work meetings, but we’re always in conversation. I know what he’s doing, and he knows what I’m doing. He’s much more into PR and marketing than I am, so he’s working on those all the time, image creating, but we both design clothes together. I personally like starting the collection, because I like to be organized … but he hates planning. So he jumps in toward the end and hustles through because, when you jump in at the end, it’s much harder.
I [typically] make sure we’re making money so we can pay for the development and pay everyone’s salary, so I make sure our collection is sellable and that we’re gonna meet the plan. I also make sure what we’re buying is within the budget, and if it’s not, I just have to balance it out somewhere else or tell my CEO or something. I also make sure my team is well-staffed and happy … because if you don’t have your staff, and if they’re not happy, nothing is gonna happen. You can’t do it by yourself.”
