LaQuan had a sense of beauty since childhood. He was surrounded by elegant women from a young age. His whole family always dressed elegantly for solemn events. However, LaQuan Smith owes his achievements in the fashion world to his grandmother. He has no specialized education. He did not study at a design school. Still, he attended art groups that helped him to develop sketches of extravagant but very popular costumes. LaQuan is self-taught and has built his way into the big fashion world by himself. Read more on Queenska.
How LaQuan Smith became a fashion designer and was rejected by design schools
LaQuan Smith was born on August 30, 1988, in Queens. The women in his family always looked stylish and exquisitely. LaQuan admired clothes that could subtly emphasize a person’s individuality and make them stand out from the crowd. Later on, he starts to create unusual and outrageous outfits.
When LaQuan was 13 years old, his grandmother presented him with his first Singer sewing machine. That helped the young man take his first steps into the fashion world.
Although LaQuan was born in Queens, he graduated from high school in Delaware. While studying at the Glasgow school, the teenager applied to the Parsons School of Design. He also tried to enter the Fashion Institute of Technology. Unfortunately, the talented young man was not accepted.
However, the rejections did not discourage the ambitious LaQuan Smith. After graduating from school, he got an internship at the New York magazine BlackBook. There he worked for the famous stylist Elizabeth Sulcer. While working at the magazine, he made new acquaintances, communicated with people from the high fashion world and even sometimes sneaked into various events under the guise of a magazine editor.
Working hard, LaQuan created his designer brand in 2008. A little more than a year later, he performed at New York Fashion Week. While his peers were still in design school, LaQuan was already showing his collection there.
Therefore, he was by no means upset that specialized institutions did not accept him to study. Perhaps this is what pushed the young man to work even harder and more diligently.
Lady Gaga, Beyoncé and Rihanna: why the most famous stars choose LaQuan
It took about six months to create a collection at the beginning of LaQuan’s career. Such a deadline was a bit long for most fashion houses. Looking for inspiration LaQuan opened offices in his native Queens, the place where he was born and raised. He was attracted by the calm rhythm of life in Queens in contrast to the bustling Manhattan.
Clothes from LaQuan Smith are chosen by the most popular women in America, famous singers, actresses and influentials. Smith draws attention to the female figure and believes that it should be emphasized. After all, it is the elegant feminine lines that make a woman self-confident.
He is very pleased that such extraordinary stars as Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Beyoncé or Jennifer Lopez, who have their own style, choose his clothes.
LaQuan is also known as the leggings boy because one of his first works was leggings. However, these were not ordinary leggings but made of lacquered fabric, which was very unusual. LaQuan has not abandoned his commitment to leggings and continues to create extravagant and bright pants.
Environmentalism in LaQuan Smith’s collections
LaQuan does not create clothes for one season. His clothes are refined and glamorous. His goal is to create clothes that will live forever in a woman’s closet. Thus, they won’t need to pollute the Earth by throwing away their clothes every year.
LaQuan’s ambitions slowed down a bit in 2020. The pandemic has affected the fashion world. It was necessary to switch to online sales and create more platforms for the sale of clothes via the Internet.
LaQuan is trying to make his brand more sustainable. During the collaboration with the famous Levi’s, he created dresses from vintage denim jackets of truck drivers. LaQuan continues to move this way and uses only faux fur in his collections.