Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Laura Buitrago. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Laura , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?

What sort of legacy are you hoping to build.

I hope to encourage self-expression in others through my work and way of living. I hope to personally and spiritually grow through my company as years go by and encourage other people to do the same. I hope to maintain and build a team that personally grows along with the brand and myself.

What do you think people will say about you after you are gone?

I think that people will describe as a free-spirited person, lively, charismatic, resilient, empathetic.

What do you hope to be remembered for?

I hope to be remembered as someone who has brought light and love to everyone who came their way. I hope to be remembered as someone who was empathetic, human at their core, and brought at least a little bit of wisdom or courage to those around me. I also want to be remembered as someone who did not limit themselves based on other people’s standards – paving my own way to personal freedom.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I was always drawn to fashion and moved to New York City to study at Parsons to learn more about what I was able to do within the industry. When I returned home after graduation to Barranquilla, Colombia, I had a couple of intents around building a business around fashion, but my heart wasn’t in it. I was afraid of failure and judgement from trying something completely new. As I am not a trained designer as my major was more business oriented, and there a couple of insecurities around not knowing the craft to the T. I went through a couple of life events that helped me slowly and organically change my perspective on things. I started to open up to the possibility of testing things out, and failing. Through that process, I organically landed where I currently am today – a womenswear brand that encourages self-expression through the use of bold color and form.

At Project Adamo, I always look to offer unique, well-fitted pieces that make women feel empowered within their lifestyle. The purpose of my brand and designs is to be a vehicle or facilitator of the transformation we go through by giving ourselves time and attention through the art of dressing.

I am very proud of the team that I am building through my brand. It has allowed me to positively impact other people’s careers and personal growth while I myself do the same. We not only enjoy working together but have also created meaningful personal connections (aka become friends) as a result of our collaboration.

Adamo means “to fall in love with”, and that is basically what I want my brand to be. To be a source of love for everyone, but also for them to feel like dressing is a way to offer self-love to yourself. For me, the way I spread love and light is through my brand.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Back when I had a menswear shirt brand before I started Adamo, I was waiting for 800 shirts to be ready for holiday season. The factory I was working with accidentally had problems with the manufacturing and the shirts were not in condition to be sold. I completely lost the inventory and one year’s worth of work after hoping to be able to participate in various fashion fairs.

Fortunately, the factory recognized their mistake and gave me the money back. Three months in, the pandemic started, and I started reevaluating my commitment to this menswear brand, as there was something that didn’t feel right and ever since this factory event happened, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I needed to pivot.

That’s when I started considering putting my effort into something I actually wanted to do – womenswear. If the factory hadn’t ruined the shirts, I would have never had the monetary means to be able to start a new brand from scratch and build what Project Adamo is today.

After this event, every time I have an issue, I understand that the universe works in perfect ways. Sometimes when things feel out of control or impossible, there is probably something behind it that is to our benefit. We may not be aware of it at the moment, but everything will align eventually.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I think that Project Adamo is a unique brand within what is currently in the context of fashion in Colombia. We are trying to offer an alternative look to what is the mainstream (normally people expect lots of flowers and volume which we don’t go for).

We tend to be very experimental, modern, and sleek. Our communication style has been very modern and fearless from the start, always being very consistent with our aesthetic in Look Books, casting, and ways of interacting with our followers and customers.

We have loved seeing how our community loves to post themselves in our clothes without us really asking for it and that’s been very gratifying to see!

Contact Info:

• Website: projectadamo.com
• Instagram: @projectadamo

Image Credits
Photography: Gabriel Ponton Art Direction: Danielle Juliao