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

Lauren, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I have been in the fashion industry for now, over half my life! I’m 36 years young and my first job was in women’s contemporary retail at age 16, so you could say I knew from a young age fashion was the lane for me. I majored in Fashion Merchandising, minored in Marketing, and after graduating college I made the move to New York City to further my knowledge of the industry. While in NYC, I worked on the wholesale side of the industry as a showroom sales rep, and with a fashion-tech start up company as Director of East Coast Retail onboarding. I left NYC to return home in 2012 and my hustle continued – I did numerous, random gigs including women’s buyer for a local store; I began working with men’s clothing as a ‘custom clothier’ and sold suiting essentials; I worked an executive assistant job for a manufacturing company to stack cash; I was a retail store manager for about 14 months which led to me ultimately branding myself and founding my wardrobe styling business full time in 2016, Styled by LD. Fast forward to present day, I am an adjunct (part-time) professor at University of Memphis teaching an Intro to Fashion class in the Art Department of the College of Communications and Fine Art. THIS is how I give back and to answer your question, “What could have been done to speed up my learning process,” well this is how I am helping up-coming creatives dodge hurdles that I wasn’t able to avoid. Hopefully these students and fellow creatives can learn from my industry mistakes and take a faster, more efficient route to further their careers.

Lauren, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Sure, so my name is Lauren but I’m most commonly knows as ‘LD’. I have a wardrobe business, Styled by LD, which basically offers clients any fashion, image, branding services necessary in order to achieve full self-awareness in personal style. Some of these one-on-one services I offer include: wardrobe inventory management, merchandising sessions, style consultations, personal shopping, creative direction on branding shoots, bridal styling, custom clothing for men and women, etc. A few phrases I live by include, “Not every trend is for every body; Know your personal style and shape; and Always set yourself up for success!”
I also co-own a small business called Beg and Borrow Apparel, which is an apparel brand selling women’s collections since 2020.
On a production level, my background includes runway show and event coordinating, wardrobe styling on sets of commercials, music videos, business promo campaigns, and branding shoots.
Something that sets me apart from other local creatives in my industry is the vast and diverse experience I’ve gained from my hustle, my desire to always be open to learning the most about my trade so I can unapologetically stay in my lane, and lastly, the constant R&D necessary to be relevant as an ‘influencer’ in the fashion market.
A few things I am most proud of include starting my own business and brand, and the network I have built supporting me while I also support my network of connections.
One statement I am always, always told is “How are you going to style me when I don’t look like you?” Well, that’s the whole point of this business, to elevate each client’s individual style which is an instant challenge to me, as I’m sure you can guess.

How’d you meet your business partner?

In 2012, I met a gentleman named Monte Stewart who taught me the trick of the trade in men’s custom clothing. I learned how to take measurements and design shirts and suiting essentials for the preference of the client. Fast forward, this concept of designing men’s custom dress shirts we re-designed for women as custom shirt dresses. In 2020 we founded Beg and Borrow Apparel and continue to grow that sector of our business. Monte and I are total opposites, but work together perfectly balancing the other’s strengths and weaknesses. I couldn’t imagine a better partner.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

We are currently in the funding phase, trying to grow capital as an investment in our business. We work with a start-up consultant, along with our CPA and attorney, to ensure our numbers, legal and brand strategy stay streamlined and efficient so it’s up to Monte and I to pitch this deck to potential investors. It’s a wild ride, I can tell you that! The success we’ve had without funding is credited to hard work bringing in enough revenue so we’re able to pilot with a local retail partner in selling our collections.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://begandborrowapparel.com/ https://www.styledbyld.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/begandborrowapparel/ https://www.instagram.com/styledbyld/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/begandborrowapparel https://www.facebook.com/styledbyld1/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-draffin-19a99a26

Image Credits
Photo credits: Colin Chapman