Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lauren Levin. 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. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

In the Fashion and Film Industry (which I am newer to Film, in the last 6 years) as a designer today and even when I was starting out, it’s always been about growing pains. Realizing, this is what it takes to be a Fashion Designer, Stylist and/or Costume Designer, that that you’re always going to be learning and always going to be making mistakes.

I would watch documentaries about certain designers, magazine publications, journalists and editors, to get inspired. I would walk away always having more respect for the people who paved the way, having had a glimpse into their world, in addition to having a better understanding what I could expect, what my limits were and how to push them.

I call myself a masochist all of the time, which maybe isn’t something I want to lecture young students about, but when I have spoken to audiences in the past, it’s always about “How bad do you want it?”, followed by “Don’t listen to anyone else!”. If you keep showing up, or making things, then that’s how you’re going to keep learning and creating! I have worked with so many talented people and have had some amazing mentors, who have influenced, or encouraged my work along the years and ultimately, I think it’s important to surround yourself with people who inspire you, or that you want to work with.

The hardest part is trusting the journey and trying your best not to compare yourself to others.
Some of the best advice I’ve been given was from my father, after my first year of design school.
He said “You have to find the perfect balance between confidence and arrogance, and never be on the other side of arrogance.”
This can be hard! Showing people you belong, whilst practicing being humble, can be very difficult in such an industry.

I started my journey designing in 2008, it’s taken this many years to be where I am currently and I like to think there’s so much more to do and as long as I keep showing up.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I performed as a kid, so I was used to a performance outfit, although I didn’t start sewing until I was 12 years old and didn’t start really making things, or styling looks for those performances until I was in highschool. By then I had also started making dresses for my school dances (after one of my best friend’s mother said that she would help me make something). Every homecoming, spring fling, prom that I got to go to, I made a dress. As many teens did, I collected magazines, pulled pages out, making collages on my walls. I was inspired by Italian Vogue editorials, where I would see so many ideas for my dresses. I was (and still am!) a huge Betsy Johnson fan and from age 13 I would go into the boutique at the mall every weekend, to look at the beautiful chiffon, tiered, pink organza, cupcake looking cocktail dresses. I remember when I wore the first dress I designed to a dance, someone asked me if it was Betsy Johnson! It felt like such a huge compliment, that something I designed was mistaken for my favorite designer.

Up until I was 17, I had always imagined designing and making dresses was a hobby, I thought I was going to be a psychologist, but when one class asked us to research a career we wanted to pursue, I told my dad that I had chosen psychology and he said “Why? You should be a Fashion Designer.”, which absolutely blew my mind! My dad comes from a science background and my mother a teacher, I had never even imagined this was something I would do. To this day, they are my biggest cheerleaders.

From there, I leaned in, I photographed the dresses I’d made and put them on a CD-rom and sent it to Parsons, Drexel, SFSU and California College of the Arts (CCA). I ended up attending CCA, in San Francisco, for four years and received my BFA in Fashion Design.

Design school was where I blossomed. I got to meet so many talented students, across a myriad of disciplines, like sculpture, furniture design, industrial design, painting and architecture.

In my third year at CCA, I applied and was accepted to do a study abroad program at Haute Ecole D’art et du Design, in Geneva, Switzerland, where I lived for 6 months, learned how to speak french and was mentored by menswear designer Petar Petrov.
The other students I worked with completely changed my perspective and the way I design today. I started digging deeper into my concepts, thinking more intentionally and working harder than I ever had.
When I came back, one professor said “You’re different.”, which I took as a complement! I was! The experience changed me so much.

In 2012 I graduated and moved almost immediately to New York, but right before, the chair of the Fashion Design dept. at CCA suggested that I take a styling job for a local kid’s brand. I didn’t understand, I thought styling was inherent in designing and that all designers were stylists. I was very wrong and am forever grateful to her for getting me my first paid freelance job right out of college. It made me realize that I had been doing it for years, after being a huge fan of blogs like Stylerookie and The Sartorialist, I was always pushing the boundaries of my own style and taking note for all body types, gender and age (aka, you make your own rules!), always implementing it in my work.

Upon arriving in New York, I continued to work retail jobs, whilst taking internships at Badgley Mischka, Rodarte (during NYFW), Erin Fetherston, and M.Martin. During that time I also started an eponymous label and came out with a few collections for a couple of years, which were sold at Sincerely, Tommy, my friend Kai Avent deLeon’s wonderful boutique in Bedstuy! My first collection was written up on Style.com, which at the time, meant the world to me!

In 2015 I was hired as an assistant designer at Kay Unger, a women’s eveningwear company. At Kay Unger, I learned all about the mass market industry, designing with factories overseas for US department stores and designing 12 collections a year. My creative director Amy DiDonato was a huge mentor and is still a friend today!

All the while at Kay Unger, I paused my eponymous line and started my foray into freelance styling and costume design. I designed 3 off-off broadway shows and two short films.

In late 2017, a producer I had styled a commercial for, put my name forward to work for Baz Luhrmann and his 4x Oscar winning Costume & Production designer wife, Catherine Martin. I was hired in January of 2018 and started the ride of my life, which would inevitably take me down to Australia, where I started working on the Elvis movie. It was a dream come true to be designing with Catherine Martin and the Prada & Miu Miu design teams. It was my first feature film, which, naturally, had its own trials and tribulations, but I believe it is some of my best work and am very grateful for the opportunity.

The pandemic hit, Tom Hanks got covid and all of the international crew had to return to their homes.
I ended up in LA, for what I thought was only going to be a few months, but as the months went on, I realized work wasn’t starting back up in New York yet and since I didn’t have an apartment there after moving to Australia, maybe it made sense to find work in LA.

I got accepted into the Costume Design Guild and by November of 2020 and had started on my second feature film as the Assistant Costume Designer for Lena Dunham’s “Sharp Stick”, costume designed by Katina Danabassis.

It’s been a wild ride! I have done 3 more features, 2 series’, and designed 4 short films. The first feature that I’ve designed has just premiered at Tribeca Film Festival, which was a huge milestone! (Congrats to ‘The Travel Companion’, family!)

I have had so many funny pathways, jobs, and experiences that have added up to today and I genuinely don’t think I would do anything differently.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I think the most rewarding aspect is seeing people being positively affected by the work. There are some times when I work with people that have walked away from a fitting feeling more confident, or started integrating something they tried in our fitting into their lives.

I know that many perceive clothes, or caring about what you wear as something superficial, but it’s amazing how a lot of us need to feel comfortable in what we are wearing (or not wearing) and how it can affect us in our daily life.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I think after having worked with some of the most influential designers and stylists in the last 20+ years, it’s taught me that everyone has their own process and you can do it all, so why limit yourself! I still assist designers and stylists that I love working with, because I’m always learning and I love to collaborate.

I think if I can continue to work in industries that continues to inspire, then I can confidently say that I’m living my dream.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.laurenlevindesign.com
• Instagram: laurenlevinco

Image Credits

The travel companion photo by Alex Mallis