Greg Lauren Headlines LAFW Day Three with a Star Studded Runway Show

"I think it was really exciting to do something here on the rooftop of an amazing museum in the middle of LA with this incredible skyline... In the heart of where I live and where my studio is and everything about what we've done is made in LA." - Greg Lauren

Day three of LAFW at the Petersen Automotive museum served up several more amazing fashion designers and closed out with the LA based headliner Greg Lauren. The industry veteran who grew up learning about fashion from his famous uncle Ralph Lauren celebrated his 10 year anniversary at LAFW this year with a special collection titled, "Ten". 

Day three was all about contemporary styles and featured collections from: Bishme Cromartie, Naids, and Laura Theiss leading up to the finale. The evening kicked off with a colorful collection by Bishme Cromartie couture featuring one of this season's hottest trending colors: lime green. The designs were full of fit to perfection creations with statement ruffles on the sleeves and hips. 

The show was followed by hand crafted NAIDS collection featuring beautiful prints and matching men's and women's suiting.  

Laura Theiss presented a collection featuring another of Spring 22s trending colors: bright pink. The collection featured flouncy dresses and intricate cutout styles in beautiful crocheted materials. 

Finally, the show everyone was waiting for, Greg Lauren opened with a star studded front row including celebs Usher, Chance the Rapper, Hannah Brown, Adam Weiss, and more! 

This unique show took the audience through the artist's evolution as a designer showing looks from various collections Greg Lauren has created over the years starting with 2008 and going all the way through to 2021. The show started off with looks 1-4 from the 2008 collection titled "The Artist" and were presented during an amazing dance performance titled "Scraps" choreographed by Jacob Jonas The Company. 

The show used dance, music, and fashion to make a statement about social justice with a focus on the social revolution that has taken place over the past decade. Many of the clothes were reminiscent of the 60's and 70's as a nod to the social justice movements happening today and how they are a continuation of events from years past according to the designer. 

Looks 5-6 were from 2011-2014 and pulled from the archive from the collection titled "Deconstruction". Greg Lauren explained that these looks were created from repurposed military duffle bags and other recycled items. The designer spoke about the importance of sustainability in fashion and stated that while he did not set out to be a "sustainable designer" when creating those pieces it was something that just naturally happened as the focus on reuse and the environment became more important. Lauren explained that he believes sustainability should be an important focus for all creators going forward and not just relegated as a special category. 

Looks 9-16 were from the collection titled "50/50" from 2014-2018. Looks 17-20 were from the 2019 and 2020 collections titled "Scrapwork and Stitchwork" and featured long trench coats and knitwear accessories. Looks 21-30 from the 2021 collection Dress Codes featured relaxed suiting and denim. 

And finally "Mosaic" closed out the show with looks 31-37 from the 2021-2022 collection Greg Lauren created with Gee's Bend. Throughout the show there were several nods to the designer's home base of LA including a Malibu sunset backdrop as well as the LA based dance company and relaxed California lifestyle looks. Lauren gave insight into the beauty looks used for the show saying that he wanted each model's unique beauty to be highlighted so there were no two beauty looks the same in this show. Some models wore no makeup at all. The designs were also all androgynous creations which Lauren explained was another important statement he wanted to make with this collection. He explained that he planned for each look in this collection to be able to be worn by any gender. 

I spoke to Greg Lauren about the story he wanted to tell with "Ten" as well as his favorite things about designing in LA in an exclusive behind the scenes interview after the show. When asked about the color evolution of this show the designer told me, "The story in this collection was it was really in honor of ten years and so it started with the idea of the artist and moved through our stuff that we did with the deconstructed army materials. Then it moves through 50/50 which combines multiple elements and then what I was most excited about were the last two storylines. All of these groups that were about a new elegance and the sun rising pinks and browns and beautiful colors. Then those vivid colors that were all part of this final group. So there was an evolution from those kind of muted tones to like bursts of color."

We also talked about his decision to present at LA fashion week and he said, "You know LAFW is interesting because it doesn't necessarily get he same type of attention that New York or Paris does but I built my company in LA and everything is made in LA and that's something that's really important to me that I wanted to say thank you for and almost rewrite the narrative of LA fashion week because there is an unbelievable group of talent here that LA fashion week is putting out there and it all comes from LA. So I think it was really exciting to do something here on the rooftop of an amazing museum in the middle of LA with this incredible skyline. And again in the heart of where I live and where my studio is and everything about what we've done is made in LA." 

The Return of Made in America: What Would it Really Take?

The made in America trend is coming back in full force and optimism is abound according to one survey by the National Association of Manufacturers but, after the announcement of Ralph Lauren's continued layoff plans this week and a disappointing 7 quarter decline in American's apparel spending the fashion industry is seemingly left out of the revival. American made clothing would be a smart investment for struggling luxury retailers who have been losing business to fast fashion, as frustrated consumers have been calling for American made apparel for a long time, with one of the most notable instances being the backlash for the Ralph Lauren US Olympic Uniforms made in China in 2012. Their voices have only gotten louder since the election of President Trump who has promised "America First" trade policies. An even bigger benefit is the increased turnaround time that American production provides. The year round work schedule and locality of domestic production more than compensates for the scale and speed of overseas production in most cases. However, companies have struggled to make any progress in this area and many are paying for it in profit losses and a declining reputation. Despite the dismal retail climate and lack of initiative from some of the industries' key players the American apparel industry is actually quite well suited for a turn around but, relying on traditional business practices from previous generations won't lead to success. Consumers are more and more interested in a local experience and they are placing value on high quality clothing that has an impeccable fit and, more disinterested in keeping up with fly by night trends in the ever expanding multi-seasonal retail calendar.

American apparel manufacturers have also been struggling ever since outsourcing and international licensing became the industry's new business model in the 90s. Factories have been shuttering their doors and skilled apparel workers have found themselves out of work or lacking in the latest training making them unemployable. There are already several programs in place throughout the US that provide education and resources to displaced apparel workers however, increased funding and outreach is still needed. Those factories that have managed to stay open have had to make major cutbacks to key roles such as pattern makers and increase their minimum order sizes to ensure profits on new lines causing extra work for everyone and making it hard for designers to afford sample runs (for more detailed info. read my article about the process of manufacturing a garment here). Contradictory to what one might think it is the local factories and family run businesses that have weathered the bad economy by carving out a niche for themselves in specific products such as t-shirts or lounge wear.

The American garment factory emerged from the recession with a new model that has adapted to small specialty lines catering to wealthy consumers' niche interests and hobbies. Producing collections on a national scale is definitely possible and some brands have successfully done it but, there have been a limited number of these cases. Recreating the glory days of made in America clothing is going to be a difficult task in this new landscape as factories with complete vertical production capabilities are rare and small in scale. For example, one factory owner I spoke to explained that he used to have 3 or 4 button manufacturers he worked with but, over the years all but one has closed. Now he relies on one button manufacturer for all the lines he produces making it imperative for him to coordinate large orders in advance.

Diversifying is key and big brands that have access to cash flow can help support the growth of the domestic industry and reintegrate production in the US by introducing high-quality American production one line at a time and finding factories with the capabilities suitable to each of their markets (i.e. starting with the athletic line, then the basics line etc.) instead of expecting a factory to come equipped with capabilities for every product. Retailers can also help by stocking orders of made in America clothing so that up and coming designers are encouraged to establish US production and less likely to move operations over seas. And providing high-quality products made to fit could mean big payoffs for their reputation in the eyes of the consumer.