Meet Ella Frauenhofer | Fashion Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ella Frauenhofer and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ella, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
Authenticity and truth, always. I’ve always considered Sensual At Best to be a project, an energy, an extension of myself and the growth I’m constantly experiencing rather than a brand. It’s more of a meditation than a business. Sensual At Best is the entity through which I dig for my truth, essentially, to more clearly understand my own values and ideas that I feel called to communicate through many different mediums. This is also why I use recycled fabrics and natural materials like hemp and wool. I feel there is a certain truth to recognizing our relationship to and within nature. It gives us everything we need. We aren’t here to take but rather exchange, and I strive to honor that. Whenever I’m collaborating, the goal is always the same, to create something organic. If I’m working with models, the only direction I’ll give is to just flow, explore. Move the body in ways that feel right, and it will look right and beautiful and powerful. I like to think of the clothing as a physical manifestation of an energy I’m sharing and when the wearer receives that, they step into their own truth and then they inspire the next person to be fully themselves, and so on. I think that people are intuitively drawn to vulnerability and truth and also intuitively know when art is being created for the wrong reasons or from a place of ego. My success lies in that I’m often checking myself and my energy: am I doing this to spread love? Am I doing this to uplift the people around me? And I community building? or is this coming from a place of ego.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’m deeply intuitive in my creation process, and I think that sets me apart from a lot of fashion designers, specifically. I sew things together how they feel and look right to me. I didn’t go to art school, I’m completely self taught, and my clothing reflects that. I used a sewing pattern once in my life and then realized I never wanted to use one ever again. I find peace in the grey areas. It of course hasn’t always been easy, and there’s been plenty of challenges. I’ve spent sooooo many hours and so many dollars getting to the skill level I’m at now. It’s been a lot of hard work. Also, sewing is a physical exercise. You’re bent over for hours and getting up and sitting down and snipping and ripping seams, and my back hurts. So it’s been important to take care of my body, get my stretches in, treat myself to massages, as everyone should. I feel like recently I’ve learned a lot about not selling myself short. I think a lot of artists are so criminally underpaid, which truly is a crime in a city like LA where you have such extreme wealth and abundance. However, I’ve learned if you just follow your gut, price your pieces for what you think they’re worth, turn down the gigs that want your free labor (unless it’s something you believe in, payment is not always monetary), the right people will come forth that really appreciate your art for what it’s worth. In the end, it takes time and patience to start to see the movement where people want the things you create and want you involved in their project. I’m just starting to see the movement, which feels good but it’s taken a few years and two cities. It’s all about trusting the process. The lows, which are greatly humbling, always happen before the level ups. When I’m feeling lost and tired, it’s best to sit in it and rest because there’s about to be an immense amount of clarity and abundance and creative explosion coming forth.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Okay, I’m an earth baby, so I would absolutely hit the beach with the girlies. I love Laguna, with all their little coves, and I also love Zuma beach in Malibu. There’s a really dope hike across from it actually. You can go pretty high up and just overlook the entire ocean. It’s a little strenuous but so worth it to hear the quietness. After that, Malibu Seafood fresh fish market is bomb. Elysian Park is where I hike on the daily. It has so many trails, but also the main ones are never overcrowded. I’m a huge walker from my Chicago days. If you cross Coronado and Sunset going towards Reservoir then turn right on Reservoir, there any many trees to forage from, lemons, limes, oranges. It’s nice to go for a little walk then just snack on an orange you picked. Trible Cafe is my favorite food spot in the entire city. It’s in Echo Park and run by a bunch of sweeties. They have all natural smoothies, juices, sandwiches, super vegan friendly, and all so reasonably priced. I love to see spots make natural and organic food accessible. Also, food trucks, food trucks, food trucks. Go to the food trucks. Run to the food trucks. They are everywhere and have the best food in the city, period. There’s a really good one on sunset and bellevue and also outside of Eagle LA, which I’ve never been to but the truck outside goes crazy. The woman that runs it puts mad love in her quesadilla. I’m a little over a year into LA, so I’ve struggled a bit to find my favorite bar spots, but cha cha lounge is a vibe. You can school your crush in fooseball there. I love Little Joy in Echo Park. They are divey but have a back little venue, where many of my homies have played. It’s the best size to feel like you’re at a hype yet intimate show. I love a queer rave moment, and the best techno raves I’ve been to are definitely Serenity Link run by Mapamoto, who is a dope queer dj. We are definitely heading there to dance. I’m currently on the search to find more femme friendly dance bars, so maybe me and the girls are also exploring some new spots. I’m definitely forgetting some, but those are the first activities that come to mind.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My family, my friends, my art community. I’m really lucky to have been raised by parents that always encouraged me to try new things and dream big, essentially. I grew up with a mother who would always tell me “face your fears, face your fears,” and I hear that voice often in my adulthood, It’s given me the confidence to lean into self expansion and move towards the things that scare me. Since I’ve lived away from home since I was 18, my friends have truly become my family. I feel really lucky to be surrounded by such incredibly talented, thoughtful, creative, emotional, and multidimensional humans. As an artist, I’m deeply sensitive, period. It makes it easier to move through this life where emotions are deemed weak and insignificant when you have friends around you that are telling you that your feelings are something powerful. The love is big amongst the homies, and the support is always felt. I love to see my friends win, and I know they love to see me do the same, and it gives me the encouragement to keep creating and exploring. Finally, I lived in Chicago for 7 years, and in my opinion, Chicago does it right. The diy scene runs deep, and because it doesn’t get funding or attention like NYC and LA do, artists really depend on and support each other. The art community is thick as thieves in Chicago, and it’s a city where clout chasing doesn’t make sense and people have little tolerance for it. I’m super grateful for that energy that is so engrained in me now here in LA, where I still collaborate with many Chicago homies that moved out here but also new LA friends that understand the diy spirit.

Website: sensualatbest.com

Instagram: sensual.at.best

Image Credits
Alex Free Alexander Han Ashley Chang Paige Hochstatter