Meet Lauren St. Laurent | Costume & Fashion Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lauren St. Laurent and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lauren, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
Ever since founding Castle Corsetry, I have had a strong sense of my design morals as well as quality control. So many fashion brands in current times rely on overseas manufacturing, which not only hurts the US economy, but has paved the way for ‘fast fashion.’ Castle Corsetry is anything but fast-fashion in that I value quality over quantity. I want my customers to trust me to make their garments not only fit perfectly tailored to their measurements, but also to know that each item is made with love and attention to detail in my Los Angeles studio with my very small team of fair-waged employees. I don’t ever want to cow to the fashion industry standards of sending things all over the world to be made in ill-kept environments with underpaid and often underage workers. As a business owner, I’ve made it my stance to never support this kind of industry. My way may be slower and more expensive, but the quality is unmatched.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I think a lot of US-based careers have suffered due to outsourcing. Even attending Fashion School, we were taught mostly on how to communicate to overseas factories rather than hands-on training on how to do the work ourselves. I pride myself if having all the necessary skills to tackle any job that comes my way, which I’ve found is a rare trait in both fashion and costume design settings. In the fashion and costume world, students are taught to sketch with precision to get their design ideas across to the person who will pattern and construct the garment. I want to be the one to start with an idea and see it through to completion with my own hands in the pattern and construction process as well. I have very little patience for ‘designers’ who can’t sew or pattern for themselves. I take great pride in my work and my work ethic, and hope to inspire a new generation of US-based manufacturing.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I always love taking new people on an adventure through the fashion district in LA — there’s nothing like it in the world! Not only are there fabrics, trims and notions galore to make your own garments, but you can also wander into Santee Alley and find a whole new wardrobe at wholesale prices. I’ve purchased everything from fancy masquerade jewelry to wigs to lingerie and shoes all at a fraction of what you’d pay in a retail store. It’s a bargain-hunter’s dream!

We would then make our way to the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising to check out the Oscars’ Museum Costume Gallery where you get to take an up-close look at the beautiful costumes that were made for the previous year’s most famous films. As much as one remembers from watching the film, there’s nothing quite like getting that up-close and personal look at the embroidery or beading details that were lost in the camera. From the fashion district, I’d take my friend to lunch at Yuko Kitchen, where they have the best sushi and cookies (of all things!) and walk around the corner to The Last Bookstore for some famous instagram portraits in their unique interior design! It would truly be a memorable day for any non-Angeleno!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I don’t know where I’d be today professionally if not for my friend and mentor, Fon Davis. Fon is the CEO of Fonco Studios, a small but mighty production studio here in Los Angeles. Fonco specializes in unique filmmaking, including practical special effects, prop making, set design, miniatures, puppets, stop-motion animation, motion capture, and visual effects. I have had the honor of being head of the wardrobe department for six years now, and the work we get to do under Fon’s leadership is so challenging and rewarding. My skills have been entirely transformed working here, with constant problem solving and discovering new ways to tackle an idea. I treasure the relationship that has brought my design sense to new heights under his tutelage.

Website: www.castlecorsetry.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/castlecorsetry/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenmatesic/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CastleCorsetry

Facebook: www.facebook.com/castlecorsetry

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CastleCorsetry

Other: https://shop.castlecorsetry.com/ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2285405

Image Credits
First photo in Red dress – Photographer: ModelMosa Model: Lauren of Castle Corsetry Black/Red Vampires – Jerry Abuan Photography, Models: Lauren of Castle Corsetry and Bernadette Bentley Orange Butterfly Corset: Model: Adrianne Curry Photographer: Chuck Cook Photography Hocus Pocus: Models Lauren of Castle Corsetry, Amanda Lynne, Chrissy Lynn Kyle, Photo: Joits Pink Photo: Superkind from ‘Metro Manners’ modeled by Anna Akana, Directed by Mike Diva Others are cell phone photos taken either by myself or friends.