The Decade of LaQuan Smith
LaQuan Smith didn’t always want to be a fashion designer. In fact, as a child, he wanted to be a cartoonist.
The internationally-acclaimed designer has dressed Beyonce, Rihanna and the Kardashian clan, among so many others. But it didn’t come easily for LaQuan Smith.
Growing up in Queens, NY, Smith learned how to sew with his grandmother’s old Singer machine. He took inspiration from the elderly ladies he attended church with every Sunday and nineties girl groups such as TLC. He taught himself sewing and design techniques that surpassed his grandmother’s know-how. After graduating high school, Smith applied to Parsons and the Fashion Institute of Technology (twice). He was rejected by both.
Image Courtesy: NBC News
Instead of college, he secured an internship with the magazine BlackBook. He would sneak into private fashion events dressed in his designs and hand out business cards. He’d also pose as his editor to meet influential people.
LaQuan stayed determined and hopeful. In his downtime, he would work incessantly on his designs in a makeshift studio inside his grandparents’ house in Queens.
In attendance at his first show was Vogue’s editor-at-large, André Leon Talley. Talley said that he was enthusiastic about Smith’s first show because of his raw talent and experimental style. Talley also was excited to support an up-and-coming Black designer like LaQuan, who was entering such a white-washed industry with little diversity.
On the lack of diversity in the fashion industry, LaQuan has spoken candidly: “I’ve been typecast. I still continue to get typecast. My name is LaQuan Smith...when they hear the name they think urban.”
LaQuan’s experience as a Black designer has inspired him to be unwavering in his fight for more inclusive and diverse fashion. He wants every person to feel included in his designs regardless of their race, age, gender or size. He even designed clothing for Hasidic Jewish women, so that they too can feel luxurious and fashionable, even while dressing modestly. In 2011, his collection was showcased for New York Fashion Week. Among the models walking in his show were celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, Serena Williams, Nicki Minaj and Cassie Ventura. He included models over the age of thirty and with bodies that have traditionally been overlooked in the fashion industry. Because he himself has experienced being overlooked in the industry, he wanted to use his new-found influence to make the space more inclusive for others.
Smith wants his designs to not just be worn by celebrities, but by people around the world. He partnered with ASOS in 2018 to release an affordable line of clothing that looks chic and cutting edge. The line includes both luxe and affordable items, so there is something for everyone to wear, from A-list celebrities to the broke college student.
His brand exudes effortlessness and sex appeal, as well as an innate acceptance of oneself. He makes clothes for the confident and for those who enjoy pushing the fashion status quo - like Rihanna wearing this dress that broke the internet or Kim Kardashian’s recent look.
“I don’t think I chose fashion. Fashion chose me,” said LaQuan in an early interview with Vogue Magazine. And I would add, fashion keeps choosing him, and choosing him, and choosing him.
Strike Out,
Writer: Ellie Lynch
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