Lela Rose: Fashion with a Southern Charm
Written by Jaya // June 10, 2012 // Fashion Category // No comments
As the saying goes, everything is bigger in Texas and Lela Rose’s career is the embodiment of that phrase. From crisp blacks, whites and grays to bold colors and prints, Lela Rose’s fashion empire has something for everyone. In addition to her ready-to-wear fashion line, she also has a line of bridal wear and a shoe line with Payless Shoes.
Rose graduated from the famed Parsons School of Design in 1993 and started her business three years later. She has studied under Hollywood designers Christian Roth and Richard Tyler but she doesn’t look very far for fashion role models. She considers her mother and grandmother to be her inspirations.
Her mother, Deedie, helped her hone her skills and she found her entrepreneurial spirit in college. “I have always liked to work with my hands and was constantly making things as a child,” said Rose on fashion site Stylelite.com. “I asked my mother to teach me to sew when I was in college and I started a business designing and sewing on my dorm room floor.”
Even as a co-ed, Rose was able to create trends, even ones she’s not particularly proud of. “I created these one-of-a-kind vests (I think they were “in” at the time!) made from silk scarves from the 40’s & 50’s,” she continued. “I would find scarves at vintage stores that featured prints like maps of Florida, cowgirl motifs, etc. and patchwork them together. Monopoly game pieces were my buttons. It is a tad embarrassing, but it is also where I got my confidence to go into fashion.”
The Dallas native considers her Southern roots to be an influence. “When I first started in the business 20 years ago, black was the new black. Then charcoal. Then navy. And so forth. But growing up in Dallas, women were turned out and dressed in color” she said to Southern Living. “Lela Rose clothing is known for being elegant, put-together, and playfully colorful. That aesthetic harkens back to Texas.”
Rose counts her experiences in fashion school as a factor of her success and encourages anyone interested in fashion to consider formal education. “There are some great fashion schools, especially SCAD in Savannah and Atlanta,” suggested Rose. “I do think it is important to have a degree in fashion and to take as many internships as possible as they are a great way to see if you like a larger corporate feel or a smaller, “sink or swim” atmosphere.”
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–Ashleigh Atwell
