LAURENCE BASSE
We ended our NYFW FW24 shows the evening of Feb 13th with Project Runway alum, Laurence Basse who was a finalist in both Season 15 as well Season 20 for Project Runway All-Stars. We have been a long time fan of her mastery of leatherwork and in seeing her first solo show at The Paramount Building in Times Square, we were thrilled to be able to talk to her in detail about how she got into the industry, her namesake line, her NYFW show, and what we can expect from her as she continues to push the envelope of her brand.
ATHLEISURE MAG: It is such a pleasure to be able to talk with you as I’ve been a fan of your work and aesthetic!
LAURENCE BASSE: Thank you so much, thank you! I really appreciate you having me.
AM: Of course! I have been a fan of yours since I first saw you on Season 15 of Project Runway, and just your artistry, the way you work with leather, your style, and attitude – everything about you is definitely Black Girl Magic.
LB: Oh I’m trying, I’m trying.
AM: Oh no, you are not trying, you are doing!
So you got your start in the industry as a model. You have modeled with BENNETTON, Jean Paul Gautier, and you have been in French Elle as well as Cosmopolitan. You did this for 15 years, what was the moment that you realized you wanted to be a fashion designer.
LB: Well I mean, this is the narrative in the streets, but really, I went to fashion school in Paris before I was even modeling. I started fashion school when I was 17 years old. So from 17 – 22, I was in fashion school and I started modeling when I was in Paris I think 3 years into fashion school. It was just there and I thought, “why not?” I used that to then move to the US and it became a 15 year off and on.
AM: Where did you go to school?
LB: I went to school, my first one was in Normandy called Elisa Lemonnier and then I went to another school in Paris, an art school by the same name at the 12 Arrondissement.
AM: When I first saw you in Season 15 of Project Runway, I was just blown away by what you did throughout that season. What drew you to compete on the show?
LB: You know, let’s just say that I never casted for the show. I never did. I quit modeling, I was in LA, I was bartending, and I had my studio, but I was like, ok, since I didn’t do the designing the way that they are saying which is you get out of school and you go work for a brand, and I didn’t do that. I was modeling, traveling, and living my best life.
So at this point, I was 35, I had started this thing, but how do I go from zero to 50 at least? I had a friend of mine that was a Super Model back in the days in France and she actually reached out to me a year before my season to do the French version of Project Runway in France, and I said, "hell, no! I'm not doing a reality show blah blah blah boom boom boom – not when it comes to designing.”
Time went by and I got an email after that from the US. They told me that they were casting for Project Runway. My first reaction, “hell, no!” I’m not doing this. But my friend was with me and she was like, “Laurence it is a good opportunity and you should do it.” I didn’t say no. I literally waited until the deadline. If the deadline was like Mar. 30th at midnight, I waited until the deadline to submit whatever it was that they were asking me.
Then they called me back. I didn’t know that they had already had a casting in the US. So I thought that I was going in for the casting, but it had already been done. I went straight to the final 2 appointments that they had before they decided on who they wanted to have on the show. I went in and I brought in like 10 pair of clothes and they loved it and after that, they asked me to come in the next day. The next day was a whole hour – hour and a half interview. That’s when they say, ok we know you can sew, we love you, but as far as your personality, they have to figure that out.
I did my interview for a little over an hour and it went well I think. I was good! The lady told me, “Laurence, if you made it this far it means you’re perfect for this show. But If we do not cast you for this season, please come back next season.” I told her, “I won’t be coming back.” If I make it, great and if I don’t, I’m still happy. I literally left the casting and I literally left the casting and I was going to my car in LA and I was like dancing in the parking lot. It was an investment for me. It’s already mine and if not, it’s ok too. Then they called me and that’s how I made it onto the show.
AM: I’m glad that you did because the moment you started creating dynamic pieces and watching how you work with leather beyond what I have seen anyone else do – it was phenomenal to watch. As a fashion stylist and someone who has grown up in this industry from a young age – watching you make leather do things that we don’t think that that fabrication supports usually, I was like, “where did this women come from?” I became obsessed and it was thrilling to see you be a finalist on that season.
LB: Thank you!
AM: And then when it came to Season 20 that aired last year with Project Runway All-Stars, what were you thinking about coming back to this crazy environment of a competition show?
LB: Oh yeah, it’s definitely crazy!
So basically, the first time that I went, I didn’t know what I was expecting. I went in and I thought to myself, I am going to win. There was no other option and then I didn’t win. So I went home and I thought, “what am I going to do now?” But God has other plans. With the show rolling, it just jump started my career. I have just been going ever sense since that. It did a lot of things that were great for me. So when the second time came around, I thought, never again would I do a show like that. Right?
AM: Yeah!
LB: But, the only reason and again, they came back and said, “Laurence, do you want to jump on a call? We’re thinking of doing All-Stars.” I said sure and got on the call. But I wasn’t like, “yay!” I had to pause and think about it. Like I said, it did great for me, they have their own agenda and I went in with my own. Even when I accepted to do it, and I did it because it was All-Stars. It was about the contestants coming back to compete for something bigger. So I was like ok, this can’t hurt me and it can only reboost the machine. So I went in and I remember I said, “my head said that the best position for me to land was to be a runner-up.” Technically, I don’t want to win because I don’t want to be tied into anything.
But my ego, wanted to win the whole thing. The ego is the one that got hurt, but everything happened the way that it was supposed to happen. I did what I wanted to do and it was ok.
AM: Well, you turned out amazing pieces yet again!
LB: I was like, keep playing in my face!
AM: I love it!
So why do you like working with leather? Your mastery of leather is just insane.
LB: Thank you!
Well, I’m self-taught when it comes to leather. But my background is really haute couture, making the dresses and all of the extravagant things that people like to wear. I was like, everyone is doing this – a lot of people are doing it. I wanted to be different. I don’t want to be in the norm. I wanted to know what was out there that I could do and work with that I could separate myself from most designers. So I was thinking about leather for 2 reasons. As a child, when I was younger, leather was – when I would look at people who owned leather, they were rich. It was something that, yes I wanted it. But I couldn’t afford it. Then, before that, I love luxury. All of the stuff that I love when I go to the stores, it gives me a real headache! Because it’s $5,000, $6,000, and $10,000! I’d look at it and I’d say, “I can’t do it!” So I decided let me teach myself how to do this and I am going to do it better and I'm going to do it as a challenge to myself. I thought, “ok, all the stuff that I love the Balmain, Saint Laurent, the Gucci, the Tom Ford – it’s over overpriced,”, but look who’s talking now?
It's overpriced, but I’m going to one day sell my stuff at the same price as those people. I’ll be up there with them and that was the bet to myself. So, then leather when people think about it, they think it’s rigid and that there’s not a lot of what you can do with it. But for me, I was like, I’m going to get in there – me and leather are going to have a talk and we’re going to get to know each other. Now I know leather pretty well and I work it like it’s any kind of fabric. There’s no limitation to it. If you want a wedding dress, I’ll make your wedding dress in leather. If you want a flowy skirt or whatever it is, I just don’t want to put limitations on it.
AM: Well you are a master at it. You work a leather like it’s a silk or a taffeta and before you, I had never seen people treat it that way!
LB: That was the goal.
AM: How would you describe your brand your line. You have a number of NBA athletes and different celebrities that have worn your collection.
LB: Well my line, my line is definitely – it’s not haute couture, I’m not RTW. I’m somewhere in between so it’s a luxury brand catered to strong women and strong men. It’s very – for me it’s normal – but the stuff that I put together, they’re not supposed to exist in the same world. But they work for me, because it’s just an extension of me – female/male, cold/hot, edgy/soft – I just love to mix the two together.
