Lauria Pascuzzi, the creator of Lauria Rose Designs has been this year’s buzz in the fashion design industry here in Pittsburgh. I was lucky enough to get an interview with her and be able to find out more about who she is, her message, and of course her designs.
Lauria is a 25 year old creative designer from right here in Pittsburgh. Lauria describes her pieces as Avant-garde and I think you’ll agree once you seem them. Her designs are high fashion with a sense of hyper feminism. You can see the thought put into each piece. Lauria has a true talent for fashion design and it shines through her work. Not only is she an outstanding designer she also happens to be a very passionate and good human being. Just like her designs, she is a rare gem that is hard to find.
The first thing I asked Lauria was what got her interested in the fashion industry. The answer was no doubt the beginning of an extraordinary story. Lauria had this to say, “After my grandmother passed away I was going through her things and I found an old sketchbook with tons of fashion drawings in it alongside an application for art school. It was almost like a sign, I decided that I was going to finish what she had started.” And if that’s not a sign, I don’t know what is.
Because Lauria’s designs are so different, I needed to know what exactly inspired her and her creative eye. When asked where she gained inspiration, she replied “A lot of my inspiration comes from different cities that I've visited, it can be as simple as architecture, textured wallpaper in new places, or just the energy of people on the street. However, I gain most of my inspiration from social and economic issues. I've always been an extremely empathetic person and humanitarianism is something that is close to my heart so it is a beautiful thing that through art and fashion I am able to make people think about something deeper.”
After this answer I had become really intrigued in her morals and ideals as a person, and decided to gear my questions to learn more about her drive for people. I asked her what she thought was one of the biggest issues facing women today. Lauria gave this answer “The Reproductive Rights battle… 1 out of 4 women in the United States will have an abortion in her lifetime, and this has become extremely concentrated among women below the poverty line. With the Republican-led efforts to defund Planned Parenthood, many women will lose not only access to safe and affordable abortion but quite possibly the only reproductive health care option they have.” I couldn’t agree more with her and wanted to dive deeper. When asked what Feminism means to her she mentioned words like “equality,” “true justice,” and “embracing opportunity.” She also included a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt saying, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” I had never heard that before my time with Lauria, and it was so powerful to hear. Lauria shows aspects of a true and knowledgeable feminist and humanitarian.
Since Lauria had such a strong sense of human rights I wanted to know if that translated into her work. I asked her what the message is behind her designs, if any. Lauria replied, “Each collection of mine is inspired by a different social or economic issue, I think that no matter where you are in the world you will be able to feel a connection with one of my pieces. Whether these issues affect you or someone you love, you'll feel like this was made for you and you're supporting a cause that is close to your heart… I want to bring issues to light, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and by banding together we can make change little by little.” Lauria even mentioned that her causes separate her work from the rest because they are directly correlated to the cause they are inspired by. She hopes to educate people more on issues through her work, or at the very least show their support by wearing these garments that are derived from these social and economic issues.
Seeing as how Lauria is binding two different elements together I asked her what her plans were for the future and how she will continue to bring a unique aspect to designing. She replied, “I am hoping to develop relationships with different organizations and non-profits to band together and raise funds for the issues that I outline in my different collections.”
Being in the know of fashion events in the city, I noticed that Lauria has involvement in this year’s upcoming Pittsburgh Fashion Week. I sought out to know exactly how big her involvement was. She mentioned that she designed a collection for the show. The collection is named 2030. Lauria said, “The name of this collection is inspired by WomenRising2030 which is an initiative launched by the Business and Sustainable Development Commission.” This is a commission to empower women to lead in business roles. Lauria said this specific collection was also inspired by gender equality and women’s rights progress throughout the years. Another aspect that I found to be very innovative, is that each piece will be named after “an influential women that is working to bring forth change in the world,” as Lauria said. To see her collection and find out the names of these garments, be sure to check out Pittsburgh Fashion Week.
Lauria Pascuzzi, a strong women with a clear goal and kind heart. Talent, ambition, creative, and powerful are just some words that come to mind when speaking with her and seeing her designs. She left me with these riveting words, “There's beauty in change and knowledge in hidden places, so go out and discover something that pulls on your heart and follow that newly found drive into a new world.”
Photographer - Farzeen Ghavam and Tony Moux
You can see her designs are lauriarose.com or check her out on Instagram at lauriarose_designs