Project Sequin: Conversations with Lauren

Lauren Hill,

the name given to me on February 21, 1998 by my parents Dawn Ross and Horace Hill. It still makes me laugh till this day how I must explain the reason behind my parents giving me my name, and before you get any ideas, NO, it wasn’t because their favorite artist is Lauryn Hill. That myth and logic makes me laugh every time as I explain to people that my first name comes from my grandma’s middle name and my last name obviously comes from my father. All in All, it is a great conversation starter and the fact that the famous Lauryn Hill and myself came from the same area, people except greatness out of me just like her in a way. I respect it and it’s more of a motivation for me to be just as great with my talents, like Lauryn Hill is with hers. I honestly believe that all my talents come from the maker above. For the most part, I taught myself everything I do now. Like for example, sewing, learning how to do makeup, posing in photos, and even my first ever passion, dancing. I believe all my talents came from GOD also because no one else in my family can do what I do. My family has a great history when it comes down to sports, but being creative, making garments, modeling etc. I am the first in my family to go outside of the box.

[Ty. Jeannie] What is the brand you are trying to create? Whats the mission?

[Lauren] If there is ever any question on, why I do what I do and who I do it for, it’s simply for my beautiful black and brown girls and males around the world. I do this for US, like F.U.B.U. What do I do exactly? Well I am a Model, Stylist, Creative Director, Makeup artist, Designer and Blogger. I am also in the process of starting my own creative team called, TEAM TOO DOPE. My mission is to leave an imprint on fashion and make us as African Americans the spotlight. Let’s be honest, fashion comes from street style and street style comes from African Americans. So why aren’t we the ones to be put on the cover of the magazines and billboards of high end fashion brands and companies? A lot of people imitate the African American culture, clothing and music but we aren’t praised as much as we should be, and not just from other races, but from our own people. My mission is to build a fashion empire. I want to create looks that represent blacks in such a way that our own people will want to embrace it and others have no choice but to appreciate this art. I want people to fall in love with my work as much as they fall in love with GUCCI. You can have a voice without even saying anything and my voice will be heard through fashion. For example, all the models I use for my projects are black and I intend to keep it that way until it is the "norm".

[Ty. Jeannie] "When did you develop your interest in fashion design and styling?"

[Lauren] "Growing up, my grandmother had clothes galore at her house. She always had the best clothes, bags and you name it, she had it. With that, she always made sure I was fly even as baby. She would make sure I always looked my best. I would be going to fifth grade with Calvin Klein shirts on and Kenneth Cole Reaction shoes on with a Michael Kors bookbag, seriously. Every day I walked in school it was fashion show for me and still till this day, I have the same mentality. As I got older I eventfully developed my own style and I often been told from day to day, that people like the way I put my outfits together and my style. That’s when I would say I developed an interest in styling. What made me develop an interested in fashion design, was me modeling in fashion shows. Being backstage and watching the whole production go down, yeah, the models are a highlight to the show but it’s the designs of the fashion designers who make the show. When designers get to come out at the end of the show, the real applause goes to them.I’ve always admired that."

[Ty. Jeannie] In your most recent endeavor, Project Sequin, you designed bathing suits, was this your first time? If so, how was that process different from other pieces you have created?

[Lauren] My most recent endeavor, Project Sequin was my first official line of clothing. This process was so different from anything I was used to doing because before this I started a Flower Headband Line in like 2014 that took off and I was in a bit of a creative funk since then until I thought about these suits. This was a big project to me because I proved to myself that I still got it and can create and all I must do is just trust the process. This process was very different because I was working with pieces that people wore on their bodies and not just their head. The material wasn’t regular, and the sequin was difficult trying to sew the fabric to the suits, I had to really focus and take my time when sewing.

[Ty. Jeannie] When coming up with this idea what was your thought process, what was the goal behind the project?

[Lauren] When coming up with Project Sequin, the process started as me just trying to come up with something new, initiative and fresh for the summer for me to wear. After, I made my first bathing suit I did not like the way I sewed it on but I saw the vison for where I was going. Then, when I went to fabrics store and saw all the sequin fabrics in different colors I instantly got a clue of what I wanted to do and how it was going to be done.

[Ty. Jeannie] Did this collection require a team effort or did you solely handle the design and development of each swimsuit?

[Lauren] This collection was solely designed and developed by me. Of course, I had help when it came down to opinions and stuff, to see how the design was coming along but everything was hand sewn by me. The design of the bathing suits I came up with were my ideas.

[Ty. Jeannie] Why use models for this project when you could have modeled and size the suits for yourself?

[Lauren] To be honest, since I made the first bathing suit for myself, the project originally was going to be a line that I would be designing and modeling. I started to work with smaller size bathing suits and then I just decided to get other models to model the swimsuits for the line.

[Ty. Jeannie] You only created a few suits, do you have intentions of creating more to sell to your followers? Or was the purpose of this project to create hype on your social media accounts?

[Lauren] The purpose for me creating these suits was to one, test my creative abilities and see what I can branch out with as an artist. Also, two, to see if people would like my ideas and creativity. I was really looking for feedback off this line to see if people would want me to sell first before I even come out with a whole swimsuit line for sell. During the whole process, I would post sneak peeks on my social media accounts like Snap Chat and Instagram and I would get direct messages all the time before I even had the photoshoot asking me if I was selling these bathing suits because they would be first in line to buy one. I was overwhelmed with all the messages and appreciated them

all, but then came the instant pressure to deliver and deliver hard. Not only am I creating a line for creativity and portfolio purposes, but it also became something that I can potentially sell. Once I was officially finished all the products, it honestly took me longer than I expected to get all the suits done because I was hand sewing and I chose to hand sew because of the material. By the time I presented Project Sequin to my social media accounts, it was already close to the middle of the summer and I had to sit back and think carefully about if I wanted to sell any product with the summer about to be ending soon. I decided that I would work on my line some more and expand my ideas and designs and would sell next April or May, and do it BIG! I’m talking about a nice pop shop with great food and entertainment and of course fashion.

[Ty. Jeannie] What process did you go through to find models for the shoot? Did you know them or did they just display interest in the project?

[Lauren] The process that I went through to get models was simple, but the respond was mega! I posted a “Model Call” on Instagram with the instructions to repost the “Model Call” post and in the caption section to include your size, S, M or L because those are the only sizes I had at the time. That model calls almost went viral a little bit lol I got almost 250 responses, from reposts of the “Model Call” to comments, direct messages and emails wanting to be a part of this project. My friend Taj and I went through every single one of post and found the perfect fits to puzzle. I did not know any of the girls I worked with at all. I met them all from Instagram, and not to toot my own horn I had bomb pick! This was the first-time modeling for majority of the models and they did an amazing job.

[Ty. Jeannie] During the entirety of, Project Sequin, (Sewing the garments to the day of the photoshoot), did you run into any difficulties that possibly hindered the project? If so, how did you work through them?

[Lauren] The only problem I would say that possibly hindered the project was the weather. We had a day, and then another day and had to reschedule I think almost twice and I was not too pleased by that because I wanted to present my suits a bit early but all in all I would have done it all again the same way I did it.

[Ty. Jeannie] What makes your collection unique from another bathing suit line?

[Lauren] I think what makes my collection different is that every piece had name that was related to the design which made it a little more unique and cute for presentation. Overall, I feel like what makes my swimsuits different was because they are hand sewn sequin pieces and anyone can shine in them in their own way because of the variety of designs and how I incorporated the sequin.

[Ty. Jeannie] Do you plan on continuing your bathing suit line or was this just a one-time thing?

[Lauren] I decided that I would work on my line some more and expand my ideas and designs and would sell next April or May, and do it BIG! I’m talking about a nice pop shop with great food and entertainment and of course fashion. I already have a boutique in mind and we’ve already talk about these futures and now it’s all about me making the bathing suits.

[Ty. Jeannie] What are your future plans in regard to Project Sequin, are there any events or reminders that the Practically Poised readers should keep in mind?

[Lauren] My future for Project Sequin, is really to expand with designs and ideas and really make this a dope collection and really make it worth the wait. I have a couple of ideas already locked and loaded and now it’s all about implementing these plans into actions and that is what I hope to show the world soon. Yes, I do have a few reminders that I want the Practically Poised readers to keep in mind that this is just one project out of many that I have up my selves. I’m in the process of creating a creative team right with photographers, models, makeup artist to grow with me to build fashion profiles with, out the box fashion related concepts, ideas and outfits.

Additional Thank You!

I want to thank all my models for being apart of this project 💎

MODELS:

and @izzystarbucks for taking such AMAZING PHOTOS 😍😍😍 he crazy on the camera. Thank you to @fuckdarrycash and wonderful boyfriend @hajjballout for helping with lighting and making the GLOW!