February’s Fashion Week saw the launch of ethical accessories label, Aura Que. Creator and recent graduate Laura Queening talks to Amy Swales about Nepal, Topshop and meeting Jimmy Choo.
“I’d hate to be anywhere where appearance was everything.” An unusual declaration for someone carving a career in the world of fashion perhaps, but accessories designer Laura Queening is not your typical fashion dahling.
“Thankfully, doing handbags and scarves keeps me away from that size zero stuff. I’m just not fashiony!”
True, she made it to the final two candidates for a position with Vivienne Westwood, completed work experience at DKNY in New York, and met Jimmy Choo at a party, but in her own words, Laura enjoys “the making part”.
Graduating from Cordwainers at London College of Fashion in 2007 with First Class Honours and an impressive CV, Laura launched her own business into the fashion stratosphere: leather and knit accessories manufactured as part of the Nepal Fair Trade Group. So far, so glamourous, but she’s pained at the mention of celebrity. “I’m so removed from that. I missed Donna Karen during my placement. And I didn’t know I’d spoken to Jimmy Choo until someone told me afterwards - I couldn’t hear what he was saying. I just smiled and said something like ‘I do handbags’.”
She rarely shops, and ducked out of her own graduate show. Fortunately, her pieces spoke for themselves.“My show got some interest from high street retailers, and the interview for a junior position with Vivienne Westwood also came through that.” Is a well-attended graduate showcase all it takes? Although Laura is grateful for the opportunities her university afforded her, prestige alone won’t get you far. Uninspired by the placements offered on her sandwich course, she went out on a limb after seeing some of Charlott Vasberg’s designs and “kept calling her until she let me in”.
Laura spent three days a week with Charlott, and the remaining time working to pay the bills. “Most of what I’ve learnt about how to run a business came from her. I learnt more in that year than the first two.” After submitting a business plan and presenting to a judging panel, Laura was awarded start-up funding for her business through the new Creative Seed Scheme at the university. This, along with resourceful management of her student loan, allowed her to launch her label this year.
She also won various awards, including the esteemed Drapers Student Designer Award. Laura insists that attending the right university is second to putting yourself out there and taking on as much as you can handle. “You’ve got to take the initiative.” Which is exactly what she did. Laura recently spent two months in Kathmandu, at the Nepal Leprosy Trust factory that will be producing her range. She worked closely alongside 16 employees, some of whom are widowed by or suffer from leprosy, to show them how to manufacture her simplified designs. There will always be disparity between those in the factories, and those who buy the product - Laura’s conscious of that gulf and of the risk of patronising the communities she’s working with.
“At the end of the day, I’m twenty-odd, and yes, I’m telling mothers who’re living through disease what to do, but I’m working with them and they also show me new methods. I’m hoping the factory will grow with me as I do more collections. I’m building a relationship - I’m not hopping off to China for cheap labour. We get on really well, even with the language barrier!”.
She is very aware of the cheesecloth image that an ‘ethical’ tag carries, and when I venture that fair trade production is a wise business move in today’s market, she is quick to defend her choices.
“I am worried it looks like a gimmick, as there are so many products now saying ‘ethically produced’ and they aren’t. People get confused about what ‘fair trade’ means. I can say my manufacture is fair trade, but it’s impossible to get all fair trade material. I’m working on that, but it’s just about being honest with consumers.”
Her interest in the way fashion is produced in developing countries does not seem rooted in charity, but is simply summed up in a shrug, “Shouldn’t all production have ethics?” Laura acknowledges her career path may be difficult and admits her parents were “Worried about me doing handbags”, after she turned down a place at Cambridge University.
“I understand why they didn’t really get it, probably because they’re both pretty academic, but they’re completely supportive. Even if my dad did once suggest there was a calling for female engineers should the bags not work out!” Fortunately for Laura, the bags are working out, and engineering’s loss is fashion’s gain as she explains the drive behind her ambition.
Laura’s motivation is the enjoyment of her work: “I like working late, and I don’t like sitting on my arse watching a load of TV.” That is what inspires the ethical production, the stylish design, and the attention to detail that wins the acclaim and the awards.
Given what’s involved in setting up from scratch, it’s no surprise that the majority of Laura’s fellow graduates chose to apply to the big fashion houses instead, but far from daunted, Laura appears to relish the challenges of running a business herself.“You absolutely have to be organised, and it helps that I always have been. The thing about starting up on your own is remembering everything yourself. I do sales, design, production, sourcing…I’m busy, but I get time out. I travel on work-related things, so I’m not complaining. I don’t stop working ‘til 2 in the morning sometimes. Maybe I can’t switch off like someone in a 9 to 5 job, but I enjoy it and don’t mind working evenings. I’m a bit of a geek like that.”
Indeed, a geek who has just launched her own business, whose designs are attracting interest within the industry, and who travels the world doing something she loves. I’m starting to think there might be something to this ‘organisation’ malarkey, and I’m certain her parents are now reassured that Laura Queening definitely does more than handbags. ‘I like working late, and I don’t like sitting on my arse watching TV!’.
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