A hobby turned profession

LAUREN BLACK

Laura is happy in her work. She does what she likes the most, and that is that she has turned her hobby into her livelihood. She is a fashion designer, and she has just released her first clothing collection, which she is named 'dragonfly'.

She always lived surrounded by patterns and pins. Her grandmother was an excellent seamstress, and from a very young age she instilled in her a love for the needle and the thimble, so much so that she, at only 7 years old, designed and sewed her own cushions that she later gave away to the neighbours. At the age of 8, she made clothes with bits of skay from the family triplets factory.

She studied Marketing and Business Administration in Valladolid, but she did not feel truly fulfilled until she finished her fashion design studies in Madrid. She worked in an accessories firm and later got a job in a factory in Valladolid designing children's and women's fashion. She also did her little first steps, as a 'freelance' making hosiery collections.

Very versatile and creative, she considers herself a designer in all aspects of her life, "I am constantly thinking and thinking about everything, whether at home for domestic things, when I am in the car, or while I have a coffee at the bar . Logically, due to my training, fashion design is what I dedicate the most time to and clothing and accessories are my main daily occupations, but I never give up other projects that I feel like doing, especially if the material to work with is fabric, since it is the one I handle the best and the one I enjoy the most", he explains.

Laura began to be known through a blog, in which she was exposing the works and crafts that she was doing.

«I started by chance, as entertainment at a time when I had given up my job as a designer in a clothing company, which had made me lose interest in my profession. In this situation, one day at home I took the computer and opened a blog. I uploaded a post with the things I did at home to entertain myself. And suddenly I started getting views, people started posting comments. I saw that they liked my work and decided to continue. One post followed another and so on until I reconsidered the possibility of designing clothes again.

Last winter she signed up for a six-month workshop at La Casita de Wendy's studio in Madrid. A practical course where she learned print design techniques, use of graphic tools, study of fabrics and patterns, fashion photography, trends and marketing strategies.

“This made me even more motivated to start preparing my first fashion collection. That does not mean that I am going to stop making accessories and the little things for children that I did until now, but I will focus more on this new activity », she clarifies.

Her brand is her name, Laura Valea, and this is how she explains it to us: «Since I started the blog by chance, I didn't think about looking for a name, I just opened an account with mine and tried it. If I had known at the time that the blog was going to bring me here, I probably wouldn't have used my name. Now I no longer consider changing it, it would mean starting over from scratch and everything would be more difficult.

Her workshop and clothing collection

Accustomed to working at home, on November 30, Laura successfully inaugurated her new workshop, at number 25 Gabilondo Street, in Valladolid. In the presentation she was very supported by family and friends.

“At home I no longer had room for anything. All the rooms were occupied with my creations. I have divided the place into two parts. On one side is the workshop, where I have the patterns, fabrics, materials, etc..., and on the other there is a showroom where I have my clothes and accessories on display. In any case, although the showcase and main activity is still on the Internet, I receive visits from those who want to try on the clothes. To do this, they always make an appointment by mail or phone. And on Fridays I always have it open to the public”, explains the young designer.

Her first collection, autumn-winter 2012-13, is called 'dragonfly'. «It is very inspired by art Nouveau, an artistic trend in which insects appear recurrently, especially the dragonfly. Hence, it also appears in my collection as a protagonist through handmade drawings that I have later transferred to clothing. In some garments I have painted them directly on the fabric and in others I have used the printing technique».

In this collection, each stitch is made with such care and dedication that it can be said that it is an artisanal work. Laura has pampered the entire creation process: sketching the designs and prints of the fabrics, searching for fabrics and cutting.