Leren Connor is one of the most interesting fashion designers I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. She hails from a small English city called Derby and is a self confessed tomboy and geek. It's not often you meet people working within the fashion industry who willing talk about their geeky side. Her designs are fresh and interesting, some of them even influenced by the comic genre.
Leren was nice enough to send me one of her designs to inspect up close. I can attest that the quality is lovely - Paul Smith fabric hand fashioned with great tailoring skill into a wonderful design. In fact ,I love it so much that whilst I was going to take a photo to include with this post, I've decided to save wearing it for a more important outing - anyway you've got all her great editorial photos to look at today
So it is with utmost pleasure that I present Leren Connor to you - and do remember to check out her links at the end of this article :)
Who are you ?
I'm Leren Connor - I'm a 24 year old aspiring fashion designer from a little town called Derby in England and I've actually just graduated from Derby with a degree in fashion studies.
5 words to describe your personality
Vivacious, decisive, eclectic, chaotic and centred.
Describe your brand to us….what do you feel is your trademark?
My brand is just like my personality. I'm a person who loves many different things, I like that trait to speak out through my work.
Leren Connor is a brand that aims to target a variety of audiences of all ages and interests - we're Eclectic and Versatile whilst also being Sophisticated and Edgy.
" I hand-make all of my designs whilst also staying true to my roots of up-cycling and recycling. "
When did you first start to get interested in fashion design?
I was actually a late bloomer to the world of fashion. Interestingly, growing up, I wasn't really interested in overly girly things. I was a tomboy through and through - instead of spending my days playing with barbies, I would either be on my BMX, fishing or playing football.
It wasn't until my early teens that I started paying attention to fashion and slowly started to develop my own style, trying new things out. Having said that, I had always been interested in art so there was that. So as my interest in fashion developed, I started paying more attention to the subject and began my own education in learning about the industry, researching designers and learning how their work comes together. From then on I've never looked back and now I couldn't picture my self doing anything else as a career.
When did you actually start designing?
I started designing officially as a business back in 2012.
" I was 21 with no money and no experience. "
I was still in my second year of university, but me and a friend decided to open up a little boutique. What was great was that we had a little work room in the back where we did all our manufacturing. We also took on interns and it was whilst running this boutique that I new I had made the right decision in starting my own business. The boutique didn't go as well as we had hoped but nonetheless we gave it our all - it just wasn't the right time for either of us. I would say it was unfortunate but personally I think it was a blessing in disguise as it enabled me to solely concentrate on my own label which is now in its third year of business.
Any photos from any previous work/collections that you can share with us?
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| OWLS from our new GYGO range #getyourgeekon , S/S15 Free Fabric Jacket |
Which is your all-time favourite piece that you have created?
My all-time favourite piece would have to be "The Jokers Quinn", it's from my graduate collection. It has been my biggest challenge in design so far - it's made up from over 600 joker cards which have been laser cut engraved and then inserted by hand into 5mm incisions. It took over 300 hours to make. The collection which this piece forms part of is called "A Twisted Love Affair" which is inspired and based upon the twisted love affair between two of DC Comics' most iconic characters The Joker and Harley Quinn.
From where do you draw on for inspiration and are there are any other designers that inspire
you?
Generally, life and experiences, but also moods and in-the-moment things.
" I love old things such as styles and clothes, houses and music. "
I also like to draw inspiration from different aspects of things in life. I've always been inspired by the streets and the urban life and I think somewhere in my designs it always comes out to play - this is what makes Leren Connor edgy. I'm a huge fan of Henry Holland, I admire his vibrant prints and how he also has an influence from the street/urban style. Karl Lagerfeld is also deeply admired by me, he's a inspirational designer and I love his ethics to the Chanel label.
Future Projects and collaborations? And where can people buy your stuff from ?
I've been working alongside another independent brand called House of Denham, who specialise in photography and film, art direction, web development and graphic design, for the past year and a half.
We consistently collaborate on projects and the lady behind the brand has now become a huge part of what we do at Leren Connor. This year I'll be working on some more styling projects and we're also working on a separate side to Leren Connor called GYGO which stands for get your geek on. I'm a huge geek and after designing and making my graduate collection I knew I had to also add this element to my brand.
Last year, I had a stand at Birmingham Comic Con for two days, it was a huge risk as I had no idea what I was up against and had I done such a big event before. It was an amazing weekend and I found I had a audience here for my geek side so now I'm introducing GYGO.
You can buy my stuff from www.lerenconnor.co.uk and also from ETSY and
I'm also on Facebook
