Since his petit debut for the fall '05 season, Jeremy Laing's geometric and seriously
wearable marvels of architecture have made us swoon. Based in Toronto, he's just moved into a new bright and airy studio (Really, it's incredible!) before he shows his spring '11 show during New York Fashion Week. As one of the most promising names on the week's schedule, he was surprisingly cool and collected when we sat down with him in the studio. We chatted about ironing, showing in New York and his parents, whom he hopes will sit at his forthcoming show.
Can you give us a tiny hint of what we can expect for spring? Our lips are sealed!
"Flags and flagpoles! A client of mine lent me an Issey Miyake she had from the
seventies, when she was a young mother and that sort of early Japanese school was an
influence. It's very clean. We're doing quite a bit of leather and knitwear. There will be a
lot of texture."Last season you showed in a presentation and for SS 2011 you are putting on a show at Milk Studios. Tell me about the decision to return to the runway.
"We were trying to be smart last season, like everyone, so we showed a presentation,
but the fall season was strong. It was a time of growth for us. Actually, it was our best
season. It feels like a good time to be back on the runway!"
Tell me about your relationship with MAC.
"MAC has been fantastic to work with. We've worked with a friend of ours, who's a MAC
artist currently based in New York, a few times. Like us, he is young and on his way up.
It's nice to work with friends and I think it's important for our generation to emerge in all
areas of the industry."
What are the benefits of being based in Toronto and showing in New York?
"Well, I can have this kind of studio! I like living here. It's a very workable city, a livable
city. We have many, many clients here in the art world as well as the women who want to
support emerging talent. I think that it's a bit like the Belgians in the '90s. You know, they
lived in Antwerp and had fabulous rose gardens and did their work quietly and brought it
to where people could see it, which in their case was Paris. For me, New York is only an hour away. We have to get things to New York before the show, so we can't work right up until the last minute. Everything is done a little bit earlier, which is good because it forces you to really think about things again and to have an intense editing period. We can decompress and look at everything and, yes, we still try to do as much as possible,
but there is a cut off point."
What are your personal hopes and plans for Fashion's Night Out?
"I hope it doesn't rain this time and that it's a huge success. I'll be quite busy so I might
have a fashion's night in!"
I heard that you iron to relax. Are there any other pre fashion week rituals that you do?
"(laughs) I haven't done that in a while!
How do you feel you've grown since last season?
"We've been picked up by some new stores and preparing and moving into the studio as a big step. I'm trying to do more with the collection, more pieces, more categories, more everything!
Do you have any words of wisdom for designers showing for the first time?
"Poor things! I would say to them that they should get work experience and work for other people. Learn and figure out the production. If you have ideas, you'll always have ideas but you need to figure out the logistics because it's more difficult to do that afterwards. Sort it all out. Don't rush!"
Who would you love to see in your front row that you haven't yet?
"I hope my parents can come this season. It'll be so nice to see them there as they say embarrassing things to fashion journalists!"