Luminosity of the Retro
Reminiscent of an elegant and classic era of the 1940s and '50s, Luminaa was launched in 2008 by designer Dorothy Williams. “For a woman who radiates from within,” the label carries simple and clean designs that flatter the female body and accentuate feminine grace and style.
Reminiscent of an elegant and classic era of the 1940s and ‘50s, Luminaa was launched in 2008 by designer Dorothy Williams. “For a woman who radiates from within,” the label carries simple and clean designs that flatter the female body and accentuate feminine grace and style.
Luminaa creator Williams is in person soft-spoken and seems a bit shy. Born to West African parents in Providence, Rhode Island, Williams was raised in Texas, moved to New York in 1998, and later attended Fashion Institute of Technology to study museum studies in costume and textiles.
Like a lot of designers, Williams had a thing for fashion since she was a kid. Making clothes for her little doll was her first sewing experience. What really inspired her to have fashion as a career was, well, not what, but who — Patrick Kelly, an African-American designer from Mississippi, who moved to Paris and became the first American designer to be included in the Chambre Syndicale du Prêt-à-Porter, the governing body of the prestigious, French ready-to-wear industry.
“[He] had no money,” Williams says. “He just came from nowhere. Somehow he ended up in this place. That’s just such an amazing story. I love rags-to-riches stories.”
Sadly, Kelly passed away in 1990 at the age of 35, but that didn’t stop Williams from dreaming. Instead, she made up her mind and decided to venture into the world of fashion design.
Williams started out as an assistant to another fashion designer and later became a technical designer. Working in the technical design field for nine years has honed her skills, and she has become familiar with every little detail of how a garment functions.
“Sometimes you can come up with a fabulous idea, but you can’t really make it come to life if you don’t know the basics and the foundation of making a garment,” Williams says. “Technical design has helped me a lot in that.”
As an emerging designer, Williams is working full-time as a technical designer for another company instead of promoting and expanding her own line at full throttle. Juggling two jobs can be exhausting, but Williams bites her lips and does it with a smile.
“I think you have to have a lot of motivation,” Williams says. “And I always tell people you have to be a little bit crazy, too … I feel like my life is more fulfilled in that way where I create something that’s mine, and I can say this is mine that I’m doing. I just enjoy it.”
For the hard-working designer, inspiration comes from everywhere, sometimes from a book like The Dark Tower by Stephen King.
“In [the book] this boy says … ‘I’m living in this world where there’s cowboys and robots,’” Williams says. “And I thought I want to do a collection based on that.”
Spontaneous as it sounds, that’s probably how designers sometimes get inspired, and Williams has a way to rein her horse of creativity.
“[You] have to be very disciplined with your inspiration,” Williams says, “because you could just take something and just run away with it and not create a collection that’s cohesive. If you take one or two ideas and just stick with that and expand a little bit; I think it’s something that I’ve learned from inspiration, you know. Look at something. Here it is, just look at it in a different way. … For designers, I think what they all have in common is that they look at everyday things differently.”
One distinction of Luminaa is “fit and comfort,” and Williams understands well the importance of these elements. Her expertise in technical design enables her to see women’s needs when they look for clothes.
“It’s all about the fit,” the designer says, “because if it doesn’t fit well, she’s probably not going to buy it.”
And that is true. Comfort matters, too, physically as well as mentally. That’s what’s on Williams’ mind when she designs.
“If you’re wearing something, you don’t want to have to worry about, ‘Oh I’m wearing this,’” Williams says. “You want to be comfortable in your mind as well as your body. And you just want to go out there, not think about it. You’re confident. People pick up on that.”
When asked what her design philosophy is though, Williams laughs and says she is not sure.
“I’m still trying to figure out what that is,” the designer says. “I think my philosophy is just classic and timeless. But I do like things that are a little bit unexpected but not too avant garde that it scares people. I think that’s my basic philosophy, but it’s just something that’s going to change and I have to explore.”
(Photo credit: Luminaa)
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I love this look. NYC vintage boutiques are very pricy…but take a trip to stores outside the city and the prices are more just…Shopping for vintage items in Buffalo, NY was by fav… Got me a nice amount of vintage jewelry for a decent price. I’m actually thinking about taking a trip soon just to get me some more stuff;)
poncee
Jan 4th 10
01:09 PM