Overview
Lauren Moffatt is the head designer and founder of, you guessed it, Lauren Moffatt. Her style is chic as she seamlessly fuses vintage and modern themes to create whimsical apparel pieces each season. Moffatt is known for her love of colors. Recently, she told the website Inside Source that her favorite outfit is "the terrific cape in taupe and peach or navy with red trim with awesome vintage-inspired bugle buttons."
Where Does Her Inspiration Come From
Moffatt gets most of her design inspiration from what she would like to wear or what she wants to see other women wear. Vintage plays a big part in her design inspiration as well. "I use vintage a lot for the overall feel of a collection," she told the website Inside Source. Moffatt has also been quoted as using her grandmother's closet for her designs. After all, a grandmother's closet probably holds lots of vintage from several eras.
Moffatt Gets Started
Lauren Moffatt studied at the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science, where she met Rob Pepin. The two decided to go into business together after a stint of unsatisfying positions at other design firms. Moffatt playfully recalls sewing together pieces using scrap fabric and then calling boutiques for sales appointments. As luck would have it, the first presentation they made as a team yielded 100 orders. Moffatt and Pepin started the Lauren Moffatt brand and began to hand-sew orders in their 31-foot sailboat. You know they were good because sewing a straight line on a sailboat that's constantly moving is not easy. This process worked for the first two years. In 2001, Lauren Moffatt was recognized by WWD (Womens Wear Daily) as an up-and-coming designer to watch. Now, when WWD takes notice, other publications do, too. Editorial reviews, like this one, helped propel the fashion house to the next level.
The Moffatt Difference
More recently, publications like Lucky, Elle, Teen Vogue and InStyle have featured Lauren Moffatt's feminine pieces in their editorial layouts. Although girly, vintage-inspired and colorful, Moffatt's collection also boasts high-quality craftsmanship (which means it won't fall apart after one wash). "Basically, you should be able to turn a garment inside out and have it look just as finished on the inside as outside," she told WWD's staff. In a world where mass production and less attention to the inside of clothing is the norm, Moffatt sets a standard of impeccable construction.
Where to Find It
From 2001 to 2007, the Lauren Moffatt label was exclusively sold at Barneys New York and 150 independent boutiques in New York City. In 2007, Moffatt decided to expand her label. By the fall of that same year, other major department stores, such as Bloomingdales and Nieman Marcus, started selling the brand. Now Lauren Moffatt pieces can be found in Asia, Australia, Europe and the Middle East. In the U.S. alone, the brand has grown. It is now available in more than 15 states and hundreds of locations. The Lauren Moffatt label has also picked up momentum in the blogosphere (bloggers everywhere seem to love her dresses) and online boutiques as she continues to push the envelope in women's wear design.
