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A leather jacket is forever! – Laurie Lee

Do you feel represented by your clothes? Unique creations that fully represent you and as the time pass by still make you feel an emotion. Timeless pieces as a great leather jacket that  became an icon thanks to Sandy from Grease, Frank’n’Furter or Madonna. Internet is a key resource to find artists able to enrich our wardrobe making us feel just ourselves. A great leather jacket can take us back in time at times never lived or can be transformed into a piece of contemporary design. The artist we’re talking about today decorates strong, sexy, and extremely rock’n’roll jackets that are the cherry on the cake to any wardrobe. Let’s find out more about Laurie:

 “I come from an advertising background originally. I used to write slogans and adverts for big high street brands.

I started thinking about how you could apply those slogans to people instead of brands – a way of summarising what people were like in a nutshell.

I’d always had a love of hand lettering and typography and those two things combined with the application onto leather bikers seemed like a perfect fit. It started out as a hobby really and it just grew and grew into a full time job.”

Why leather jackets?

I’ve always loved a good leather biker jacket. I love how it’s a real investment piece that can be transformed into wearable art. Everyone has a biker jacket as it’s so timeless. I guess I liked the idea of transforming it and elevating it into something really unique to the wearer – a way for them to say who they really are without speaking at all.

How would you define your style?

Laid back. Fun. Loud. Not too serious. I really believe that fashion is something to have fun with.

What’s your main inspiration?

I think rebellious women. Women with attitude who do whatever the hell they want. My mum probably. She’s 75 and wears crazy ass sunglasses over her actual reading glasses. She gives zero f*@ks what anyone thinks about that. I like people who do their own thing.

What kind of person do you imagine while you make your creations?

I imagine all the girls I know and what they’d say to every slogan I create. To be honest it’s usually these girls that I take inspiration from, from a text, something they’ll say drunk or a name we’ll call each other.

It’s easy to make them? How long does it takes?

Hand painting lettering is quite time consuming. It’s a real old school skill that means I am obsessed with lettering and type design. I am a real nerd about it! But with a few years experience behind me now I’m getting faster and faster. I think the main thing is that it isn’t at the sacrifice of quality. What I do isn’t fast fashion. It isn’t printed. It’s crafted.

What do you think is the future of fashion?

I think we’re already seeing personalisation rolling out across most brands now. I think we all like to be unique. Fast fashion has a roll in our lives for sure, but I’m hoping more and more people will seek out the more unique pieces to bolster their wardrobe staples.

www.shoplaurielee.com  

@laurieleeleather