Shopping with Fashion Designer Lela Rose

By Chris Frey
April 15, 2010

From the ready-to-wear collections she shows at New York Fashion Week to her stunning bridal gowns to her ongoing accessories collaboration with Payless, designer Lela Rose has a hand in many areas of the fashion world.

Yet no matter what she is designing and for which customer, her style is consistently sexy and contemporary without being overtly trendy or feminine. Ruffles, draping and diaphanous fabrics co-exist with strong silhouettes and modern textiles like the one Rose used in a jumpsuit for her fall collection. This velvety metallic fabric made of what she calls “liquid mercury” looked almost wet to the touch.

Rose, who studied painting and sculpture at The University of Colorado, credits an innovative use of pattern and color to a variety of influences, from art and travel to activities closer to home such as “bicycling through the city” and “food, spices, the greenmarkets etc.”

The mother of two's fall collection was inspired by a trip to the Galapagos Islands, where she spent last Thanksgiving with her family. Rose remembers: “It was so beautiful, but not in the lush way that I had been expecting. I was really inspired by the craggy landscape and the amazing night skies." Rose recreated this almost-lunar landscape in in patterns that resembled pebbles, craters and constellations and in details such as crystal embroidery and pyrite zippers.

Rose garnered widespread attention in 2001 when she was called upon to design outfits for Jenna and Barbara Bush to wear to their father's presidential Inauguration. A relative design newcomer, the Texas native had finished her studies at Parsons School of Design in New York just a decade earlier and had worked with designers Christian Francis Roth and Richard Tyler before starting her own collection in 1996.

Though they are based in New York, Rose and her family spend most of their vacation time in Texas or Jackson Hole, Wyoming. “I think Texas will always have an impact on me," she says. "The colors that I was surrounded by growing up—especially the wildflowers on the highway and the way Dallas women dressed—will always be an influence."

At home, Rose says she prefers “midcentury modern mixed with contemporary.” But her passion, as evidenced in her designs, is “playing with texture and bold strokes of color.” A vintage enthusiast and repurposing devotee, Rose claims that, among other projects in her Manhattan apartment, she has given new life to many pieces. “I reused most of my old furniture and have redone it all... The dining table has been split into two pieces and is now a coffee table; I recovered an old Wormley sofa that I have had for 15 years; and I used reclaimed wood to make our new game table.”

Her commitment to repurposing is just one aspect of living green for Rose. A self-described “biking fanatic,” Rose recently became a board member of Transportation Alternative, an organization that advocates for biking, walking and use of public transportation, where she says she is “focused on how to get more people biking and using our fabulous bike lanes!”

We caught Rose before she heads to Mexico in May for “a little surf and margaritas” to find out what she’s been shopping for of late. A collector of black and white photography (since high school) and small bird figurines, she shared her eBay wish list as well as a few tips on how to spruce up some ordinary items you might already have at home.

1. Vintage 1940's Bark Cloth Fabric (winning bid, $20.50) "I covered my bike seat in a vintage bark cloth. This is one I am thinking about doing for my next bike."

2. Ceramic Black Crow Pie Bird (buy it now price, $4.99) "I collect little bird figurines (metal, porcelain, coin banks, etc—all bird shapes). This pie bird would be perfect atop a cake platter that I have. I am always buying weird things like this that can add onto something else."

3. Pair Mid Century Ceramic Lamps (winning bid, $90) "The lamp bases have an interesting texture that feels a bit like the Galapagos landscape—very organic."

4. Set of Four Saarinen For Knoll Arm Chairs (sold for $1,500) "These are perfect for my new game table made from reclaimed wood.

5. Vintage Cloth Napkins (winning bid, $4.99) "I purchase vintage cloth napkins and then do my own monogram embroidery. This is a good way to get a random mix but bring it all together with one uniform detail."

**Images above of Lela Rose's Fall 2010 collection. Images provided by Lela Rose.**

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