explore the world. Go to France go to Italy go anywhere they love and study under an important designer if they can and then please come to Chicago and stay. Seriously. It’s a beautiful city to live in and there are many many business opportunities here, but I would never tell someone not to go and explore the world before they settle back in beautiful Chicago.
Did you always see fashion as the career path you would take, or was it a personal passion that evolved into a profession over time?
Fashion and art have always been in my blood. I would’ve never been a chemist. I always was into the arts and fashion and reading and music and dance. Anything to do with the arts and movement and color brings me joy. I hope that shows in my collections.
How do you use your platform of fashion to advocate for the community? What kind of community outreach have you done?
This is my fifth year, running the Apparel Industry Board of Illinois. We help young designers with training and seminars and events so that they are able to do their very best here in Chicago and beyond. I am very proud to be the president of AIBI! I also use interns from all the different universities, and we really feed off of one another. I love to have young energy in my studio. I’m also involved in numerous other charities, including the Service Club of Chicago where I am an active member.
How do you manage to balance your roles as a mother, designer, and entrepreneur?
How do I balance my rules as a mother and blah blah blah? I’m not sure if I have done that yet. It’s really hard to say no to people and sometimes I take on too much. I am learning that I cannot be perfect and everything or even anything. I did learn from a wise woman a long time ago. She was one of my babysitters, who said you don’t have to do everything and get an A+, some things such as cleaning out a drawer or washing a dish you can do an -A or B+ job and no one will know the difference. That actually helps me a lot.
Look for Lauren Lein on the runway showcasing her largest collection to date on October 17 at Chicago’s Union Station. She will be debuting her latest collection, “A beautiful train wreck”.