Interview with Jewelry Designer Lausanne Miller

Hi There..... Have you been waiting for me to share a new jewelry designer interview?

I still have some fashion designers waiting for their turn, but it has been quite a long time since my last jewelry designer interview. Wouldn't it be cruel to keep my jewelry fans waiting even longer? Ah, being evil may be fun, though. Nah, it's time to bring back the good me. Halloween is over now. 😉

At the moment, I am working on a few beadwork necklaces myself. I put my sewing and knitting aside for a while because I will have a stall at a market on the 11th of December. It seems ages ago that I sold any of my pieces on a market. No, of course not. I am not that old. Just a little over 20. 😎

Just like the jewelry designer who's on my blog today, I love creating my own pieces. Oh my, I am already blabbing my mouth about the interview. Perhaps it's better to let Lausanne Miller speak for herself. 😄

She is a 36-year-old running a one-woman show as owner, jewelry designer at Lausanne Jewelry shop.

https://shoplausanne.com/

What kind of work do you do, or what are you studying to be? 

I’ve always been a designer. For the first half of my career, I was a fashion designer. I started at BCBG Max Azria as an assistant designer on the Runway collection and worked my way up to senior designer during my seven years there. 

It was an amazing experience and education in all aspects of design as we did all development and sampling in house and bi-annual NYFW runway shows. From there I went on to Guess, and became the Senior Design Director for the women’s collection during my 6 years with them. Which was also an incredible experience and education in leadership and creative direction of a line. 

Almost 2 years ago now I took a major shift away from the corporate world and branched out on my own to create an affordable luxury jewelry collection and brand. So now I am both jewelry designer, and run the business as well. It’s definitely been my most challenging experience to date, but I love it so much.

What made you decide to become a jewelry designer?

As a child, I was always into arts and kind of dabbled in trying a little of everything. Crafts like painting, drawing, ceramics, knitting, beading, etc. So I guess creative expression has always been a part of me striving to get out. 

I can also be pretty pragmatic too, so during highschool I bounced back and forth between believing I should go after a more traditional career path versus a riskier creative one and finally decided I couldn’t imagine being happy doing anything that wasn’t creative, so I chose for fashion designer. I felt it was a safer choice than the fine arts. 

Once I got into college studying illustration, draping, patternmaking, design theory, etc. I fell even more in love with it. I love how it bridges art and function and feeling.

Is fashion important to you? Why? 

Of course! Fashion has so much power. How it can change the way you feel, how you're perceived, who you want to be that day. And we all have access to it. To me, it’s functional art at its very best. And you get to use it, experience it, and enjoy it every single day.

Lausanne Miller

 

What are your successes and how did you achieve them?

My successes within my fashion career were each new promotion and working my way up to a senior design director. It was a goal of mine to become a director by age 30 and I could achieve that largely by putting in the work and showing leadership at every level, no matter the position or the team. 

Fashion has the talent to bring together so many different groups of people to reach the end product. If you can work together and support each other for the common goal, it only results in a more beautiful, better fitting, and probably better costing garment. 

I would also attribute successes to learning as much as I could about every aspect of what I was creating. The more you know about patterning, materials, construction, etc, the better a designer you’ll become.

And now that I run my own company, I’m able to draw on so much of that experience and apply it to creating jewelry. I have a long way to go with my own brand, but I would say perseverance and having faith goes a long way for small business owners.

 

Is the name of the Brand important to you when you buy clothing?

Yes, and no. Yes, in the sense that buying from a brand you know, and trust is a straightforward decision. You already know the quality and fit, etc. And no, in the sense that I’m not into names for the sake of wearing the brand or the logo. I’m into design pure and simple. So if a style speaks to me and the quality is there, the brand name doesn’t matter to me.

 

Describe your personal style of clothing?

I love two opposite ends of the spectrum, minimalistic with a worldly influence on one side. Always feminine, always with movement on the other, and I’ll love a floral print forever.

 

How did you find your personal style? Do you have a signature look? 

Through years of experimenting.  My first years working as a fashion designer on BCBG runway really influenced my taste. Probably the working on gorgeous drapery dresses that I’ll always love, as well. You’ll find me in a dress far more often than pants all year long. 

My only signature look is a vibrant red-orange lipstick. I’ve been wearing the same shade for 10 years and am rarely without it.

 

Lausanne Miller

Do you have an influence on other people’s clothing style?

Well, if you ask every ex-boyfriend, I think the answer would be a strong yes. But all of my girlfriends have a strong sense of self within their own style.

 

What are in your eyes the best trends at the moment?

Getting back to dressing up and real fashion. Don’t get me wrong, I love a cozy lounge set, but I’m ready to leave the pandemic fashion behind. 

For trends, I’m loving the return of wider legs and the half zip high neck sweaters. Also, the attention to sleeve volume and new twists on trench coats.

 

What are in your eyes the worst trends at the moment?

Low-rise jeans. Please, just don't.

https://shoplausanne.com/

 

What kind of fashion advice would you give us?

The best thing you can wear is confidence. And beyond that, find the silhouettes that are most flattering for you and make you feel the best. Once you nail that, you can always find new exciting iterations of what you look and know you’ll feel confident in.

And,... just try it on! You might surprise yourself by what you actually like on versus seeing on the hanger or online. I still do. And it keeps things fresh.

 

Who is your style icon and why?

I don’t know if I really have one, probably because I enjoy such a variety and am always changing. So how about some brands I adore instead? Ulla Johnson, Shona Joy, Everlane, Johanna Oritz, Ganni.

 

Is there something else you would like to share with us?

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention my own line, Shop Lausanne.

I design every piece with meaning and what I hope is a unique edge in celebrating the strength of femininity. All sustainable crafted in small batches using precious metals. I hope you’ll enjoy taking a look!

https://shoplausanne.com/

Thank you Lausanne for taking the time to answer my questions. Both your jewelry and pictures are gorgeous.

If you are a fan of jewelry, you may also find my blog post on how to clean and store your jewelry interesting.

https://seadbeady.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-best-tips-on-cleaning-jewelry-and.html

Hope you like my blog.....Until next time.....Have a nice day 

Renata (Seadbeady)

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