Lauren Bagliore in the Toronto Sun

Profile: Lauren Bagliore

By HEATHER TOSKAN, SPECIAL TO QMI AGENCY

Last Updated: October 14, 2010 1:42pm

Designer Lauren Bagliore has experienced personal tragedy this year, but is working through the bad with the good in her new spring collection.

“This season I contemplated life and death as I endured more than one family tragedy. I almost did not create this collection,” says the native New Yorker, who studied at the prestigious Fashion Institute of Technology in New York before going on to work with such well-respected designers as Vivienne Westwood, Zac Posen and Canada’s own Paul Hardy.

Bagliore persevered and came up with a concept for her spring-summer collection that would help her transcend tragedy in a creative and meaningful way.

“My collection is called ”La Risurrezione: Dalla Scura Alla Luce”, which means in Italian, The Resurrection: From the Dark to the Light, and is about what I can share coming out of the ashes and into beauty. You will see and experience the transformation from dark to light in many ways, in the clothing on the runway,” says Bagliore, who currently lives in Calgary.

Many of Bagliore’s designs involve draping and advanced cutting techniques to produce clothing that some describe as both forward and flattering.

Key colours in the new collection include alloy tones such as black metallic and silver, paired with ivory, gray, and blush pink.

“Some of the key pieces in my SS2011 collection include a not-so-basic black dress which is asymmetrical and open at the back, with batwing-like draping for a sexy and dramatic look. Also, we’ve already had a lot of excitement and interest about the Nastasia Resurrection Gown, which is a one-shoulder couture-styled, draped gown made of three-layered, textured Italian silk chiffon, with an under layer of contrasting blush-coloured silk jacquard fabric. The dress also features intentional raw edges which juxtapose the simple and ethereal beauty of the dress with the 'tatteredness' of coming out of death and darkness into beauty and light,” says Bagliore.

Another key piece to watch for in Bagliore’s collection includes a shawl-collared, draped trench coat made of high-tech Japanese nylon that is said to be wind and water resistant.

Showing: Thursday Oct. 21 2010, 7 p.m.

See the full article here: http://www.torontosun.com/life/tofashionweek/2010/10/14/15688596.html

Online article from Eye Weekly!

Fashion Week’s fresh faces

BY SARAH NICOLE PRICKETT & PATRICIA MONTLE October 13, 2010 17:10

The 28-year-old New Yorker (by way of Calgary) has been in the industry since 2002. Her first show at LG Fashion Week is on Thursday, October 21 at 7pm.

What was the first garment you ever made?
It started with me just draping fabric, three-dimensionally (my strength is in draping). I was working with this one piece of fabric which just sort of came alive with every fold and tuck — it was a matte jersey (viscose) from Italy. Good travel piece.

Name one thing in your collection that we won’t see in anyone else’s.
The way that the fabric is draped and the overall architectural feel of the collection.

Have you practiced your end-of-runway bow? (Don’t lie.)
I actually recently did a fundraising fashion show for Hope Returns, a charity that raises awareness and promotes actions toward ending human trafficking. So, I was able to practice my bow there. We raised $10,000!

Read more here: http://www.eyeweekly.com/article/103856

We are please to announce that Lauren Bagliore design house will be launching the S/S 2011 Collection on October 21st at LG Fashion Week in Toronto.

More updates coming soon!

For more information about the event, or to purchase tickets, please visit the LG Fashion Week online at: http://www.lgfashionweek.ca/

For a full schedule of events, please visit:http://www.lgfashionweek.ca/schedule.pdf

Lauren Bagliore in FFWD

Western Living Feature!

Lauren Bagliore in the Calgary Herald!

Fashion to fight child trafficking

Calgary designer uses spring line launch to help others

By Theresa Tayler, Calgary Herald September 7, 2010

Hope Returns Gala and Lauren Bagliore fashion preview goes Sept. 11, 6:30 p.m., at Crescent Heights Community Hall; Tickets $35, e-mail: info@HopeReturns.org or call 403-612-4593

Lauren Bagliore adores fashion for the fun and frivolity of all things beautiful.

However, this worldly fashionista isn't just in it for the glitzy runway shows and creative fire that being an accomplished clothing designer brings.

"I believe I can use my work as a designer to help other people," Bagliore says.

On Saturday, she will launch her 2011 Spring/ Summer collection in Calgary at the Crescent Heights Community Hall to help raise funds for Hope Returns, a Calgary charity that raises money internationally to help fight human trafficking and sex slavery.

The fashion show is one of highlights of the Hope Returns gala, which is raising funds through ticket sales and a silent auction.

"I love to raise awareness in the fashion industry for certain charities by (partnering) with those I believe in," says Bagliore, who came onto the scene this year when she launched her macabre meets feminine self-titled clothing line and her 2010 collection, Un Bagliore di Speranza (Ray of Hope).

Born and raised in New York, she worked with acclaimed designer Vivienne Westwood in London and Zac Posen in New York before settling in Calgary.

Bagliore's hubby is a born and bred Alberta lad, so the designer splits her time between New York City and Calgary, where she lives, draws and creates her clothing. She aims to empower women through pieces designed for self-assured, modern, fashion-forward females.

She says her spring collection reflects themes of renewal and rebirth.

"It's very consistent with my signature style -- lots of draping, advanced cutting -- those are the signature things you will always see with my clothing," says Bagliore.

The graduate of New York City's Fashion Institute of Technology also worked with acclaimed Calgary designer Paul Hardy as his assistant before branching out on her own.

She's embraced Calgary as her new home and is eager to launch her new collection here first.

"You guys (Calgary) get the first peek, not New York," she says, laughing.

The designer has aligned herself with Hope Returns because she says helping eliminate human trafficking, in particular child trafficking and slavery, is a cause that she feels strongly about.

"It's a touchy subject to get involved with, but when I heard that these children were being sold by their own families in some cases ... it's heart breaking," she says.

Hope Returns works in partnership with local communities and international organizations to help facilitate safe housing and address the educational, emotional, physical and spiritual needs of children rescued from child trafficking. Emilie Johnston, president of Hope Returns, says the charity also focuses on helping those at risk of becoming victims due to conditions of extreme poverty. "I feel incredibly driven to help. I went to India a little while ago on a mission trip and it was unbelievable how blatant (child sex slavery) is. I felt a calling to help these children," she says.

"Emilie and I just hit it off -- we have the same passion about this issue," says Bagliore. "And basically, right since we first spoke, we decided to partner together."

Currently, Hope Returns is primarily focusing its efforts on Cambodia, but Johnston says child trafficking and human trafficking in general is a problem that happens around the globe.

Closer to home, the charity plans to soon roll out a child trafficking educational program to educate youth in Calgary on the issue.

For more information on Hope Returns, visit hopereturns. org.

For more information on Lauren Bagliore and her line of clothing, visit: www.LaurenBagliore.com

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Fashion+fight+child+trafficking/3488258/story.html

Lauren Bagliore in August Issue of FASHION magazine!

CALGARY SHOPS: AUGUST NOTES

Karen Ashbee meets a pedigreed Calgary-based designer.

by Karen Ashbee

Photography: Bagliore by Colin Way

First published in FASHION Magazine

August 2010

One to watch

To say that Lauren Bagliore (laurenbagliore.com) is well trained is an understatement. While attending New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology, the Italian-American designer worked for Zac Posen, Libertine, Tod’s and even Alberta’s own Paul Hardy—not to mention her apprenticeship at Vivienne Westwood in London. I met with Bagliore during a recent trunk show for her debut collection, named “Un Bagliore Di Speranza,” which means “a Ray of Hope.”

How would you describe your collection? “I’m all about femininity with a bit of an edge, a mixing of hard and soft. I also love to use advanced draping and cutting techniques; they are my signatures. My vision is to take the avant-garde and make it beautiful.”

If I could buy only one piece from the collection, what would you recommend? “Definitely the Celia Cocoon coat ($695). It’s so practical: lightweight yet warm, and made from high-tech nylon from Japan, with a shawl collar that doubles as a hood. You could wear it as an opera coat or with jeans. And it’s so easy to pack—the body of the coat rolls up into the hood.”

You divide your time between Calgary and New York. How would you describe Calgarian style? “It’s definitely a more casual vibe, and the people tend to be a lot more conservative. It’s not that Calgarians aren’t open to new ideas; they’re just a little more cautious in embracing them. I hope I can give them some alternative options that they like.”