Rising star LaQuan Smith on building an American brand

BY LUCY MAGUIRE

On the eve of his New York Fashion Week show, the Queens-based designer tells Vogue Business what he’s learned about developing a fashion label, as he looks ahead to a tie-up with sportswear giant Puma.

New York designer LaQuan Smith will become the first to stage a fashion show inside the city’s iconic Empire State Building on 9 September. The high-profile choice of venue for his Spring/Summer 2022 show, during a hotly anticipated New York Fashion Week, reflects an impressive year for Smith, whose eponymous brand has enjoyed an 87 per cent surge in sales since early 2020 and a new deal with sports megabrand Puma.

While LaQuan Smith is attracting plenty of media hype right now as an emerging name to watch, he’s hardly a newcomer, launching his label back in 2013. His trajectory to the Empire State is full of lessons for fledgling businesses — with a particular emphasis on knowing when the time is right to broaden the business and expand into new product categories.

Right now, Smith is riding a wave of optimism in fashion as real-life events take place again. “It's a ton of celebration: celebrating the revival of fashion, celebrating live runway shows again and celebrating the vibrancy of New York city as we know it,” he says, speaking from his Long Island City studio. “We are also celebrating the fact that this is what Black excellence looks like in fashion... This is what we should be doing, in terms of designers of colour and the calibre of what we produce.”

It is still a small business, with sales of $6 million in 2020 and an emphasis on direct e-commerce sales, which climbed 30 per cent from 2020-2021, Smith says, plus a growing wholesale business. One of ten finalists of the 2021 CFDA Fashion Fund, he has taken his time to expand product categories. He launched a plus-size collection with 11 Honoré in 2020 and swimwear this year as a natural progression from his form-fitting bodysuits and leggings. His inclusive mantra has extended to affordable ranges at ASOS and Revolve in 2018 and 2020 respectively ranging from $35 to $420 (compared to $100-$1,500 for his signature line). Next up is a tie-up with Puma, likely to skyrocket brand awareness for Smith, while adding coolness to the heritage sportswear brand.

Smith has worked hard and patiently to develop his current momentum. “It's been a journey,” he says. “I have not always been sold at these major stores — it was once a dream. I was knocking on people's doors, trying to get my name out there.” He says the turning point came in 2020: being a CFDA finalist boosted his exposure, while his customer base flocked to his glamorous, form-fitting dresses during lockdowns. He also strengthened the brand’s identity and broadened out from an eveningwear specialist into a full day-to-night brand, adding 15 stockists including Browns, Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom.

LaQuan Smith backstage at the Autumn/Winter 2020 show.

MATTE PROJECTS

“It was about staying the course,” Smith says. “The right thing to do is to really follow your heart, follow your gut unapologetically, despite whatever feedback you may get, negative or positive.”

The plaudits are coming in. Just this week, Smith was named a new member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA). “One needs to only spend little time with LaQuan to sense his immense passion and dedication to fashion and design,” says CEO Steven Kolb. “He brings a distinct and daring perspective of American glamour to the fashion landscape that is sure to resonate not just here but also globally as he builds his business.”

Stay true to your brand identity

In recent years, much of the growth in fashion has been in streetwear and sportswear, but Smith opted to stick to his high glamour, body-con aesthetic. That steadfastness has paid off. “For me, it feels like I'm chilling in a white space,” he says, “I'm here to bring sexy back! Where are the women who want to get dressed up and look fabulous? That is the kind of people I need to market myself to. I’ve really been blocking out all of the white noise and really focusing and honing in on my market.”

Smith benefits from a CFDA mentor – Net-a-Porter president Alison Loehnis, no less – who is helping him with pain points as his company grows. She echoes his uniqueness in the market: “LaQuan occupies a sparsely populated space in fashion right now. He fully celebrates the female form and designs for the customer who loves to be the centre of attention and who is overtly empowered by her sexiness.”

Fabric is sourced from New York’s garment district, with some beading by partners in India, and he manufactures his collections locally from his own Long Island factory, which doubles as his studio space. He is a proud New York brand, benefiting from flexibility and speed to market.

In the early years, Smith struggled to gain recognition from the high fashion community. However, he decided not to lose sleep over it and focus on his customers — a growing community of women shopping at different price points who responded to his hyper-feminine aesthetic.

“I decided, if I'm not going to be accepted by this group of people, then I'm going to start speaking to an audience that I know is out there,” he says.

The power of social media storytelling

Consumer acquisition through social media storytelling has been the focus of the work with Net-a-Porter’s Loehnis. “As an independent designer, I don't have the means or the resources to crank out all this content [that Net-a-Porter have],” Smith says. “So [we’re] having these conversations about how to grow, how to expand.”

Their conversations are proving very productive. “The key challenge is a matter of focus and balancing e-commerce sales and customer growth at pace while retaining and continuing to develop a meaningful and authentic relationship with your audience,” Loehnis says. “A brand of this size needs to ensure customers can see, experience and order product speedily which takes smooth tech and logistics, while on a parallel track effectively sharing its story and values”

Besides the marketing benefits, social media provides brands with instant feedback from customers and can help brands to understand how best to leverage their strengths and where to focus on development. “Social media, technically, is my best friend. That's the best tool that has helped me with my business,” says Smith. He also highlights the power of newsletters and all direct communication with his customers.

Spontaneous celebrity endorsement, including from stars such as Beyoncé, Rihanna and Jennifer Lopez, has helped. When Hailey Bieber wore Smith’s cutout AW21 gown to meet French president Emmanuel Macron in June, the internet blew up and Smith made sure to share on social media and push out an email to subscribers, to let them know the dress was available. “It helps with brand awareness. For a very long time I was just known as just the leggings boy. I was doing leggings and then that pulled me into doing custom for celebrities and onstage and performances.”

For independent designers, the costs of marketing and advertising are a heavy ask. “I want that billboard in the middle of Soho, I want those advertorial pages in Vogue,” says Smith. “These are the things that we want as a designer, but not everyone has those resources.”

That’s why the tools of first resort are Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. “At the end of the day, you have to do what makes sense for you, your business and your brand. Everyone can't follow this one formula but social media has really been a great resource and tool for me to build my company.”

Build a team that understand the brand’s values

Smith’s business is self-funded, with the exception of the CFDA prize money, but should he look for investors? The designer is wary: “The brand and the company are growing so gracefully. My motto is ‘slow and steady wins the race’,” he says.

Investment from Europe is unlikely to be an option, he says: “It's important [to remain American-owned] because I think that from a global and a luxury perspective, LaQuan Smith needs to be the focus of what American luxury looks like today.”

“I am really trying to build the idea of what American luxury looks like. As a Black designer, I'm really trying to do the most,” he says. “I think that when it comes down to the way that people have been shopping and supporting brands, everything has been European-owned. And so to do it in a way where it's all classic American, but sexy, that is my lane. That's my narrative. And that's what I'm sticking to.”

Loehnis agrees with this focused approach. “A brand should always remain true to their DNA and vision and, as they expand, use them as their touchstone… Regardless of size or maturity a brand must never stop speaking to its customers, understanding their habits and preferences and ‘pre-emoting’ their needs. And, at the end of the day, fashion should make them dream.”

Growing the team, maintaining focus

After years of handling much of the business himself, Smith is learning to rely on the expertise of others. His team has expanded to 15 people with merchandising, marketing, sales and PR, with Smith taking care to inculcate the values of the brand in each new team member.

“I think it is a very difficult process to be able to grow a team and grow a business. You have to learn how to trust,” he says. “I didn't always learn how to do that. Especially as a designer, when you're starting out, you're still doing everything yourself.”

“I'm not trying to be like anybody. I'm just trying to be the best designer and come up with incredible, beautiful, timeless pieces that women can wear for eternity. [I want] to allow them to experience something that I internally feel when I envision the way that women wear the clothes.” Key Takeaway: Smith has stayed independent and invested in new categories and collaborations to build a $6 million business. The future is “slow and steady”, per Smith who wants to become a household name on his terms, and via collaborations like Puma. But he faces balancing local production and limited marketing while continuing his distinct point of view, customer centricity and creativity.