FLAWK You Like a Hurricane
By Veronica Christina and Nico Johanna
One look at Lauren Rassel and Dexter Simmons and you know they’re in fashion. Well, fashion or some fabulously underground creative circuit of taste-makers influencing the styles most of us won’t see for years. Yet the dynamic duo behind the uber-clever fashion and accessory house FLAWK isn’t all glam and feathers. This team works. In just a year they’ve debuted numerous, well-received collections, styled and modeled in countless photo shoots as well as designed an entire accessories line. Prolific and voracious, FLAWK is the future of fashion and have already set trends inspiring the heavy-hitting design powerhouses they are one day sure to become.
How did Flawk form? Where did you two meet and how did you decide to collaborate?
Dexter and I met as buyers for the Wasteland on Haight in 2004. We became neighbors, best friends and business partners in 2007. We decided to do a show together for fun/ exposure and ended up making a fashion label.
What unique ability to each of you bring to the table that makes FLAWK fly?
Dexter has amazing model magnetism…Amateurs and pros alike trust him… He also has an endless addiction to mixing sexy and bizarre when designing…
Lauren is a negotiator and FLAWK pusher. She has a tendency to blur the line between clothing and accessories.
Define FLAWK in 5 words or less….
Fashion scavengers
If you weren’t designing clothes/accessories-you’d be?
Making paintings, installations and sculptures – the things I do to take a break from wearable art. – Lauren
Working backstage making people look good -dex
Tell us about your new collection, how is it different from the others?
It’s extremely cohesive and marketable. The focus was on the magazine launch so the look is young and sexy. All
dresses are the same silhouette made from pants and fabric remnants. Each one also has a detachable necklace.
Is this your first collection of shades? What other accessories will we see from you?
Not our first time with sunglasses just the first time doing a large scale cohesive bunch.
Where can we find your stuff in the city?
Wonderland SF
What other projects if any are you working on to gain more exposure?
That’s top secret.
If you had all the money in the world, where would your ideal shoot be?
Lauren – In a circus for a week
Dexter – Costa Rican rain forest
Biggest vices for each of you?
independence *Lauren
gold * dexter
Best party you’ve ever been to? Details?
Hard to say but recently the Jeremy Scott after party for fashion week in Feb. At a club 2 stories underground in Manahattan…Santogold and a wild crew of street dancers busted out and performed throughout the night.
Why was Brooklyn fashion week so much better than NY fashion week- details?
There isn’t an official fashion week in Brooklyn. We showed at Williamsburg Fashion Weekend which was an indie more party oriented show environment. It was cool for us because of our subversive independent approach.