I very first fulfilled Layana Aguilar in a pay a visit to to her Hudson Road sewing studio on Feb. 20, 2020 — and you know what unfolded ideal after that. I never ever did get to a feature on her kids sewing faculty, but like all excellent people who can function a stitching equipment, she and her team expended considerably of that spring sewing PPE for hospitals.
And now she has larger news: she and her Trend Squad Faculty have taken a two-tale room on Warren that allows her to develop her class choices (there are now two lecture rooms in addition a courtyard) and open up a retail keep for her eponymous style line, Layana Aguilar.
Layana arrived to the states from Brazil to go to Suit and afterwards labored as an assistant designer for Oscar de la Renta. She then appeared on Year 11 of Venture Runway, and her perform there authorized her to secure a gig planning the gown for the Disney princess Elena of Avalor and start off her very own label. (She and her partner, Philip Hordjik, and little ones Henzo and Kaya live on Hudson and moved below 4 decades in the past. “The Higher West Facet seemed a minor outdated for us.”)
But when she was asked to teach an 8-calendar year-outdated neighbor to sew, she tapped into an thought she had in no way deemed. The boy built and produced a hoodie in two several hours, and when he wore to university, it was a large strike. The following 7 days she had 7 youngsters stitching in her living room, so she rented a 2nd-floor industrial place in her developing for soon after-university classes. Her college students named the college. “It’s a style college, not just a sewing university,” she claimed. “I just brought my Suit method here.”
In the course of the pandemic they ran courses on Zoom, but with so several retail areas open now, it appeared like a great time to extend.
“If there is any time to choose a massive chance it is now,” Layana reported. “This is these kinds of a fantastic program, but no 1 realized about us — we were so hidden.”
She and her partner spent 4 months wanting for a house, virtually settling on a person a block down. But then the landlord right here satisfied her offer. The goal is to have 100 young ones coming each week after university, with privates in the mornings and a course for low-revenue young ones on Saturdays. She and her employees have stretched just about every penny on the renovation — even painting the room by themselves to preserve that $5000. “We have made so numerous excursions to Ikea, the supply guy now is familiar with us.”
When we spoke two weeks back, she presently had her very first bash booked in the new house — a tie-dye get together that she hoped to maintain in the courtyard courses started off this 7 days.
Layana experienced specified up on her possess retail store for her model, but with on line sales booming in the course of the pandemic, she’s now in a greater placement to open up each the ground-ground retailer and an atelier in the back again, where by she will make the clothes to get. A lot more on that when it opens, but her solution — and passion — is slow fashion — upcycled, one particular-of-a-form coats for fall, created-to-get items that are turned all-around in 10 days.
“I really do not want to help rapidly trend any additional — I even started out producing my little ones pajamas.” she said. “Plus stitching is a superpower. You aspiration of anything, you set it on paper and the subsequent factor you know you are wearing it.”
Fashion Squad College
55 Warren Road | West Broadway & Church
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212-748-9620
