All part of the fun

Lauren Altman Studio, based in Brooklyn, NY, captures so much that is right about fashion. Forget the same-again approach of corporations plundering heritage for profit, forget the wastefulness of fast fashion retailers bypassing the rights of designers. Altman brings her art into fashion, débuting collections in New York and Art Basel Miami, working in different media and bringing unique, handmade clothing that represents not just slow fashion, but the unplugged, real creativity and intuition of its creator.

Hailing from Minnesota, Altman has art on both sides of her family, buoyed by her parents’ love for unique clothing. ‘On my father’s side, my grandfather, Lester Altman, was a graphic artist who began his career in New York,’ she recalls. ‘One of his most memorable projects was a billboard in Times Square for a cigarette company that actually produced real smoke! My aunt, Andrea Altman, is a landscape painter with a fine art framing business in Minneapolis.

‘On my mother’s side, my grandparents, Michael Miller and Dulcy Blume Miller, were art collectors, with their Inuit and Roman antiquity collections now in museums like the Peabody Essex Museum in Massachusetts and the Minneapolis Institute of Art.’

Her parents commissioned custom pieces from Minneapolis designer Carlos Chavéz, of Chavéz Custom Clothiers, recognized for his business and equestrian wear, and it was Chavéz with whom Altman apprenticed during her high school years. ‘Watching his client fittings and working in his studio was transformative,’ she says. She learned about fabrics, sourcing, illustration, manufacturing techniques, and working on custom commissions.

Chavéz discovered Altman had a talent for selecting unexpected colour and pattern combinations, and let her design a suit for a show in downtown Minneapolis. ‘I loved exploring his swatch books and pattern archives, and together we created a design that his dressmaker brought to life. It was an incredible opportunity, especially as a high schooler!’

She next headed to Peter Som, on an internship that introduced her to the New York fashion scene. ‘His studio was in the Garment District, and I got a behind-the-scenes look at preparing for his fall–winter show at New York Fashion Week. I spent a lot of time running errands, even one late night navigating to Blake Lively’s agent’s office with just a MapQuest printout! It was stressful but exciting, especially with Fashion Week still at Bryant Park.’

After that, Altman headed to Theory, which she describes as ‘more corporate,’ though not without its perks. ‘One highlight was the internal sample sales, where everyone stopped what they were doing to grab the best pieces before the sale opened to the public!’

Despite this initial foray in fashion, Altman majored in communication design and technology for her BFA at Parsons, knowing that her path would be broader. The communication design major would transfer better across industries, a decision that she says she was grateful to have made. ‘It can take years to build a viable creative practice, and those skills allowed me to do freelance and consulting work to support my artistic endeavours and invest in my studio. Transferable skills have been a lifeline for me, especially in building something long-term.’

Fashion, however, loomed in the background during her postgraduate MA and MFA. ‘While studying art history, I learned the way contemporary art is often a process of making new meaning from what earlier societies and cultures leave behind.

‘That same fascination with meaning extends to upcycled clothing for me, both personally and societally. During my MFA, I explored how clothing holds memory and meaning—even in today’s world of fast fashion. After my mother, Leslie Altman, passed, my sister and I inherited her clothing, from college T-shirts to fur coats and custom suits. My entire MFA project was centred around this theme of personal meaning found in clothing. It wasn’t until the pandemic that I began working directly with clothing as a medium—turning garments into wearable artwork through painting, stitching, and upcycling. This shift linked the personal significance of clothing with sustainable fashion in my practice.’

Before COVID, Altman also had residencies in Berlin and Chennai for her art that were also significant to how she approaches fashion. ‘In Berlin, I was drawn to the city’s history of memorials and public monuments. My work there, which culminated in a group show with fellow residents, focused on how public art can be reimagined to reflect contemporary narratives, deepening my interest in collective memory and meaning,’ she explains. ‘In Chennai, I shifted to textile traditions, studying local weaving and dyeing techniques while witnessing the environmental and social challenges of large-scale manufacturing. This project concluded with an art exhibition as well. Together, these experiences have shaped my thinking about my place in a global tapestry that is art, craft, and fashion and the way I approach my practice.’

Also in Chennai, Altman created Life Cycles, video art which she explains as her ‘journey from Chennai’s clothing manufacturers to the old textile mills-turned-art studios in Philadelphia. It reflects on industrial use, reuse, and the broader cycle of a changing textile industry.’ Linked to that is a bronze sculpture, Empty Clothes, cast from her mother’s clothing, ‘capturing a garment frozen in time at the end of its life.’

Fashion, then, remained as at theme in her art. ‘Both works reflect the stages of a garment’s life, but also explore how clothes—and the way we make them—hold stories about who we’ve been and how we’ve evolved.’ They served to tie the personal to the systemic, says Altman.

When locked down during 2020, Altman set to work on her first collection. ‘What made me realize it was more than just a temporary project was witnessing the rise of conscious consumption. With global manufacturing at a standstill, people became open to more diy solutions for revamping their wardrobes. It was more than just repurposing; there was a cultural shift toward comfort, natural beauty, and sustainability, and I wanted to be part of that,’ she recalls.

‘By the time lockdown lifted, I had created 20 pieces, mostly reworked outerwear and utility jumpsuits, which became my first collection. I did a pop-up in Greenwich Village, and the collection sold out. That success showed me there was a real market for my work, and I’ve kept pushing forward ever since.’

She was drawn to her first upcycled items such as blazers, trench coats and utility jumpsuits, because they felt like large canvases, but feedback showed that people wanted unique pieces and a wider range of sizes, giving birth to her Hearts collection in autumn–winter 2023–4. This was a made-to-order collection using dead stock fabric and a heart-shaped stencil she created.

Therefore, the path to Lauren Altman Studio and her unique pieces might look as though Altman taps into her creativity and the market responds to the passion in the designs, but in reality, it has been deliberate and focused, honed over many years. ‘I can see how my work might give the impression of being uninhibited, but in reality, while I do have a lot of fun, it also takes diligence and restraint to truly develop your niche! The path of an artist isn’t just about freedom: it’s about refining your vision and also putting in the time to develop your business operations and cultivate the relationships needed to grow long-term.’ Altman says she feels she is still developing her formula, a ‘unique blend that I can offer to my community. It’s an ongoing process of refinement—and that’s where I am right now,’ she says.

Creativity, however, remains at the core, as does the theme of self-expression. She follows her intuition in her painting: ‘I rarely plan things out and let my instincts guide each step until the artwork feels complete. It’s the same with clothing, but I always keep in mind the woman I’m designing for. I’m inspired by women who radiate confidence, joy, and spontaneity, who embrace the light that comes from within.’ Consequently, her spring–summer 2025 collection, A Defining Moment, featured models such as Paralympian Kanya Sesser, ‘who made a confident statement wearing an upcycled piece in her wheelchair,’ and New York fashion icon and former TV presenter Lauren Ezersky (Behind the Velvet Ropes).

The collection has a suitably positive message, one that is greatly needed today. ‘I aim to highlight the circularity of self-expression, inclusive feminism, and environmental sustainability—an invitation to people of diverse ages, backgrounds, and abilities to participate and feel cele­brated.’ It is also ethical and sustainable, as all her collections have been.

‘I collaborated with FabBrick, which creates building bricks from clothing found in landfills, and during the show, models passed these bricks to one another as if building an inspiring new world. The event included both a fashion presentation and an art exhibition, where I painted portraits of clothing from the collection on the bricks to invite reflection on how fashion, whether worn or depicted in art, can be a call to action for a sustainable and inclusive future.’

The challenge Altman faces is working out whether there is the demand for larger production runs, as her brand must remain sustainable, so her focus remains on the made-to-order capsules and one-of-a-kind pieces. She has art shows mooted for 2025 after having held a series of pop-ups around the US, balancing both art and fashion. She is also interested in showing her work to collectors interested in sustainability and inclusive feminism in the art world.

Altman continues to balance the unique and bold with the approachable: ‘I keep in mind the idea that you should wear the clothes, not let the clothes wear you. My inspiration comes from both art and fashion influences I’ve encountered over the years, but I also trust my intuition and creative vision. I’m less focused on trends and more on what feels good to create and what I want to bring into the world.’ •

Visit Lauren Altman Studio here.

Above: From Lauren Altman’s spring–summer 2025 collection, A Defining Moment. Below: Earlier designs from her Hearts collection, autumn–winter 2023–4.

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