Monse’s Laura Kim Is All About Paying It Forward

Monse’s co-founder Laura Kim knows the value of mentoring young designers — after all, it’s how she got her big break. While enrolled at Pratt Institute, she racked up internships at Donna Karan, Jeremy Scott, and Carolina Herrera before landing a life-changing gig at Oscar de la Renta in 2003. “I interned a lot,” Kim tells Bustle. “I worked for free for a really long time.”

The fashion equivalent of the American dream, her internship grind paid off: De la Renta saw her potential, hired her full-time, and Kim eventually was appointed design director at age 26. She later paid it forward: Shortly after the veteran designer passed away in 2014, Kim left the company to put up her own label, hiring her former intern Fernando Garcia as co-design head.

Monse has since amassed an A-list fan base, including Rihanna, Selena Gomez, and Sarah Jessica Parker. A year after launching the label, they found themselves at the helm of two beloved brands: Monse and de la Renta, where they both returned as co-creative directors.

“We work well because [we’re] so opposite and we see the benefit of working with someone who’s so opposite to your own idea,” Kim says of the partnership. “It definitely adds more.”

“I don’t think anybody should approach finding a partner,” adds Garcia. “I think the partner or the situation finds you. We found each other, realized that we helped each other out, and became addicted to the helping.”

These days, when Kim isn’t mounting back-to-back shows for both brands or dressing celebs for the Met Gala or various red carpets with Garcia, they are also mentoring young designers. On July 10, Monse launched a collaboration with Shein X, a program supporting independent artists. On top of guiding five young talents, Kim and Garcia also designed more than 100 ready-to-wear pieces for a capsule collection with the retailer in Monse’s signature deconstructed aesthetic.

“It’s important for us in our position to refresh our minds to see what the next generation sees us as to change and move forward. That’s what Oscar did,” Kim says.

Below, Kim discusses her go-to comfort outfit, her best financial advice, and Monse’s latest collaboration with Shein.

You racked up a lot of fashion internships when you were starting out. Would you still recommend them to people who hope to work in fashion?

Yeah. I learned so much. I was in school as an international student, so I couldn’t really work and get paid. It was so amazing to see inside of a company that [you] only saw in Vogue magazine.

What’s the most fulfilling thing about helming two major labels?

As a consumer and a designer, I like having like two very different points of view so I don’t get sick of one. Not every woman dresses one way — it’s nice to see both worlds.

Do you have a go-to outfit or beauty look that boosts your confidence?

My all-time favorite is a secondhand Mickey Mouse sweatshirt I bought 20 years ago for like $5. I wash that almost every day. It’s the opposite of making you feel dreamy and confident. It’s that comfort outfit that makes you feel cozy and comfortable.

How do you recharge at the end of a long week?

It’s a luxury for us when we have time to go to the gym, even though I don’t love working out. But whenever I can get to the gym I’m like, “Wow, this day is a great day.” And I do watch a lot of Korean dramas to stop thinking about work.

Any you can recommend?

Lovely Runner. It’s so cute but a little bit intense, so I have to drop everything and watch it.

What’s currently on your hype playlist?

Pop music. I’m really into Sabrina Carpenter [and] Ariana Grande’s new song. I’m so jealous of the Ambani wedding where Justin Bieber performed. We were invited but couldn’t go.

You brought Monse’s signature deconstructed workwear to the capsule collection for Shein. Could you share more about the collab?

When we started Monse, we wanted to not be Oscar. We didn’t want to dress women who lunch. We wanted to dress working women. We wanted to deconstruct menswear for women, to empower them in the workplace.

When this conversation with Shein came up, I’d been working with Dress for Success, and it just immediately connected. We always wanted to dress women going to work and, working with Shein, we can reach way more people than we could with Monse. That was our initial goal.

One of the reasons we wanted to do the collab is they’re producing very small amounts but the sell-through is really high, so there’s no waste at the end, which is a bit of a problem for luxury markets. I’m very anti-discount. When department stores put things on discount, it really upsets me because I spent so much time on it and it’s 50% off.

As a consumer it’s amazing, but as a designer, I’m always like, “How can we get rid of this discount model?” By producing less, you can [do that]. That was something I was so intrigued by. We learned a lot by doing this collection.

Your capsule with Shein also supports Dress for Success NYC, which empowers women to achieve economic independence. What’s the best financial advice you can share?

My grandfather from my mom’s side told me, “Don’t look at money as a number — you have to see beyond that.” When I was 20, I earned $30,000 as a starting salary. What he meant was, you’re not worth $30,000 — you have to see beyond that.

The advice helped me, because when I was design director at Oscar, I was the boss at 26 and there were people working under me who made more money than I did, because they were like 45 or 50 years old — and rightfully so. But that could’ve really bothered me, and I could have taken it in the wrong way.

Could you talk about the process of mentoring designers for Shein X?

Fernando and I picked the designers together. We printed out everyone’s work and narrowed it down to people who aligned with us the most or who challenged us with their thoughts, who were offering something more than we were expecting. So we ended up with five.

I love working with young people with very different backgrounds, because it brings you something new and something you haven’t thought of. Fernando was my intern. I picked him as my intern because he was offering me something I didn’t have.