Designer: Laura Malingraux

After an exhaustive search of Fashion Schools, Laura chose IADE, motivated by the location and duration of the Diploma. Encouraged by her father, she decided to start the Fashion Design course, after having dropped out of Architecture.

​IADE: How was your experience at the School, what was the best part, anything we can improve?​
LM: My experience at the school was great. I had better moments and harder moments, with more stress, but like everyone else. The teachers who taught me couldn't have been better and the classmates were wonderful, we were a great team. The possibility of going to class in the morning and in the afternoon gave me a lot of flexibility to do small occasional jobs.

The requests of both the former student and her classmates to teach classes in tailoring and scaling, as well as a deeper knowledge of Photoshop and Illustrator, were always heard and implemented in the Institution's program.

​I: What was your dream (professionally speaking) when you entered the School? Did it change throughout your career?
L.M: When I started at IADE, I dreamed of setting up my own brand ​"Laura Malingraux", what I didn't know very well was the style or the type of fashion to dedicate myself to. During the course of my studies, I sometimes got discouraged and changed my mind. I decided that I wanted to be a pattern maker, to dedicate myself to something technical, without worrying about anything else. Nowadays, I can't conceive of patternmaking without designing, nor designing without patternmaking. I am passionate about the whole creative process, from the idea that comes to my mind, through the process of capturing it on paper, in an illustration, to the making of it. From the intangible idea to the final product.

​I.M: What did you do when you finished your studies until today?
L.M: Since I graduated I have worked in several places, all of them related to the fashion world. I could not conceive, and in fact I have always refused, to work in anything other than what I had studied. I first started working as a pattern maker in David Christian's production workshop. Later, I switched to the Production and Quality Controls Department at ​Ecoalf, and later I chose the position of designer at ​Valenzuela. Then, I joined the Administration and Sales Department at Charlotte Daniel, but finally, I returned to Valenzuela for another season.

​I:​Do you feel that our School trained you adequately for the working world?
L.M: I think that IADE has given me a lot, a lot of skills to move in different areas. Maybe not so much to see how to set up my own company, but well, for that I already took a course on entrepreneurship with the Youth Guarantee. Thanks to IADE's training, I have been able to make my own corporate image, learn to design projects, develop my drawing skills, make patterns for my garments... it is clear that there are things that have been left out, but in 3 years with only 4 hours of class per day, it seems to me that everything was very well used. In other schools, it's 4 years and 6 hours of class per day, and they dedicate themselves to putting in subjects that in the end, far from enriching the formation, impoverish it. Less is more!

​As you told us on Instagram, you currently have your own bridal and guest fashion brand. How did the idea of the project come up?
L.M: The project came from my ambition and need to have my own brand (...) and for me, entrepreneurship is nothing more and nothing less than an attempt at quality self-employment, stable and with a living wage.

Laura tells us that her choice for the bridal sector was marked by the message she likes to work with; the world of dreams and fairy tales, and the concept of love for life that makes us escape from the problems of our day to day. She also tells us that she is passionate about the fact that, as they are personalized and tailor-made orders, she is able to constantly explore her creative spectrum without feeling anchored to a single style.

She currently works on all her orders in her Atelier in Majadahonda, where she is in charge of carrying out all the steps of her ambitious project: making invoices, accounting, managing social networks, attending clients and selling dresses, contacting suppliers, pattern making, designing and making her creations...

​I: More and more women are taking the decision to set up an independent business and dedicate themselves to what they are really passionate about. What would you tell our fashion students? Any advice for moving in the business/fashion world?
L.M: To fight for their dreams, not to be discouraged by what other people say, because when the time comes, they will know it themselves. Everything is achieved through a lot of effort and dedication, giving 100%. And it is very important, before taking the plunge, to gain experience.

​I: Do you have any other project in the pipeline?
L.M: Well, in one of my moments of slump, between work and work, I channeled my frustration in the design and creation of a board game of cards, dynamic and fluid strategy type. When I can spare a moment, my intention is to go to the Essen fair in Germany and try to find a publisher that wants to publish it. Sometimes, it's good to break away to refresh your ideas.

​I: Would you do any collaboration with a potential student?
L.M: We would have to see how to approach it, but why not?

​I: Would you like to come to the School in the future, to tell your experience to the Fashion students?
L.M: Of course I would like to share my experience with them.