a day with leomie anderson: founder of LAPP

A few weeks ago, I stumbled across an Instagram post by one of my favorite models, Leomie Anderson. It was related to entering a writing contest for her website, LAPP The Brand. For those of you who don’t know, LAPP (aka “Leomie Anderson the Project the Purpose) is both a clothing brand & blog related to everything from fashion, activism, relationships, lifestyle, politics, and just about anything you can think of. It provides a platform for women to discuss issues and occurrences relevant to them in their daily lives. An article might highlight a struggle, a success, a current event, etc. LAPP itself is all about female empowerment and promoting the ideals of confidence, positivity, and unity. LAPP is extremely unique in that the authenticity and organic-ness of the articles written are completely from real women in the real world. There isn’t pressure to adhere to any specific brand standards, and it provides an incredible opportunity to hear from real women submitting articles on a regular basis.

The prize for the contest for LAPP was getting to spend a day during New York Fashion Week with the creator & founder of LAPP The Brand – Leomie Anderson herself. It included a trip to her modeling agency, getting advice about the industry, and either lunch/dinner on Leomie! I immediately thought that this would be an incredible experience, so I decided that I was going to submit an article. Even if I didn’t win, I thought that the runner up merch prizes also sounded pretty nice. I had written for LAPP about a month ago, and my article was accepted. From there, I decided to apply to become a permanent writer for the website, and was fortunate enough to be granted that opportunity, as well. But what to write about? Luckily enough, I constantly have a million ideas for articles floating in my head, so it wasn’t too hard to narrow it down. However, something that seemed ever-present in my mind for the last three weeks has been the environment in which I am surrounded by on a weekly basis: fashion school. It’s clear to see the major economic disparities amongst the student population, including myself, on a typical school day. This is made visible by the designer clothing (or non-designer clothing) that people wear. That stark contrast left an image in my mind that I couldn’t shake, so I decided this was my topic of choice. I had never really read any article that specifically dealt with this issue, not on LAPP at least, so I thought I had a pretty good shot. Not really expecting anything, I submitted my article and hoped for the best. (You can read the article here)

This past Saturday, while on my lunch break at work, I received an email. Subject: CONGRATULATIONS. I open it up to find out that I had actually won the contest!!! I was incredibly floored. I was in disbelief and shaking and almost crying tears of joy. I really was going to get this incredible opportunity. So after calling and messaging almost everyone I know to tell them the good news, I responded to the email with the necessary information they needed, and went back to work. A few hours later, I get a text from an unsaved number “Hi jenna it’s Leomie x”. I NEARLY THREW MY PHONE ACROSS THE ROOM. How is this really happening? After calming down enough to respond, we made an arrangement to meet up on Sunday. I was beyond thrilled.

After picking out a perfect outfit and frantically trying to figure out what I was going to say, I was off and on my way to meet Leomie. We met up in Brooklyn, and I was super early (as per usual). She took me upstairs to the headquarters of Fusion Models NYC, and gave me a brief tour. While we waited for the other winner to arrive (like I said, I was super early), we had a lovely conversation about fashion school, my article, NYFW, future plans for LAPP, and the current climate in the fashion industry. It was such a surreal experience to be able to sit down and chat with someone who I believe is an up and coming industry icon about real issues that I cared about. I felt that it was important that I let her know how wonderful of a job she has done with creating LAPP. I’ve never come across a website that really takes submissions from their readers with genuine purpose and thought, and expresses them whole-heartedly and proudly online. Every time I read an article on LAPP, I always think to myself “Wow, this is something that is so specific to this person but also expresses a profoundly relatable message that I can identify with.” It truly is a one-of-a-kind platform, and I applaud Leomie for that.

When Jenaé arrived, we filmed some vlogging material for LAPP and then made our way to Leomie’s favorite restaurant, Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ near Astor Place in Manhattan! The afternoon was filled with meaningful and fun conversation, about everything relating to her NYFW experiences, plans for the future, different lawsuits and problems within the fashion industry, her recent campaign with Fenty Beauty, the list goes on. I have to say my first time trying Japanese food was definitely an unforgettable experience, as was the entire day.

Getting the opportunity to talk with someone who is so involved in the fashion industry and at the same time is creating her own specialized media platform was beyond incredible. Leomie Anderson is one of the nicest, most genuine, and motivated people I have ever met. Hearing her say that she really enjoyed my perspective and thought that my article was interesting was gratifying in so many ways. I couldn’t believe that a Victoria’s Secret model and entrepreneur was asking me questions about MY personal and academic life and career. Her vision is contagious, and I aspire to be as successful as her one day in my field. I am so grateful for this experience, and I hope to work with Leomie again soon on another project!