Oscar de la Renta’s Laura Kim on Hong Kong fashion, Asian influences and Doja Cat’s iconic Met Gala look: Style chats to the Slaysian and co-creative director of ODLR and Monse – exclusive interview

May 20 , 2023

Laura Kim posing for Monse’s Resort 2023 collection. Photo: Handout

Seoul-born Laura Kim attended Pratt Institute and did internships at Jeremy Scott, Tse Cashmere, Donna Karan and Oscar de la Renta, where she’d meet her future Monse business partner Fernando Garcia

Monse is popular among celebrities from Sarah Jessica Parker and Blackpink’s Jennie and Lisa to Margot Robbie and Mila Kunis, while Doja Cat’s iconic ODLR cat costume at the Met Gala turned heads too

Laura Kim, the co-creative director of Monse and Oscar de la Renta and certified “Slaysian”, keeps herself busy – to say the least.

Laura Kim celebrating her 41st birthday in April. Photo: @tokibunbun/Instagram

But when the acclaimed fashion designer isn’t running about town as one of the most sought-after designers in the Big Apple, she goes for the simpler things in life: namely, gardening. “I’m really into gardening,” she tells Style in an exclusive interview. “Growing vegetables in the heart of NY is pretty incredible!”

Laura Kim is one of the most sought-after designers in New York. Photo: @tokibunbun/Instagram

Kim is currently based in New York, where she runs her fashion empire with her long-time friend and business partner at both Monse and ODLR, Fernando Garcia.

Doja Cat arrives on the red carpet for the 2023 Met Gala, the annual benefit for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, in New York, New York, US, on May 1, wearing a creation by Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia. Photo: EPA-EFE

Just recently in May, Kim and Garcia wove their magic to conceive a hand-beaded gown with a face-framing hood punctuated by a pair of cat ears for Doja Cat’s Met Gala debut. The iconic ODLR costume was designed to mimic Karl Lagerfeld’s blue-cream Birman feline at the event in honour of the late Chanel visionary. “Doja was amazing to work with, so much fun,” says Kim. “She wanted to dress as a cat from day one.”

Laura Kim at the Maybourne Beverly Hills in March. Photo: @tokibunbun/Instagram

Kim adds, “Karl [Lagerfeld] is an enormous inspiration and someone we all look up to in this industry.”