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Laura Dahl: The Beautiful Entrepreneur

I fortuitously met Laura Dahl at one of her trunk shows in New York City.

After a few minutes of longing gazes at the stunning collection, I met Heather Mordecai, the Operations Director of Wifebeader. I told her about POISE and our desire to feature the designer and her collection in our publication. The clothes I saw were simply much too beautiful for me not to spread the word.

I launched myself to give Laura a huge hug the moment after we introduced ourselves. After my mortifying display of over-zealousness, we exchanged business cards and I told her that I’d be in touch soon to schedule an interview with her so we can feature her, her clothes, and her company in POISE.

When Lauren and I walked into Wifebeader’s office in Chelsea for our long awaited interview, we were welcomed by Laura with and big and genuine hugs. Laura immediately asked us about POISE’s progress and the three of us joke and laugh as we’ve been friends forever.

After a little while of chatting, she offered us some wine, and we dove right into business. As I took out the standard POISE release statement for Laura to sign, she says, “Wow, you guys are so profo!” It was Laura’s short way of complimenting our professionalism. Lauren and I grew even fonder of Laura.

Laura Dahl was born and raised in the City of Las Vegas. Her grandfather founded the first radio station and has been coined the “father of Las Vegas marketing”. She later helped her mom open up a dude ranch, a coffee shop and a bungee jump before she decided that it was time for her to make her own dream come true.

“I was always a nomad, in many ways,” Laura explains. She has traveled and lived in London, the South of France, and Seattle. After years of going from place to place, Laura decided that it was time for New York and moved here in 2001. She got accepted to the master’s program at the Fashion Institute of Technology where she refined her creative fashion sense.

Laura interned for top designers like Michael Kors and Cynthia Rowley before she landed a serious job with gown designer, Ann Bowen. With Ann Bowen, she helped design and make gowns worth $40,000 or more. These were one-of-a-kind, red carpet gowns, handmade and hand-beaded with beautiful semi-precious stones. Laura got an idea. She thought why not make something that’s as beautiful and as wearable for everyday? And why not make them affordable?

She started by getting little things from inexpensive jewelry stores and started sewing those designs on tank-tops and wife beaters. All of her friends loved the idea and her designs and that’s when she thought she had something that’s worth pursuing.

Wifebeader by Laura Dahl was born.

Laura took out a loan, enlisted Heather as her assistant, sales manager, and the many other roles they couldn’t afford to hire, and founded Wifebeader. The two worked day and night, out of Laura’s apartment, or really, anywhere and everywhere. After hours and hours of sewing hundreds of stones and glass beads on comfortable everyday wear, the hard work finally paid off.

Within 3 months, Laura’s friend helped her put together a trunk show at Vogue Magazine, and her collection was sold out almost immediately. Bloomingdale’s and Anthropologie — two of the most impressive buyers in the fashion industry — were two of her first buyers. They leapt at the opportunity to get their hands on Laura’s collection.

When Bloomingdale’s learned about Laura’s Wifebeader, they asked to see her entire “collection”. Unfazed, Laura invited the Bloomingdale’s buyer to come sit on the floor of her West Village apartment to get a better peek at her original creations.

Bloomingdale’s and Anthropologie quickly placed large orders for Laura’s first collection and just as quickly as Laura’s business took off, she had to quickly make the turnaround and deliver the products to her buyers. Laura had the foresight to prepare for this day. Earlier, she had traveled to India and found wonderful agents in garment producing willing to work with her.

In almost no time at all, Laura’s designs and clothes were all over the racks throughout New York City. Steadily, more buyers became interested in the Wifebeader collection and its popularity and demand has been going strong ever since.

But Laura had her share of challenges as well. She was forced to quickly learn employment regulations in order to properly hire employees that she desperately needed. Like her success, she too, had to learn that almost overnight.

But when we asked if this challenge fazed her, she replied, “To be a good business person, you gotta know!” She is as optimistic as she is a hard worker. She told us that if you’re going to decide to start a business and to be an entrepreneur, then “you definitely have to put yourself into it. 200%, if not more.”

One important thing that she learned and she advised was, “… don’t wish for anything unless you’re ready for it.” After years of helping other people make their wishes and dreams come true, Laura was definitely ready for hers. And more importantly, well-deserved.

Stay tuned for Laura’s ideas for Day & Night and her Spring 2006 collection! For more information on Wifebeader, please visit www.wifebeader.com.

Photography by Tracy Ketcher

AiLun Ku, a Taiwan native, graduated from New York University with a major in sociology and minors in Spanish and Law & Society. With valuable experience at several non-profit organizations, she combines her management, research, and technological skills with the wide range of programmatic, administrative, and development duties she shoulders with Lauren in the development and improvement of POISE. She is currently studying to get her Masters in Public Administrations degree.