“If we didn’t build the audience that Cult Gaia has now because of that bag, we wouldn’t be able to do what we’re doing now.”Besides the designer’s deep-seated ambitions to have a full-fledged ready-to-wear collection, it’s also necessary for the brand’s longevity: “It was always important to me to do more than accessories, because I don’t think a brand can be sustainable for the superlong run if they’re just offering one category. Created in 2012 by Jasmin Larian, Cult Gaia designs beautiful heirloom items that will live in your closet forever. A half-circle constructed of open-weave bamboo, the design was conceived in 2014, but took a full two years to really blow up your feed, and maybe even your IRL social circles, according to Cult Gaia's founder, Jasmin Larian.
“Fake it till you make it.”She’s also had to contend with copycats of her It Bag, be it fast-fashion brands or other indie designers.
“What I would tell anybody starting out in fashion is to have that one item” that becomes a strong, singular hit, Larian says. MANIFESTO To curate a wardrobe … “People saw the functionality of it, and it’s a really a piece of art; it looks beautiful just placed on a table, and it has beautiful packaging, which to me is key, as gift giving has been a huge driver of the Ark bag’s sales.”Once the Ark bag was a bona fide success—with fans like Alba, Michelle Williams, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and basically any influencer worth her formidable following—the orders (and the first wave of retailers wanting to stock the hit piece, like Net-a-Porter and NYC’s Fivestory) poured in. Larian also expanded the Ark beyond the original bamboo version, releasing pricier acrylic iterations for spring 2017, followed by glittery versions in fall 2017.The power of creating an It Bag for Larian is how it’s allowed her to achieve her bigger-picture goals as a designer, thanks to the exposure of one fateful, sleeper hit accessory.
She can’t pinpoint one particular moment or celeb spotting that changed everything, though the brand did have a few in 2016, including “People loved it, but no one felt like they could pull it off until they started seeing it a lot on social media,” Larian says. Great brands are cult-like, uniting like-minded people in their aesthetic ideals.
“For me, chaos is a … Created in 2012 by Jasmin Larian, Cult Gaia designs beautiful heirloom pieces that will live in your closet forever. “I want to make this a true lifestyle brand, one iconic piece at a time.”And yes, those pieces may well be bags: “Product is queen for me, and I love the development process: It takes so long to get it right, and it’s so gratifying when we have something that I feel like we really nailed,” she says.While the Ark’s success was a fluke, to a degree—or, at the least, a slow-build process—she underscores the importance of quality, not quantity. Since then “I’ve focused on building our team and just putting one foot in front of the other!” she says of how she contended with such a massive surge of interest once the bag (finally) took off. “The beauty of this bag is that it took me ultimately to where I wanted to go, which is making ready-to-wear and having a lifestyle brand, building out our brand ethos,” she explains. Free shipping and returns on Cult Gaia Mini Astraea Leather Tote at Nordstrom.com. Created in 2012 by Jasmin Larian, Cult Gaia designs beautiful heirloom pieces that will live in your closet forever. Many of the bags we create stand on their own and have a very sculptural quality about them.
Jasmin Larian, a 26-year-old founder of Cult Gaia, created her line because she was wearing floral wreaths to go out as a student in New York. Discover where buy Cult Gaia designer clothing online, we list stores selling, discount codes and sales for Cult Gaia Jasmin Larian – the twenty-something spawn of billionaire toy tycoon Isaac Larian of Bratz franchise fame – had first conceived of the bag in 2013. Gaia is the goddess of Mother Earth and the daughter of chaos, the most creative force there is.Join the Cult for 10% Off Your First Purchase. Sales of the Ark bag tripled from 2016 to 2017, and it accrued a wait list of more than 1,500 people, according to Larian. The cornerstone of Cult Gaia’s DNA has been forged with the ideal of creating Objets d’ Art that make you look twice. Our design ethos is to make things stand out and turn heads. (On Wednesday Larian has also introduced new items that riff on the aesthetic of the Ark (like an Ark-shaped earring), which have sold well, as well as two new bag styles that have evolved the sculptural motif of its signature product, the Lilleth (which debuted in spring 2017) and the Luna (which was introduced for fall 2017).
I can spend hours mixing and matching new pieces with vintage ones! Find Cult Gaia Stockists online - use our definitive list of retailers, featuring the best designer men's & women's stores in the UK, USA, Canada & Europe. Though the Ark bag was still a ways off, “that’s when I think the Cult Gaia brand’s DNA was solidified: creating pieces that are elegant, classic, really attention-grabbing, and a little out of the ordinary. All pretty unusual circumstances leading to an It Bag’s ascent.“My mom was a fashion designer and I was surrounded with design and creativity my whole life, so I always knew I wanted to have my own line,” Larian explains. This mini version has a geometric loop-through handle and unstructured silhouette for a cool juxtaposition of sharp and soft lines.
Now celebrities like Vanessa Hudgens, Paris Hilton, Miley Cyrus and Kendall Jenner wear her silk flower crown. Isaac Larian, founder of toymaker MGA Entertainment, began making dolls after picking up a talking one that Mattel passed on.