Laura grew up in Dracena, a city in São Paulo, with a deep interest in beauty. As a child, she loved refining her style during clothing fittings at her seamstress Aurora’s studio, where they made clothes by hand with great care.
Surrounded by images of fashion and elegant clothes, both in Dracena and during family trips to Italy, Laura studied law and worked in environmental law for a few years. But her passion for fashion led her to Milan for further studies. Upon returning to Brazil, she joined the team at Harper’s Bazaar magazine's new Brazilian edition.
After becoming a stylist at the magazine, Laura decided to take a step back and rethink her approach to life and fashion. This new perspective inspired her to create her brand's first collection, named Dracena, blending her memories and connections into her designs.
Let’s kick it off with a
quick fire! What’s your favorite…
Cocktail: Caipirinha, a Brazilian drink made with lime, sugar, ice and “cachaça”, a distilled
beverage made from fermented sugarcane juice
Museum: Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP) and Victoria and Albert Museum
City: São Paulo, where I live, and Milano
Comfort Food: A classic cheeseburger, neapolitan style pizza and carbonara
Skincare Must Have: A good thermal water spray
Instagram Account: Currently on an Instagram detox. Deactivated my personal account.
Tell us about your design process!
It has been changing from collection to collection, but usually it all begins with the theme I am
going to use as inspiration for the prints, colors and shapes. Prints are a key point of the
process, impacting most of the other steps. And coloring the prints is the part I am most excited
about. The moment you achieve the right combination of colors is always fascinating.
Themes are mainly based on my personal life, personal experiences, tastes, travels,
memories…
For instance, the brand’s first collection was about my hometown ‘Dracena’, which is also the
name of a beautiful plant of yellow and green striped leaves. I always want to tell a story through
the collections. Stories that somehow speak to my heart and tell a bit more about my
personality.
What’s a fun fact not many people know about you?
I am addicted to true crime TV shows.
When did you know you wanted to be in fashion?
When I was an environmental lawyer at a huge law firm and my boss, perceiving my unhappiness with the legal practice, asked me what liked the most about being a lawyer. The answer: “the clothes”.
How would you describe the Laura Cangussu woman?
Effortlessly elegante, modern and authentic. I would add with a contemporary mindset towards
fashion issues, more specifically environmental, labor and social ones.
How do you want her to feel in wearing the collection?
Confident and 100% sure that whole process involving that piece of clothing she is wearing was
as responsible and conscious as possible.
Who is your style icon?
Dries Van Noten.
What’s your closet hero?
The combo ‘vintage pair of jeans + off-white linen shirt + dark brown interlaced loafer.
Cheers!
