who agree that true beauty emotes from the inside out
who reveal more about yourselves through your details
who appreciate luxurious materials against your skin
who understand that sometimes the accessory is the outfit
who feel most powerful when you are being your authentic self
I created Lalita for you.
]]>For those of you who see everything as an avenue for self-expression
who agree that true beauty emotes from the inside out
who reveal more about yourselves through your details
who appreciate luxurious materials against your skin
who understand that sometimes the accessory is the outfit
who feel most powerful when you are being your authentic self
I created Lalita for you.
La|li|ta: Hindu Goddess of Bliss, “she who plays”
My inspiration for Lalita was years of pole dance classes. In these intimate rooms I saw the immense power and beauty present when women unabashedly expressed themselves through not just their movement, but also their clothing and accessories. These items almost became totems that supported women in their journey to self-discovery. What they wore gave them permission to fully express themselves thereby gifting us with their authenticity. In witnessing these moments the idea for Lalita was born.
From there what began as a packaging concept with a garter clip quickly evolved into something bigger: martini picks, tank tops, jewelry, lingerie, clothing, and accessories. A whole fashion brand all with the same through line, a seductive twist on your classic styles. We do this by juxtaposing luxuriously soft bamboo fabrics with hardware accents.
Soon after our launch celebrity support, music videos, and magazine covers quickly followed, but I’ve always remembered my roots. Lalita is a personal experience. All of our products are handmade with lots of love and once worn embody their own significance for the wearer. They are pieces designed to evoke sensation in the body so that you feel present and alive in whatever sense that means to you.
When this pandemic struck I was in the midst of launching new lines. But then reality quickly set in, the new materials were not going to arrive in a now broken supply chain. Decisions had to be made. As a small company I didn’t have any wiggle room or budget to explore. Pushing through and attempting to sell clothing and handbags during a global pandemic didn’t feel right or realistic either.
I had to figure out what was within my power to offer the world. My expression comes through designing. I see things in my mind and have to make them. This lead me to a natural conclusion…
I made masks for Lalita. I realized I could use the infrastructure I already had in place to offer a stylish and comfortable alternative to more utilitarian masks on the market. If I was going to wear a face mask, I wanted one I could feel good in - both physically, because the material felt incredible, and emotionally because it was a style I wanted to rock. I wanted to hold on to that piece of myself that may be out in sweats but still wants something to reflect my style. I knew that if I was feeling the need for something beyond basic, I could not be alone. After reaching out to several friends and customers, I knew that it wasn’t just me; they all asked me for one so they too could feel a little more themselves at a time when we need to be uplifted.
Selling these fashion statement masks also gives me the ability to produce basic masks for donations financed through sales. A portion of each mask sale will go directly to creating free masks for those in need during this crisis. Fashion is meeting function.
The masks are not only signature Lalita, but they also offer greater protection as a consumer mask for outside errands where social distancing is maintained and medical grade is not required. Our bamboo fabric has innate wicking, anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-microbial properties plus it’s a heavy, yet breathable, weight. Because its stretch was potentially problematic, I added a third layer of 100% cotton for additional filtration with the added benefit of holding the bamboo jersey in place. All our masks can be washed and reworn when needed.
Aside from using top notch materials, nothing short of meticulous will work for the line and so much love goes into each handmade piece. Mask sales allow me to give back and keep people employed. By purchasing our masks you are helping my contractors stay (safely and voluntarily) employed, allowing additional basic masks to be produced and donated to those in need. My incredible contractors and I have so much pride in our work and are overjoyed with each email/post/personal encounter from customers sharing how much they enjoy their Lalita and how beautiful, seductive and powerful it makes them feel.
I believe that no matter what circumstances are taking place, humanity will still yearn to express its creativity. Happiness and prosperity are not pre-requisites for art. I believe that in tough times our ability to create and express becomes even more relevant so that we can maintain a connection to our joy and our human experience. If we are forgoing certain modalities of self-care, something new must emerge that allows us to express ourselves when we step out in the world, no matter how briefly and from what distance.
Self expression will always find a way.
Thank you for your time and stay safe.
Rena Andrews
Designer, CEO
]]>Along with these positive responses to the brand, a flip side has inevitably been elicited. While I thank each and every woman who shares her story with me about Lalita, I want to respond to those who have pulled away due to their own story. The most striking part for me is how body image has come into play regarding some the pieces, most notably the waist cinchers. For many of the women who adored the piece, it was followed by, “But I have to get into shape before I can wear that!”. . . my gut response is No you don’t, but I can’t always say that because many times it falls on deaf ears and I don’t want to encourage wearing ANYTHING you don’t feel comfortable in.
For anyone who has felt that way, did you happen to catch the Ashley Graham Lingerie show during NY fashion week last September, because those women are sexy as f*ck and they just happen to be “plus sizes”! You know why? They own every single one of their curves and there is nothing sexier than confidence. If they waited to get to some skinny “ideal” weight, none of them would have been walking the runway in a lingerie show!
I have yo-yo’d many times in my life and until recently, I was the heaviest I’d ever been. Did I plan on hanging out at that weight? Absolutely not, but did I still find myself beautiful and sexy? Absolutely! I had to, because if I sat in a state of self-loathing it would have only made it harder to lose the weight. I could have cut myself a break and said I gained it from stress after my father died, or from a car accident that made it difficult for me dance, the one form of exercise I love, or that I’d been so busy juggling two businesses that I didn’t have time to exercise. All of those things are true to an extent, but they are only a story around my weight; they should never define how I feel about myself at any given time. I looked back at a picture of myself when I was skinny and remembered I still hated my body then; I wish I had taken the time to love it every day, to love the journey it has taken me on and to appreciate that it has the ability to transform from skinnier, to muscular, to curvier, to everything in between. One thing I realize is I have the power to change between these different incarnations of my body based on my food and life choices, but no matter how I’m looking, why not love what I see?
Here’s the irony: I love myself in lingerie. No matter my size I can always tap into that inner vixen and feel sexy and beautiful. Throw me in a bikini, I’m horribly insecure. The thought of buying one gives me heart palpitations. Let me sunbathe in the nude, or topless even, I’m back to feeling good. It makes no sense, but it’s how I allow myself to feel in that clothing (or lack of). Same body, but the bikini elicits fear and self-loathing while the lingerie evokes self-worth, womanhood, beauty and confidence. I can’t say I’ve delved into therapy to understand why I feel so insecure in a bikini, but I can say I probably look so much better in lingerie, because I feel so much better about myself in it. I’m working on bringing that self-love into wearing a bathing suit. . .
A Lalita woman recently emailed me prior to purchasing a pair of corset boy shorts and I teared up when I received her e-mail:
“I am a US size 16-18 and it is nearly impossible to find products such as yours that will fit my figure in a flattering way, so if you do not currently make for us curvy ladies, would you consider it?? Or would it be possible to custom order with my measurements? As an aside, I think there a lot of us that do not fit the “typical” figure these types of products are intended for, but that doesn’t mean we “full figured” ladies don’t want beautiful, sexy items, too!”
What I loved about her e-mail was her honesty and yes, btw, – our size 5 did fit her perfectly. Truth is I’ve never intended these products for only the smaller range of sizes. I’ve had many custom orders for our waist cinchers and I’m thrilled every time. I love that women of all sizes feel beautiful and sexy in them! What breaks my heart is when women tell me they want Lalita, but have to lose weight before ordering. It’s like putting yourself in this constant cycle of conditional happiness where you can’t feel good UNTIL something happens. I say drop the delayed gratification and start the self-love of body Right Now. I guarantee if you can’t love you now, it won’t be easier in the future.
I’m gonna leave you with a trailer I just saw interviewing women on how they feel about their bodies for a film, Embrace. . . How do you feel about yours? How would suddenly shifting into feeling your body is beautiful right now change how you experience life and walk through the world? It doesn’t mean you can’t change your shape, but how about loving it every step of the way?
For me Kickstarter has been a powerful tool in my own personal growth. A year ago, or even six months ago, if crowdfunding was mentioned my belly churned with fear. I thought I could NEVER do that, but in this whole Lalita journey, one of the things I’ve realized is never say never. When you invest so much time, energy, and love into your baby, you are willing to do almost anything (that doesn’t compromise morals) to have it thrive. I never thought I’d be photographing my own stuff or doing graphic design, but it happened because it had to get done. I assumed someone else could always do it better than me until I was put to the test; not only did I succeed, I thrived. I’ve now set a look and feel for my brand that no one else could have done because it came from me. Will I always shoot my own stuff? No, but the important lesson is that I know I can.
Beyond expanding my own capabilities as a human, the emotional lessons have been incredibly powerful. To say Kickstarter is a lesson in trust and faith would be a gross understatement. You spend years developing something only to put it out there for people to love, hate or care less. The truth is that when you have poured so much of yourself into something, it can be hard to separate yourself from the project. . .but you have to. If I tried to appeal to everyone, I’d fail miserably. I have to be okay with knowing that what I am creating will powerfully resonate with some and leave others not understanding Lalita at all. For me, knowing that I can inspire a core group gives me the faith to know that once I reach a larger audience, there will be even more women (and men) who resonate with this brand and it’s message. If I have achieved that, I have succeeded.
With every e-mail, post, and personal message, I have had to get really comfortable with rejection. I can say years of auditioning prepped me, and it certainly helped, but it takes an insane amount of courage to reach out to hundreds or thousands of people, knowing only a handful will even respond. However, the thing with contacting people is perseverance and an open mind; I realize now that so much of my support is coming from where I least expected it. It pays off to be nice to people and to be kind and generous (for a multitude of reasons) but in regard to Kickstarter, you never know who from your past could be your biggest supporter simply because you left them with a warm and fuzzy feeling about you. Kickstarter has also been a wonderful reason to reach out to people and to reconnect, even if it’s only a few lines of exchange, it’s more real than years of clicking likes on their Facebook postings.
Above all, Lalita and Kickstarter have been a lesson in receiving. I’ve always been the one who wanted to believe I could do it all, but truth is: I can’t. No one can because we do not live in a vacuum. I may be the face behind the campaign, but there are so many people who continue to help make this a reality. Not only have people taken time out of their lives to pledge or to share, but to help in the months of preparation for the campaign. Kickstarter has been a lesson in receiving love and being okay with that. It sounds so simple, but it’s one of the lessons I needed most. I needed to be comfortable with people loving me as much as I needed to be comfortable with them not.
I am a firm believer in “without risk, there is no great reward!” I believe that no matter the outcome of this Kickstarter campaign, I am winning. I had the courage to put my heart out there and leave a campaign’s success in the fate of both those who know me and complete strangers. I had the courage to continue a dream, despite the real possibility of not reaching a funding goal. I had the courage to leave the security of one company to follow my passions in another. And most of all, I had the courage to put myself and Lalita out in the world to be loved.
To view the campaign and to pledge click below. Campaign ends September 17, 2015, 8:29 PM P.S.T.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/857789864/lalita-luxury-accessories-with-a-seductive-twist
When do you feel beautiful and magnetic? Is it in the boardroom, the bedroom or driving down the PCH in a convertible? Do you feel your best in a corset and short skirt or after kicking ass in Soul Cycle?
I founded Lalita with the intention of making seduction upscale, elegant and accessible in daily life. As women we are very powerful when we tap into our feminine nature and our sensuality and for each and every one of us it is different, yet equally relevant.
As I explored my own interpretation of sexy, I also channeled my self-confidence, self-awareness and strength. I learned what made me feel good and how to carry that energy throughout my daily life. After nearly ten years of pole and feminine movement classes at Sheila Kelley S Factor, I’ve also had the privilege of seeing other women experience that same liberation and joy; Lalita was inspired through watching women find their own voice by tapping into their innate feminine power and expressing it through music, movement, clothing and accessories.
Lalita accessories are tokens of our essence, gorgeous pieces to glance down upon when we may not be feeling so sexy or powerful or beautiful and they can instantly remind us to love ourselves, our body, and what makes us uniquely ourselves. I spent years working in an environment where I felt I had to hide my innate sensuality and now, when I glance down at my Lalita HerCuff, no matter the setting, it reminds me to own all of me, even if it is my little secret. I no longer feel the need to compartmentalize these parts of myself, but I realized how beautifully they all integrate once I allowed it.
We want to hear how you define sexy and what makes you feel that way?
~Rena Andrews, Lalita Creator
A recent article came out, http://mashable.com/2014/12/01/hollywood-secret-beauty-procedure, discussing the top secret procedure being done in films called, beauty work. It is essentially air brushing in film – but this air brushing involves every single frame. It may be slimming or de-aging, or removing dark circles, basically anything Photoshop can do but for a moving picture. Body doubles have been around for years and are a well known secret. I remember when Julia Roberts discussed having one in Pretty Woman for a scene she felt uncomfortable with. As a pre-teen with every insecurity imaginable, it was reassuring to know that even movie stars felt that way too, even ones I admired for their beauty and physique. When we look at magazines, we expect a picture to be retouched, and I get that a brand wants a photo to look as polished as possible and sometimes, even the best of us have bags under our eyes or a blemish, so why not take it out. Photoshop is considered common knowledge so we can have a certain suspension of disbelief when we flip through magazines and accept that this is the fantasy world of fashion. I say this because with film, even with the glitz and glamor of Hollywood there is an expectation for actors to look as they did on screen. We accepted their curves, or lines, or lack of and we saw who they were on screen as a made-up version of themselves because the possibility of their image altered on screen had not crossed into our minds as a remote possibility. Tabloids may write about plastic surgery, but alterations of film frames, definitively no. Every once in a while some magazine comes out of celebs without make-up and the world is shocked to see that make-up transformed them just like every other human being on the planet.
What we did not know, was that for many actors there was even more behind the scenes alterations going down, and for that, we were all hoodwinked. There is enough unnatural pressure to look a certain way in this society, but when a standard of beauty is set that isn’t even real, and we don’t know that as we absorb the films, it creates even more insecurities and delusional perspectives on beauty and aging. You aren’t aware of how far the rabbit hole of beauty goes and suddenly you are holding yourself up to a standard of beauty that doesn’t even exist because a computer created it all.
I’m not here to judge or comment on whether on not photoshopping or beauty work should occur, but I do believe that we should all be aware of it. False icons have only perpetuated a youth driven society and many celebrity and non-celebrities are caught in this cycle of popular culture.
I respect celebrities who occasionally post the bare faced photo of themselves, just to remind a society which idolizes them, that they too are human and age and get bloated and have pimples and feel the same insecurities we all do.
As women, we must be reminded that what we see is not real. We are all fed very manipulated images through popular culture and to understand it, as fantasy, we first need to know that the myth exists. We need to be able to differentiate the life we see in the mirror from the art we see on screen and hold ourselves up to a realistic view of beauty. We must love every phase our body experiences in our journey and all the lines, wrinkles, and imperfections that we should embrace along the way.
Yes, real women have curves, but many very real women also do not, and that doesn’t make one female form more innately beautiful or attractive than the other. The perfect body is the body any woman unconditionally accepts, embraces, and loves as her very own. That self love and acceptance creates a magnetism that forces us all to see the beauty found in all forms.
Response to: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/11/no-miss-indiana-s-body-isn-t-normal.html