Vogue Education Presents: Carmelá Osorio Lugo

Condé Nast College was delighted to welcome Carmelá Osorio Lugo, Head Designer of Attire, to present her incredible story and vision. MA Luxury Brand Strategy & Business student, Katharina Rolfes reports. 

About Carmelá Osorio Lugo

Carmelá Osorio Lugo is a Venezuelan-born fashion designer, who has worked with high-profile brands such as Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein. She moved to the United States at eighteen to go to college and to pursue her aspirations as a fashion designer.

During her time in the states, she attended Savannah College of Art and Design in New York with an 80% scholarship. Just one year later, she started working as a stylist for André Leon Talley in the Little Black Dress Exhb. Later, he even became her mentor. While there, she completed numerous internships in the fashion world, most notably at Elie Tahari, DKNY and Armani Exchange.

In 2013, she secured a position at Ralph Lauren. Only working there for a year, she was able to prove herself and ended up winning one of the most prestigious competitions in America, the CFDA Award in 2014. She then worked under the Creative Direction of Raf Simons at Calvin Klein Jeans Design Team for three years in 2016.

The Story of Attire

Lugo is the Head-Designer at “Attire” which is a collaboration with German influencer, Xenia Adonts. Adonts’s vision was to create a brand that presented her own values: sustainability, transparency and trendy.

“We produced our debut collection in just five months. Can you imagine” -Carmelá

Even though Attire was able to push a collection in such a short amount of time (which usually takes a year),  they were faced with a number of challenges during production. Not only do they want to know who is producing their garments, but they want to stay completely plastic free even with the packaging. The brand even takes their authenticity promise a step further, by listing all their factories with a short introduction on their website. 

Pa’lante Workshop

Carmelá‘s path from big fashion houses like Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren to now starting her own brand has not always been easy. In addition to being passionate about fashion, she is also a creative person who enjoys sharing her knowledge, which is why she regularly speaks at events such as Vogue Education Presents. As a result, she is now starting her own workshop called “Pa’lante,” which will start in February.  Pa’lante, which means “move forward”  is exactly what Lugo’s intention was when creating this new workshop. It is designed to coach and help other fashion enthusiasts to fulfil their dreams and move forward in the creative industry, with the help of her tips and guidance. 

“I realised that as a designer I had a mission and a purpose. I needed to give back to my community on a larger scale” – Carmelá Osorio Lugo 

Find Your Passion, Learn About Your Passion, Work on Your Passion

Lugo emphasises that we should start to chase our dreams now and work towards it. The main goal of the Pa’lante workshop is to serve a handbook, filled with all tips, tricks and secrets on how to start a successful career in a creative industry by emphasising her mistakes and experiences that she made. The workshop is a guide perfectly curated  for every participant and decides the necessary measures to achieve their personal goals. 

“Look for your niche, your identity is your creative advantage”  -Carmelá Osorio Lugo

By Katharina Rolfes, MA Luxury Brand Strategy & Business