Tucson Fashion Week: Laura Tanzer

Laura Tanzer still prefers a pattern she followed as a fashion-savvy 10-year-old.

The first garment she ever designed was a homemade sundress with neck and arm holes finished with white trim instead of the usual sleeve facings.

Now “over 40,” as she says, she still opts for trim before facings.

“Modern and sophisticated is my personality,” says Tanzer, a featured designer at Tucson Fashion Week’s garden party at the Tucson Botanical Gardens. “I guess I wasn’t so sophisticated when I was 10. I’d say that I’ve honed my skills more and become more me.”

The “me” that she has grown into likes structured lines, natural and organic fabrics and artistic prints on silks. She dresses mostly in black — which makes her red hair pop — has four full design collections and teaches courses on sustainable business practices at the University of Arizona.

Her dream is to have a sustainable manufacturing business for her designs in Tucson.

In her sophomore year as a fashion week designer, Tanzer is showcasing her Chiaroscuro collection, which emphasizes black and white and formal styles.

We thought we’d let Tanzer tell you the rest.

Design demographic: “My clothes are very comfortable. I’m not looking for the 20s and definitely not the teens. I’m looking for real women.”

Inspiration: “I take pictures of all kinds of things. My friends say, ‘How do you see this stuff in ordinary things?’ I say, ‘That would make a great pattern or a print. ...’ I take photographs and typically I will do something called a repeat, and I’ll do a mirror image … and it makes a pattern that I can create on fabric.”

Favorite print: “I was in Kyoto (Japan), and I’m short so I see things closer to the ground, and I saw their manhole covers are beautiful. They are engraved and etched. They’re divine, and they’re works of art, and I took a picture. ... People say, ‘This is a neat design,’ and I say, ‘That is a manhole cover in Kyoto.’”

Favorite collection: “My favorite is always the one that I’m currently working on. I’ll finish one and be totally in love with it and start something new so it moves. I’m a design gigolo because it’s always the one I’m working on. I’m working on two right now. A collection for the JGilbert (Footwear) store and at the same time for Tucson Fashion Week. I love them both and they’re both so cool. I’m definitely cheating on each one. One day I’m going out with one and the next day another.”