Start Your Engines

Lula Laora’s masochistic motowear has a need for speed
By Bailey Slater | Fashion | 21 September 2022

In a pit of speed-hungry motocross bikers, Lula Loara is getting ready to let loose. Around her, dirtbikes in fluorescent plastic wraps spew dust, ripping across the barren landscape as without a care in the world. Some may be deterred by such hair-raising danger, but Laora is different, she feeds off it.

Waving a flag wholly unmissable in size (we’re talking an XXL, monogrammed picnic blanket here), this isn’t the designer’s call for surrender, but a demand to floor it: adrenaline is the liquid heart of her SS23 collection. Suddenly, zipped blouses, bright biker shorts, thigh-cut leathers and metallic corset tops explode into full-view in shiny, vegan fabrics. Meanwhile, Jackass’ Sean McInerney, affectionately known to viewers as Poopies, upholds the thrill-seeking spirit by making his runway debut on the shoulders of a boy racer, clad in a patchwork blazer of brash, sponsored logos.

Blending biker codes with titillating prints, Laora’s SS23 collection was also inspired by the chaotic futurism of The Fifth Element, studying closely the many camp flourishes of the film’s costume designer, Jean Paul Gaultier. You can trace his influence in wigged helmets, floor-length in their bubble-gum pink gradient drips, or fatally sharp with shiny, metallic spikes. The London-based designer then borrowed from the arcade world, accessorising her daring looks with gamer guns and mashed-up jewels. Completing the mix with a dash of masochism and some bold lightning prints, the result brings us one rough and tough biker crew you’d be a fool to mess with.

GALLERYCatwalk images from Lula Laora WOMENS-SPRING-SUMMER-23





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