Luar

Designing From the Center Out 

words by Nicky Alcenat 

photos courtesy of the designer

Fashion, as an industry, is at a precipice. Between designer musical chairs and houses closing due to varying reasons, there is one constant here in New York City—younger designers will always find a way to stand up and stand out. Enter Raul Lopez with his Fashion house Luar. While not yet a household name like Oscar de la Renta, or whisked away to Europe as the newly appointed creative director of a storied house like Chanel or Loewe, he has wholly made a name for himself as New York’s current guard—and he is here to stay.  

Raul was born and raised a New Yorker by way of Brooklyn; you can tell by his Dominican-New Yorker sharp wit and infectious guttural laugh. He joined me via Zoom from his sun-filled living room; from what I can glean through a screen, it is well decorated without pretension. Being a New Yorker and in the industry for over 10 years myself, I start the conversation by letting him know of our mutual acquaintances and connections, and I’m glad when it’s clear he knows each and every person I mention. Our conversation is casual, a mini Kiki, if you will. Lopez is a third-generation sewer and designer, and his dreams of being a fashion designer were healthily supported by his family, especially his grandmother. When I ask how he would spend a perfect day, he says with her, witnessing her pray in her Brooklyn apartment. It was an unexpected answer for a young, hot-on-the-scene designer, but it humanizes him in a way many people from all walks of life can relate to. As a queer person of color, he also divulges that he has his own religious practices and that everyone respects everyone’s spirituality within his family.  

If you were a fan of the now-disbanded Hood By Air, you are a fan of Raul’s work already. He and Shane Oliver were the biggest non-celebrity designers on the CFDA calendar in the 2010s when fashion was only starting to discuss diversity (and at that time those conversations rarely involved equity). They made a real name for themselves by putting alt and queer Black and brown subcultures in a high-fashion context; think chubby, extravagant furs and hoodies of the rappers we watched growing up in music videos in the 90s and 00s and ripped denim on voguing Black bodies as a runway finale. Editors hadn’t seen anything like it before. Celebrities and downtown It girls and boys wanted seats to the show (and to walk in it), and they were stocked at Barney’s right before it shuttered. Each person who worked on Hood by Air has branched off to do their own individual work now, with Raul starting Luar to great success. He informs me that he and designer Telford Clemens are friends and saw Shane’s recent project, which was shown in an intimate setting to family and selected press.  

This connectivity is something I’ve seen time and time again in New York’s designer establishment: community. When I ask how vital community is to Raul, he tells me, “It’s very vital; even now my partner handles the business side of the brand.” In the era we live in, building a solid team is important. When I bring up the recent Super Bowl for which Raul designed a dress for Lady Gaga, he informs me that while hanging out with Gaga’s stylists Chloe and Chanel Delgadillo and Benito (aka Bad Bunny), they asked if he could make something for her—all while withholding that it was for the historic Super Bowl halftime show. Something so chic and nonchalant screams New York City.  

This could easily make a designer’s career, and this fact doesn’t seem at all lost on Raul. This is the same man who had Beyoncé attend one of his runway shows in 2024 (to support her nephew, Solange’s only son, who walked in the show). She had not attended an NYFW show since Kanye’s Yeezy presentation in 2015. No small feat. While at the Luar show in Bushwick, Brooklyn, Beyoncé held close a holographic Ana bag—the brand’s signature and calling card, named after both her mother and grandmother. Like the Telfar shopper, the Ana is a cult classic that comes in varying colors and sizes and is instantly recognizable as one of the few successful attempts at establishing an it-bag in the last decade. Its longevity is clear.