About

Laura Rafferty

The artist behind the brand Lara Lavine.

Laura Rafferty is a Northern Irish artist/designer that works under the brand name Lara Lavine, with a background in fine art lecturing, and design education, fine art painting, surface print design, ceramics, sculpture, figure/life drawing, conceptual art, digital art, and photography. Experienced as a textile craftsman, seamstress, maker, and general creative. Laura is also a freelancer in costume within the TV and Film industry.

The brand Lara Lavine was born from many years of developing drawing, painting and illustration styles, along with an expressive and passionate way of creating, drawing inspiration from her background, culture, education and heritage. The artist's passion for love of film, travel, music, and literature, has inspired many of her works of art combined with her heritage. This has now been translated into the artist's love of fashion, fabric, clothing design and designer ladies wear accessories. 

The designs created under the brand Lara Lavine explore the theme of Ireland’s industrial heritage, focusing on Ireland's railways, and ship merchants that built the Titanic. The vibrant stories of the hardworking people of Ireland, who paved the way for progress, the railways and steam trains of Ireland, are what inspired designs for the brand. This has played a key role in developing the brand’s identity and signature style, using simplistic motifs and symbols of the steam train wheel, and machinery, which is represented through mark making within the surface print of the fabric. Lara Lavine promotes sustainable fashion, creating exclusive limited edition fine art prints that are then developed into unique wearable art pieces that are fun, quirky, creative, practical, flexible to wear, and vibrant. Wearable art that makes a statement. Lara Lavine is also influenced largely by iconic great artists of the 20th Century from all of Europe,  which is also reflected throughout her designs. The Lara Lavine brand creates  the wearable art experience, where art & fashion meet.