Working in fashion was always in Jasmin Larian Hekmat’s DNA. The Cult Gaia founder and creative director grew up in a creative household. Her mother was a fashion designer and is currently a sculptor, and her father is a toy maker. “She taught me how to start sewing on paper,” Larian Hekmat says. “I grew up going into this closet and finding bags of treasures that I would start draping on myself when I got older and pinning and then sewing.”
Larian Hekmat studied fashion design and international marketing at FIT, where she interned at Narciso Rodriguez and Jason Wu. Following her schooling, Larian Hekmat knew that she wanted to move back home to Los Angeles and start her own line, Cult Gaia. “I made a conscious decision to move home, not have to pay rent, and start my business,” she told Who What Wear.
For the latest episode of the Who What Wear Podcast, Larian Hekmat shares how she launched Cult Gaia, her favorite pieces from the new collection, and what she’s wearing for holiday celebrations this year.
For excerpts from their conversation, scroll below.