As a child, La Carmina and her parents would take near-annual pilgrimages from their home in Canada to Asia to visit relatives. Traveling to Hong Kong and other Asian metropolises, La Carmina was taken aback by the unusual Harajuku styles she saw strutting around on those far-away streets. The clothes seemed like they’d been designed for aliens. No way would anybody in her hometown be caught dead in such looks!
A changed girl by the time she’d hit those teen angst years, it dawned on La Carmina that “alien” didn’t necessarily mean “unwearable “or “undesirable.” She was so changed, in fact, that alternative street style had become her favorite form of self-expression. She despised the mid-to-late 1990s North American pop culture scene, represented to her by such God-awful travesties as the Spice Girls and Titanic. More than anything, she wished she could wave a wand and bring back the 1960s, spend time zooming around on a magic school bus with bands like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Sadly, she knew she was born too late for that. As she says, “Tokyo’s cyber-kimono designers and cross-dressing J-rockers were as close as I could get to a sip of electric Kool-Aid!” So, La Carmina grabbed on to Asian subcultures and took a ride. At the time, she had no way of knowing that her newfound passion for alternative style would eventually turn into a fabulous, fun-filled profession of her own making.
La Carmina had always wanted to work in a creative field, sometimes envisioning herself as an executive in music or film. Graduating from Columbia University in three years, the world was her oyster. When she thought about what she wanted to do out in that world, though, there wasn’t a job or a particular field she felt compelled to enter. Because she’d always loved the arts, La Carmina toyed with the idea of pursuing entertainment law. Stepping up to the plate, she applied to law school and was accepted. At Yale!
Getting into Yale Law School at 20 years of age was an honor and privilege La Carmina could not refuse. She jumped into school with the enthusiasm—and a wee little bit of her trademark OCD behavior! However, almost as soon as she began school, La Carmina realized that working in a law firm would not be for her. But, she also realized that law school was good for certain things and so she remained. It allowed her to hone her analytical and writing skills. Overall, her work habits became more focused. La Carmina knew that no matter which way the wind blew next, her newfound business and legal know-how would be invaluable.
Other things were evolving at the same time, things that would eventually command her full attention. A proposal was accepted by Parallax Press, for one. Published in 2006, The Cosmos in a Carrot: A Zen Guide to Eating Well was La Carmina’s first foray into turning her passion for all things Asian underground into a career. The second was La Carmina’s budding love affair with the Internet. She hadn’t really thought it possible to start something of her own—ON her own—before the arrival of the Internet. As the 21st century took hold, La Carmina launched her first website. Now defunct, Lovebird Center was at the time the largest web resource on caring for pet lovebirds and marked launched La Carmina into the world of web design.
With its one dimensional, mainstream culture, law school also gave La Carmina strong need for a creative outlet. After a few years in cyberspace, her personal website was badly in need of revamping. So, in 2007 La Carmina decided to turn it into a blog. The new subject? It seemed obvious: she had huge computer folders filled with Japanese-style photos just waiting to be seen!
Turns out, blogging about Asian subcultures was more fun than even she had realized it would be. “To this day, I’ve never encountered a lick of writer’s block—and I post near-daily!” Before the blog, La Carmina had tinkered with eBay and Amazon Associates, but she hadn’t really believed it possible to make a living from a one-person website. However, things were starting to change. “Blogs, digital cameras, web advertising, and e-commerce opened up a new world of possibility. One in which a 22- year-old girl could launch a website with zero startup dollars, produce all the content herself, and develop it into full-time gig!” Which is exactly what she did.
“[At first] La Carmina was taken aback by the unusual Harajuku styles she saw strutting around on those far-away streets. The clothes seemed like they’d been designed for aliens.”
By 2007, style blogs were receiving a stunning number of hits. Within a few months of launching La Carmina (http://www.lacarmina.com/blog)she had already gained a small readership. La Carmina continued to hone her distinct voice and the readership continued to grow. Before too long, readership had reached 2 million people a month! Within six months, she was receiving interview requests and sample products from clothing and makeup companies. Within a year, she had an agent and had signed two book contracts. Little by little, La Carmina’s little blog experiment went from a hobby to a multi-faceted business. “The hits increased gradually, so I never had a ‘whoa’ moment. I don’t pay much attention to number of hits—I’m more concerned about producing good content and responding to readers. To me, a stimulating conversation in the comments is more important than an extra million views!”
Combining her teenage passions with grown-up business savvy, La Carmina took her love for funky Asian styles even further. She began creating a world of her own, called La Carmina. At first she was a bit stunned to find that some readers had a fiercely protective view of Tokyo street style. La Carmina had always associated the look with this idea of freedom and fervor. The negative criticisms of this viewpoint upset her. But, her blog posts resonated with many. So, she brushed off the naysayers and decided to keep going. She made it her goal to produce the best-possible content—including high quality photographs, DIY fashion projects, and other regular features—and decided to let her work speak for itself. With so many loyal followers, La Carmina knew she was on to something. And, she kept getting requests and questions about the styles featured on her site. Where could they be found? A little light bulb went on in her head. After graduating from law school, La Carmina launched her own fashion design company.
From the start, La Carmina felt capable of being able to meet the demands of the fashion industry. Her family is a 30-year veteran of the Hong Kong garment industry, well respected for its dealings with many US brands. So, she knew what to expect. To her, fashion is not just about sketching pretty pictures and having creations magically appear. It’s a nuts-and-bolts business just like any other. With her legal background and entrepreneurial spirit, La Carmina was ready to go. Describing her style as “Tokyo Gothic Lolita Rococo Punk, Marie Antoinette meets Queen Victoria meets Tim Burton,” she created an online store and began selling her La Carmina creations through other online stores and boutiques worldwide.
While the blog, the design business, and book writing may be enough for most people, those people have never met La Carmina. Full of energy and zest for life, Carmina is nowhere near finished bringing Asian style to the world. Two years ago she had Thanksgiving dinner at a friend’s house, a friend who happens to be the son of Mia Farrow! A cat stuck its round, furry head out from her friend Ronan’s desk and purred. It was love at first sight. With Mia away all the time, the cat was lonely. So, her furry new friend went to live with La Carmina. Named Basil Farrow, the cat belonged on the silver screen. He is from an acting family after all! So, Basil began making regular appearances on YouTube and La Carmina’s blog. The two enjoyed YouTube so much that La Carmina developed a Goth Cooking Show (http://www.youtube.com/lacarmina) for her YouTube channel and gave Basil a supporting role. She also used Basil as one of the main characters in her upcoming book, Cute Yummy Time. Attributing much of her business appeal to her furry best friend, La Carmina says that: “without him, La Carmina’s world wouldn’t be nearly as cute and cuddly!”
Still enjoying her ride, La Carmina sees nothing but new adventures on the road ahead. She has a fashion collaboration project in the works, as well as some possible new books (in addition to the two about to be published, Crazy Wacky Theme Restaurants and the previously mentioned Cute Yummy Time). And, she’s having a blast sharing Asian underground cultures with the world. Not bad for a little girl who once thought that Harajuku was for aliens!
Thank you La Carmina, for sharing your Story with us.
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© 2009 by Tamar Burris Story of My Life®
