Things Laura Poretzky has that we want:

1. A dress form named “Gemma� in her studio.

2. Ancient photographs of Hollywood movie stars.

3. Fluency in Portuguese.

4. A song written for her by a major rock band (but that’s all we’ll tell…)

5. Every dress and swimsuit that Abaete has ever made. Of course, that’s only right considering she’s the owner.

We won’t lie: there’s lots of little dress labels crafted by pretty party girls who scatter about the city like jelly beans dropped on the floor.

But Laura actually makes all her own patterns and samples, she usually boycotts the scene-y parties, and her dresses end up in W for a reason. They’re cool; they’re cute, and exceptionally well made.

Laura’s clothes are also a little more gussied than some of her competing labels – her dresses don’t come with built-in cigarette ash –

But this means her favorite swear word is even dirtier than most…

So, in the beginning, Laura wanted to be a photographer. True! I went to RISD but I realized right away that I wanted to be a designer. From then on, it was all about clothes. And after school, I went to Ralph Lauren.

How was that? It was fascinating. I learned so much about the business side of designing, because Ralph was such a franchise, and it was also interesting because it’s when Michael Kors was getting really big… we would compare our things to theirs… but I always knew I wanted my own line.

Did you always know it would be called Abaete? Sort of. Abaete doesn’t mean anything; it was the title bestowed on my great grandfather by a Portuguese king after he abolished slavery in Brazil…

Is there a lot of Brazilian culture in your designs? Definitely…. Brazilian girls aren’t afraid of looking sexy and cool, too. They know that you can be sexy without being cheesy or over the top. I wanted my girls to have that in my clothes.

You had a whole collection inspired by Black Orpheus: Yes, and next season, the whole thing is about my grandmother, who was this gorgeous Brazilian actress and dancer… the whole collection is about 1940’s Rio and we’re being sponsored by a tile company. We’re building our whole runway out of tiles; it’s going to be a mosaic.

Whoa. So, you’re part of this fashion clique… I am?

Oh yeah, because you grew up with Charlotte Ronson and Dani Stahl and Eleanor Ylvisaker… it’s like you’re this little knot of fashion girls. Do you feel yourself designing for them? Maybe in a lifestyle way. I think, hm, where would these girls go on vacation; what would they need to bring with them; what would they wear there?

And that’s how you start a collection? No, the first thing I need is a concept. And then I get tons and tons of books – history books, art books, magazines… I want to see necklines and sleeves and how things in a certain time period were made, and then I can start designing. You know those designers who hold up, like, a piece of fabric or trim and they go “this is how I got my ideas!� I can’t do that. That’s crazy to me.

Pairing with Payless was sort of huge, especially since Abaete is such a young brand. What’s next? Retail! Imagine an Abaete store…

And now it’s time for the Proust Questionnaire…

I SWEAR.
Okay. He would probably say, “Hey, Laura, nice dress.�