Today we’d like to introduce you to Anthony Ross.
Hi Anthony, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Born into a military family, discipline and determination were concepts that were ingrained into my life early on. I’ve always had an artistic side, and drawing was my first creative outlet. Growing up, my mother encouraged me to continue exploring this side of myself. As my interests evolved, I began to fall in love with cars. It wasn’t long before I found a way to blend both of my passions into something that I was constantly driven to improve. As I aimed to improve my artistic skills, I used paper and pencil to let out all of my ideas. Whether it was redesigning my favorite car models in new, futuristic ways or creating a completely different vision for a brand. Naturally, this led to a peak in my interest for architecture. As I entered my teenaged years, I started to become more self-aware about my style. That’s when I realized that, ultimately, I wanted to pursue fashion. I knew that this was the industry I wanted to build a career in. I wanted to create things and be known for my art. Throughout my time in high school and college, that never changed. When I turned 16 I got my first car, a 99 Honda Civic coupe, and immediately started devoting all my time to building it from ground up. For the next six years, I continued to build cars, traveling to car shows to show off my work. I always believed my career would be automotive design, so I ended up at North Carolina State University for industrial design. In the last two years of my degree, I shifted my focus to fashion design and construction. It was during that time I started my own brand, LaVie, which I’m still building today. It has been such a learning experience and led to so many new experiences and realizations.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Not at all! Since the beginning, I’ve had people who doubted and discouraged me. I internalized all of this negativity and began to inflict those doubts onto myself. I never felt good enough and didn’t have much true support. In trying to find myself as a creative, I came across a lot of people who wanted me to fit their vision of who I should be, which made me feel like who I wanted to be wouldn’t be successful. I never felt satisfied in anything I did, created, or worked on. I’m still fighting to reach the goals I envision for myself.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Most people know me either for fashion or for modifying and building show cars, but, at the end of the day, I am simply a creative. I throw myself into whatever I’m passionate about. In doing that, I’ve found that art and creative outlets come naturally to me. Whether it be sketching, styling, photography, creative directing, etc.… I could go on. I’ve learned to be proud of everything I create, even though I always feel like my work can be improved, I guess that’s the Virgo in me. I always aim to get as close to perfection as I can get.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
With covid, I had to remind myself that anything is possible, even things we may have thought could never happen. Life can change directions very quickly and you need to be willing to adapt to those changes. You need to be multifaceted in order to remain agile and competitive. I also learned that you can’t rely on only one source of income. Diversifying your streams of income is essential in order to have some sort of financial stability.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: https://officiallavie.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vuitton__don/
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/official_lavie/
Image Credits:
Jacob Anderson Art Davidson Juan Pablo
