Meet Lorena Pipenco, the Designer Turning Loose Threads Into Eclectic Dreams

Phi Vu

Lorena Pipenco's work isn't just a series of threads and stitches; it's stories woven into clothing inspired by generations that came before her, which she's now sharing with the world through her brand, PIPENCO.

Pipenco's journey into fashion started when she was around 15, learning to sew on her grandmother's machine. "We had this red, ugly little sewing machine," she tells Teen Vogue inside her Brooklyn studio. Although she knew her grandmother and her mother could make clothes, she never understood the complexities by which their handiwork sustained their living. "They just pop out with all these skills," she says with a laugh.

Pipenco's grandmother was a seamstress back in Romania during times of political turmoil, bringing home scraps from the workplace. With these scraps, her mother would make various garments: tablecloths, scarves, hats... By selling these garments, they were able to buy a one-way ticket to the U.K. as a means of escape. Though Pipenco didn't learn this story until later in her life, it opened a new understanding of the craft for her. "This is actually part of our roots," she now says proudly.

It wasn't just the handiwork skill itself that captivated Pipenco; her grandmother's approach was also remarkable to her. "She would cut straight into the fabric, just by eye. She would be sewing, and I would be her little model, watching every movement of her hands," illustrating with own how it almost felt like watching someone dance. “I can picture it in my head.”

Discovering her family's sewing prowess was a turning point, and together, the three women ventured into the world of fashion entrepreneurship, setting up a small local boutique on Instagram for the local patronage of their small town in Essex. This was the first time she understood how the fashion business worked, what consumers wanted, and how to make money. Since her Instagram boutique days, which she now has archived for her own memories, the young designer has moved to New York City and graduated with a master's from Parsons School of Design. She is working on her own brand from her apartment, an ocean away, but in an environment not too different from her childhood home.

Growing up in the U.K. in a Romanian household wasn't easy for Pipenco. She felt like she lived in a different world from others around her, especially the kids at school who would casually make jokes to her about deportation. "[We watched] only Romanian T.V., [ate] Romanian food, literally had 10 relatives living with us in the summer, only speaking Romanian at home," she recounts. This environment fostered a deep connection to her roots while simultaneously exposing her to the complexities of navigating her dual identities at an early age. "It was like stepping out of the house, and I'm on a different planet," she says, highlighting the contrast between her home life and the outside world.

"I grew up with a complex of hating my culture for a long time," she admits, describing her struggles to reconcile the stereotypes placed on her as a young kid. In school, she frequently dealt with microaggressions and silent stereotypical whispers. This inner conflict, born from the dissonance between the richness of her Romanian upbringing and the external pressures of society, would eventually shape her artistic journey.

One of the Romanian movies that would constantly be playing in Pipenco's household when she was growing up was "Veronica," a children's film from 1972 about a little girl who lived in an orphanage and met a fairy godmother later went on a dream-like journey through a forest. She remembers loving the film and how it impacted her at a young age, drawn in by the textures and colors in the film.

She later grew up to understand the darkness of the reality; the film did not depict what was actually happening in 1970s Romania, where most people did not have enough to eat, let alone beautiful and ornate clothes to wear. Her work now, as a 23-year-old, frequently explores the tension between clashing textures and fabrics and the feelings of dissonance that it brings. "It's like this internal tension between youth and adulthood," she explains.

Tension is one of Pipenco's favorite feelings to play with in her work. "I like the tension and the idea of questioning something's true purpose," she explains about her work. "Should it be somewhere else? Does that disturb me, or does it feel comforting?" This is clear in her designs, where you can often see odd shapes and clashing textures. It brings a sense of nostalgia and childhood comfort to her. Sometimes, she draws inspiration from the imagery of the cinema she consumed as a child. Other times, however, these textures are reminiscent of the home where she grew up, plastered with a spectrum of colors and patterns — ones that don't always necessarily go together. "If you see our house in the U.K., it's disturbingly decorated," she says with a laugh. "Leopard print walls, velvet couch, a bright pink sofa." Her work feels like bringing a part of that home wherever she goes.

Even if her work is reminiscent of her upbringing, leaving the U.K. and her childhood home was an adjustment for Pipenco. One of the most significant changes in leaving home to come to the U.S. for her studies was leaving her mother and grandmother, whom she sees as pillars of strength and constant inspiration. "That's the saddest thing about being in New York because I know my grandma would be stitching away with me," she says, even though she knows it's the right place for her to be for her career to blossom.

The last time her family visited her in the city, they watched the VMAs together from her Brooklyn apartment. Pipenco had just made all the outfits for all of Doja Cat's background dancers, and the three gathered around her laptop to watch the performance after her grandma had helped her sew on buttons for the final alterations the night before. "That was cute, a moment, like back in school," she says. Though they aren't in the city with her, they are still involved with her brand and her work, sourcing traditional fabrics and macramés from Romania to send to her.

Pipenco went from dressing Doja Cat's dancers in 2023 to dressing Karol G and Melanie Martinez for their tours. Her togs have also graced the pages and covers of various magazines, modeled by the likes of Tieera Whack and Julia Fox. Pipenco is set on getting more and more eyes on her creations, one placement at a time, but she's also eager for real people to wear her creations. Soon, some of her designs will be available in the NYC boutique Broome Room, where her eclectic styles will be up for grabs by anyone else whose heads are turned by texture.

In her next collection, Pipenco hopes to showcase more traditional Romanian textiles, colors, and patterns and also balance the creativity and wearability in her designs. From her grandmother's sewing machine in Romania to the bustling streets of New York City, her journey is a testament to the power of storytelling through fashion, which Lorena Pipenco aims to continue to bring to her work decades from now, from her humble, tiny, textured homes to yours.

Story Credits

Designer: Lorena Pipenco
Production: Ojeras
Photographer: Phi Vu
Styling: Savannah Avant
Assisting: Nova Krasner
Hair & MUA: Juna Uehara
Model: Rio Polzin

^{All images used in this feature are courtesy of Lorena Pipenco.}

Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue

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