LAUNE x Last Minute California
Fusing laid-back SoCal surf ethos with the bold energy of East Coast urban style, Last Minute California focuses on well-made pieces that feel both timeless and easy to wear. Officially launched in 2024, founder Lauren Lawson distilled decades of design influences and personal journey into a line where 1970s Californian sun-kissed glamour meets New York-driven ambition. Below, we explore how a narrative rooted in wanderlust, vintage love, and creativity shaped a fabulous brand and collection.
1. Tell me about yourself and Last Minute California. How was it created?
My name is Lauren Lawson, I was born in San Francisco, California and raised thirty minutes south in the Bay Area. My mom was a stylist in NYC, so I was very quickly thrown into cheetah print sets with a matching mini purse and already loved fashion before I knew what it was. When I was 15, I stumbled upon the Parsons Paris summer fashion program in a college pamphlet, and I was signed up within 24 hours. I went alone with no prior schooling, and immediately knew I would do anything to learn and contribute to the fashion industry for the rest of my life. Fashion gives me such an indescribable feeling knowing that there are no limits and endless avenues to explore. The more unique and avant-garde, the better. Following the program, I had the opportunity to study in Florence and Paris again over the summers in Fashion, again, alone. As a decently anxious person, for some reason I never was nervous to explore a foreign country by myself. I knew that even if I didn’t make a single friend, I would always have class the next day where I got to be doing my favorite thing. But thankfully, I never ran into that problem, and was only welcomed with the most amazing community each time. My friends from around the world who only knew me for four week snippets at school arguably understand me better than anyone.
I attended college at Villanova University where I studied everything but fashion itself. I found myself starting to pivot off the path I always saw for myself, and focusing on more business and corporate ventures. The summer going into my senior year of college, I was interning in the PR and Marketing industry. I found myself so inspired by our clients and their stories. In my free time between assignments, I started conceptualizing IF I had a clothing company, what would it be called? What would my creative direction be? What would be the business plan? After a few weeks and many hours, I actually had something I felt worthy of presenting to investors. I first pitched the idea to my parents who I could not be where I am now without, and they agreed to support me. Using what I’ve learned in the PR and Marketing space, along with my education at Villanova in tandem with my experiences abroad, Last Minute California was born as a deliberate fusion of all the sides of me that make me, me. My West Coast roots combined with my East Coast dreams, it’s a vintage inspired surfwear-streetwear brand that is a labor of love for both fashion and the creative community.
2. What inspired the name of Last Minute California?
While I was drafting the foundations for my hypothetical “company,” the name surprisingly (and poetically) came last. I quite literally was tossing and turning trying to fall asleep one night and said to myself, “Ugh, this is so frustrating. I wish I could just come up with something last minute.” I shot out of bed.
Not only does it encapsulate the spontaneous nature of the brand I was trying to build, but it also is the story of my life. I’m constantly picked on for being so type-B by my friends and family because I truthfully have a terrifying lack of urgency, BUT I always get there on time. We spend so much time fearing the future, that we don’t live in the now. And sometimes, I think that is reflected in modern day fashion. We all naturally care so much and overthink external perceptions of ourselves, that I think fashion has begun playing it safe. There’s a reason we pull from vintage styles so often because it reminds us of a time where our culture was more colorful, edgy, bright and lived in. Vintage is not out of style anymore, it’s right on time. And Last Minute aims to reflect the resurrection of vintage styles by incorporating them into my designs, while also creating new fun and spontaneous ideas.
What initially sparked the commencement of Last Minute was hearing the quote “the cost of procrastination is the life you could have lived.” So here I was, last minute throwing myself a bone and giving a shot at living my dream, because it's never too late. And that is how I came up with our slogan too.
3. What is the LAUNE (mood) of Last Minute California?
The LAUNE, or mood, of Last Minute California is best described as sun-drenched spontaneity with a vintage soul. It captures the essence of tossing a sweatshirt into the backseat of a classic convertible, chasing golden hour up the Pacific Coast Highway, and existing somewhere between beach-day ease and city-girl edge. Rooted in a retro California dreamscape, the brand evokes a sense of freedom, last-minute plans that turn into core memories, and the kind of cool that feels completely effortless. There’s a romanticism in the rush, a deliberate nonchalance that feels both nostalgic and now.
Visually and emotionally, the mood draws from a palette of warm neutrals, soft reds, and faded pastels, layered with ‘70s-inspired graphics, old motel signs, desert roads, and palm trees. It’s a love letter to both coasts- born in the East but raised on a West Coast soul. Last Minute California doesn’t just sell clothes, it sells a feeling: the anticipation of a road trip, the wind in your hair, the ease of doing everything (or nothing) under the sun. It’s laid-back but intentional, retro but reimagined, made for people who live for the rush and dress like it.
4. What do you love about California?
What’s not to love? After spending four years on the East Coast, I’ve come to appreciate just how much California has shaped me, and how much I missed it. I’ll never forget my first week of college in the suburbs of Philadelphia. It was 10 p.m. in August, and the air was thick with humidity. If you’re from California, you know how strange that feels, like stepping into a different planet. Suddenly, those photos from VSCO of girls biking in swimsuits on humid summer nights made sense. I used to wonder how they weren’t freezing. And just like that, I started missing the cold, damp nights of the Bay Area.
California weather is impossible to describe, it’s more of a feeling. On the best days, it’s like slipping into a perfectly heated pool: never too hot, never too cold. Sure, you’ll freeze once the sun sets at the beach, but that’s half the charm. It's the kind of chill that gives you the perfect excuse to borrow the hoodie of your latest crush at a bonfire. There’s a rhythm to California life that you start to crave when you’re away from it. The salt in the air, the way the sun hangs low and golden in the late afternoon, the sound of flip-flops on pavement, and the constant, almost arrogant ease of it all. On the East Coast, everything felt sharper- people walked faster, talked louder, dressed darker. And while I learned to love that too, it never felt quite like home.
There’s something unspoken about California, an energy that doesn’t beg for attention but holds it anyway. It taught me how to be laid-back but ambitious, carefree but grounded. It’s in the way people dress like they just rolled out of bed but still look cool. In the way plans are made last minute and somehow become the best nights of your life. That’s the magic of it. It’s never trying too hard, it just is. So yes, I’ve fallen for both coasts. But California will always be the place that makes me feel most like myself.
5. What inspires you?
I’m constantly surrounded by hardworking people that I have had the honor to be raised by. My mom was a fashion designer in NYC in her 20s and climbed her way to the top. My dad, a relentless self-made CEO, the ultimate success story of the American Dream. My two biggest supporters, who paved their own paths and created their own waves, and putting me in settings where I feel inspired to do the same. I started Last Minute as a project for my internship at Full Picture, a PR Firm run by powerful, successful women, who are helping further the careers of other changemakers in the industry. I’m inspired by other small brands like Parke, Wish Me Luck, Dairy Boy, Sweet Hat Co. who are creating empires with the power of social media, storytelling, and some really cool clothes. I’m inspired by moments that feel effortless but unforgettable, like golden hour drives with the windows down, the way a song can make you feel everything all at once, or watching someone wear something with so much confidence that it changes how they walk into a room.
And California, always. It’s the backdrop of so many memories for me, and the energy there is something I try to carry into everything I do. It reminds me not to overthink, to go with my gut, and to make things that feel real.
6. What’s next for Last Minute California?
This is just the beginning for LMC, and while I’m incredibly proud of how far it’s come, I’m nowhere near finished. We just locked in a new manufacturer for our first-ever Denim Capsule, and I’m building a dream team of advisors to help take this brand to the next level: loud, bold, and unapologetically ours. Expect more sun-drenched shoots, storytelling with substance, and marketing that doesn’t just sell, but sets the tone. We’re only getting started.
Rapid Fire:
1. Describe your style in three words:
Effortless, nostalgic, bold.
2. Favorite Last Minute California piece?
The 00:59 Hat because of the story behind it.
3. Favorite brand?
Miu Miu. It’s young, fun, and channeling what I think fashion is currently missing. Maximialism, colors, patterns, and exciting marketing campaigns.
4. If you could only wear one designer for the rest of your life, who would it be?
Vivienne Westwood. One of my favorite designers, she really created wearable art. If I had to stick to one designer forever, I’d want it to be someone who makes getting dressed feel like a form of self-expression, every single time.
5. Dream collab?
Frankies Bikinis x LMC for a surf capsule, or a campaign with Nadia Lee Cohen, my favorite photographer of all time.
6. What are three staple items that every closet should have?
A pair of vintage denim that actually fits, a perfectly worn-in crewneck, and something that makes you feel like the most confident version of yourself, even if it’s just lip liner.
7. Favorite place?
Santa Barbara.
8. Favorite restaurant?
The Club at the Miramar. (EM: Love it here!)
9. Favorite drinks spot?
Depends where I am. But I love a people watching spot with good lighting, a great playlist, and a spicy marg on the menu.
10. Favorite style icon?
A young Kate Moss mixed with Devon Lee Carlson on vacation.
11. Favorite movie?
Almost Famous. Every single outfit. Every single line.
12. What are you loving right now?
Oversized everything, unexpected color combos, and satiable marketing (RHODE!!) Also, 35 mm Film, the Eagles on my playlists, a pair of fun glasses and way too many mixed metal bracelets on both wrists.
