The seed for Lauren Wilson’s passion for fashion was likely planted during the informal fashion photo shoots with her grandmother when she was in elementary school.
The Scottsdale native excitedly describes those fun sessions, which included flashy custom jewelry, feathery boas, and sparkly dresses.
“My grandmother was so fantastic, fabulous, and such an out-of-this-world character,” says Wilson, the founder of the New York City-based, luxury pre-owned fashion e-commerce platform Dora Maar.
“I got immersed in this dream world that fashion creates,” Wilson recalls. “I wanted to pursue a career in it.”
That pursuit led her to USC, where she earned a degree in communications with a business minor, and near the crème de la crème of international haute style.
Wilson landed an internship at Jimmy Choo at 19. More opportunities followed in LA, Paris, and New York City, where she interned at Elle Magazine. Post-graduation included positions with Gucci, Christie’s, and Moda Operandi.
Then, on a rainy October day, Wilson saw that a friend with superb fashion sense was selling her closet through Instagram, complete with meaningful stories behind each piece.
Wilson immediately realized the cool factor of knowing the background of where your fashion piece came from. She saw the value of connecting tastemakers she follows with consumers who craved coveted pieces that were authentic and came from trusted owners. After doing her research, Wilson launched Dora Maar in 2019.
Dora Maar features the closets of 50 “muses” and counting, offering personalized and digitized shopping experiences. Each week, new closets with unique, individualized pieces are launched. Further, Dora Maar has evolved to collaborate with big-name brands such as Rodarte and Markarian to sustainably offload their past season merchandise.
Wilson, who also holds a master’s degree in costume studies from NYU, has her own closet on the site, with 100% of her sales benefiting Save the Children in support of Ukrainian refugees.
The muses represent many looks, sizes, body types, styles, and ages. As a bonus, the resale model brings a sustainability component that is rare in the high fashion industry.
Here, luxury is accessible to those without a celebrity bank account.
“You see brands with these highly produced runway shows, that recreates the dream. But when it comes down to purchase point, I’m not that girl. I’m not 5’ 10” and 90lbs.,” Wilson says. “So many shapes, sizes, and voices wear these clothes after they've walked the runway. If we share the story behind it, it becomes a piece of fashion history. That’s where the consumer lives the story and lives the dream.” Dora-Maar.com