CITYist

For many, the term “lingerie” conjures up very specific images. Whether a vision of the floaty negligees of 1930’s movies, the more candid photos of 1950’s pin-up girls, or the elaborate underpinnings on display today at Agent Provocateur, these thoughts are more often about style than substance. And a lingerie designer? Perhaps a flamboyant man, or else a sexpot female.

So it is a thrill to meet Araks Yeramyan. This down-to-earth designer speaks honestly.

“I never thought of myself as being a lingerie designer!” she says. “Lingerie just wasn’t something I was interested in, because before I started it, I wasn’t the kind of person who wore lingerie. And then, I started this, and I love this lingerie.”

Once shown her work, it’s easy to share her enthusiasm, as the lingerie itself contains none of the uncomfortable trappings you might associate with finely made undergarments. Instead, Yeramyan’s organic cotton underwear is stylish and comfortable. “It really fits a woman who has her own sense of herself, and wants her lingerie to match her personality,” she says. Of course, that doesn’t mean it can’t be seductive in its own right. “It’s pretty, and people feel beautiful in it.”

At least, that’s what Scarlett Johansson seems to think. Yeramyan became internationally known after her design covered Johansson’s posterior in the opening scenes of the movie Lost in Translation. “[Johansson] was just a customer and she bought it in the store,” Yeramyan says. “The costume designer called. I knew the name of the movie, but I didn’t know what it was about, and when it came out I saw it in the paper and I thought ‘that movie sounds really familiar!’” It was, of course, a thrill to be featured in the film especially since the designer loves Japanese style, which she describes as “fun, and off, and really pushing it.”

Johansson is not her only celebrity fan. Sarah Jessica Parker and Lost in Translation director (and fashion icon) Sofia Coppola are reported to be fans who frequently sport the collection’s underwear. The designer has also spent time working with Liv Tyler, who was set to star in the movie 10A/10B, in which she was going to be in lingerie for the entire movie. “She told her costume designer she only wants to wear our brand,” Yeramyan says, proudly. The movie is currently on hold, but there’s always hope that Tyler will be seen modeling the designs in the future.

Yeramyan has also recently extended her creativity to design women’s clothing featuring comfortable yet stylish dresses, skirts, and tops. Given the phenomenal quality of this ready-to-wear collection, it’s just as likely that you’ll see it popping up on the big screen sometime soon. The style tends toward the conservative; however, each item contains its own quirk — whether that’s an asymmetrical cut, or a slightly out of place ruffle. “The details give it character, but not in a way where you’re a poster child for ‘look at my fabulous outfit,’” Yeramyan says. A lack of pretension is a key design principle to the designer who claims: “I really don’t want to think about my clothes every day. I just want to wear them and know that I look good.”

Given her current focus on subtle stylistic quirks, it seems somewhat appropriate that her next collection is inspired by clowns. Not of the children’s birthday party variety, of course, but those that also inspired artists from Pablo Picasso to Salvador Dali. Marcel Marceau, the famed French mime, stands out as a particular inspiration. Fans of the line can look forward to an assortment of ruffles and stripes in an attempt to draw from that tradition.

At some time in the future, there may be a lower cost line. Designers from Karl Lagerfeld to Vera Wang have embraced this idea, and it’s certainly an appealing option for many designers in these difficult economic times. Even one of Yeramyan’s mentors, Marc Jacobs, whom she worked for during her time at Parsons The New School for Design, has had success with his Marc by Marc Jacobs line.

“I’m just designing what comes out of my head now,” Yeramyan says. “I’m designing in the price point that I wear. But I think about it all the time.” She even sees a benefit to the nation’s current difficulties. “I think that this economy, as hard as it is for everyone, is really going to strengthen us all. I don’t know if I’d be who I am if it weren’t for the economy.” She is certain that it has caused her to work harder, and take an interest in some of the business aspects of the process that she had previously overlooked.

That kind of optimism spills into the designer’s other ventures, such as her blog: araks.com/blog. Appropriately titled “Sharing Beauty with the World,” the blog is devoted to objects which inspire her, and which she wants to share with her audience. It’s peppered with everything from great finds around the city to items her friends have brought back from their travels abroad. The blog not only allows her fans to look at some beautiful objects, but also to see how they might play a role in her upcoming design work.

As for what the future holds? It’s not entirely certain. She jokingly remarks that she’ll have “many children! I’ll have them all working on the machines.” If she does, they’ll all certainly have amazing outfits — holding to the same slightly conservative, organic and above all comfortable style for which Yeramyan is known. Until then, we’ll continue to marvel at the amazing ready-to-wear collection, and, of course, the practically perfect lingerie that makes us look “perfectly put together with almost no thought or planning whatsoever.” After all, as the designer says, a woman’s beauty is most apparent when it seems effortless. Good thing we have Yeramyan to put in the work on our behalf.