Inspired by a love of medieval history and a romantic penchant for images of flashing swords and shining steel, I created a clothing line based on historical armors. I began working on the project in 2014 after I graduated college, and eventually brought it to Kickstarter in 2017, where it successfully breezed past my $10,000 goal to make almost $175,000.
Part of my broad interest in adapting armors onto women’s clothing is that armor is historically an icon of male authority and power. There’s something awesome about appropriating that symbol for the female body, especially in a culture where video games still dress female warrior characters in steel bikinis. Adapting Henry VIII’s armor is particularly satisfying for a similar reason: I love the idea of a man so infamous for discarding women as they lost their usefulness to him rolling in his grave as an army of modern warrior queens wear his armor to the grocery store, the gym, or the club.
As the one-woman show behind Lorica, I do everything from product design, operational and administrative tasks, photography, to social content marketing. Through a primarily organic growth strategy, Lorica holds at a 7% engagement rate, above industry average for brands in the fashion space.
The brand voice is intelligent, yet fun and nerdy, as happy to talk 15th century German military strategy as 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons. Lorica has earned a tight-knit community of fans over the years, and I'm so grateful to have their attention and trust.
