Stylist Lana Jay Lackey Is Calling on Fashion Brands to Support Los Angeles

In moments of crisis, finding community in the fashion industry becomes more important than ever. After wildfires began to ravage Los Angeles last Tuesday, stylist Lana Jay Lackey posted a call-in to brands she’d worked with, requesting donations of unworn clothing to families who had lost everything. Within a week, and through some measure of faith, the LA Clothing Drive blossomed from an Instagram post into an organized volunteer effort, bringing together stylists, producers, indie and major brands, celebrities, and hundreds in the broader L.A. community. For Lackey, it was a no-brainer to use her work to help affected families regain a sense of identity: “That’s why we’re doing this, so people can put on an outfit or whatever and move on.” Yesterday, as fires continued to rage through the city, LA Clothing Drive moved into a new warehouse space in preparation for some big shipments, so we called Lackey up on her lunch break to see how it’s going and what they need. And if you are a brand looking to donate unworn clothing or an affected family in need of assistance, email [email protected].

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MEKALA RAJAGOPAL: How are you doing?

LANA JAY LACKEY: I just had lunch, so I’m catching my breath and prepping for the next phase.

RAJAGOPAL: Are you in a transition right now?

LACKEY: Yeah, we got a donation of a giant warehouse space to move to tomorrow.

RAJAGOPAL: Oh, that’s amazing. Where were you last week when these fires started?

LACKEY: I live in Venice Beach, like 10 minutes from Palisades. Tuesday, a week ago, my husband and I woke up and he was like, “What’s that out the window?” It was a big cloud of smoke. So we hopped in the truck and we drove towards the smoke. There was no alert, nothing, so we just were like, “Let’s just make sure everything’s cool.” That’s when we saw the first peak of the first fire starting around 10:30. So I called one of the girls that I mentor, who’s 18, and her family lives in Palisades, and she’s like, “We’re leaving right now.” Within the day, the fire had spread. We’ve dealt with a lot of fires before, but since I live in Venice and can physically see it, I knew that it was going to be an issue, because homes were on fire. This mountain I see out my window right now, I could physically see it burning. So around 8:00, I called her again and she said, “We lost our house.” I was like, “Oh my god.” It’s 12 minutes from me. We went to bed that night and I woke up to find out that six of my friends lost their homes in this area. 

RAJAGOPAL: Wow. 

LACKEY: Then, me and my two stylist friends were like, “What can we do to get clothing to this immediate circle of people?” So we started emailing brands that we’re friends with or we work with all the time like, “Hey, I’m looking for donations.” I made an items list asking for new unworn clothing, what a typical family would need. I’m so used to large scale jobs with companies that are like, “We need to dress 30 talent,” so I was just thinking, “Okay, we need tops, bottoms, shoes, socks, underwear.” Mel [Ottenberg] shared the post specifically asking for brands and designers to reach out to my email to donate unworn clothing.

RAJAGOPAL: Unworn, specifically.

LACKEY: The reason I decided to do new clothes—and I got a couple really mean emails about this like, “Why aren’t you taking everything?” It’s because I have a community that deals with brands directly, so it just made sense. That’s what I have access to. I used the knowledge of being a stylist and knowing that brands can be really giving, and I just had faith in the process. Alastair Mckimm, who has always been really supportive of me, shared it as well, then Eva Chen shared it, who I’ve never even met. Because of that, it reached a lot of people and brands. Then Charli XCX saw it and reposted, and she contacted me directly like, “How can I help?” This was really important for us because she’s not just a fashion worker, but a mover and shaker in the public eye. So then, it grew.

RAJAGOPAL: Mm-hmm.

LACKEY: At first, I was just sending donations to my live-work space, so technically my house. The first hand delivery was dropped off by a girl who happened to work for Rosco Production. And she said, “Hey, text me if you guys need anything.” I was like, “Yeah, I kind of need help.” So Rosco Production, which is a massive production company, jumped in and asked, “What do you need?” And I asked for direct contacts with families. We need their personal information, we need their sizing, we need their pictures. They started an email, and they named it LA Clothing Drive, and they reached out to multiple different lists of GoFundMes from every area that was affected. All of a sudden, we heard Altadena was on fire, so it started to grow as the fires were growing. We are equally helping all areas that are affected.

RAJAGOPAL: So you’re finding the families via GoFundMe lists?

LACKEY: It’s a mix. We posted the email asking for families who were affected to contact us directly. They just updated the list and it’s at around 150 now, which is an unbelievable amount of loss to comprehend. The team has been so supportive by gathering everyone’s sizing and contact information. And if they’re moving, because these people are homeless now. 

RAJAGOPAL: It sounds like a huge effort that grew really quickly, and it’s great that you have so many feet on the ground.

LACKEY: Yeah, we then posted that we need volunteers. I think we’re now at 200 volunteers on the spreadsheet. These are L.A. locals, people that are actually affected, people whose houses have burned down. It’s a huge local volunteer situation. It’s not an organization or a nonprofit, but it’s turned into just a really large community of people. But the work is really massive, the amount of people that need it. So we need as many big corporations or big brand donations as possible.

RAJAGOPAL: Which brands are you working with?

LACKEY: We’re working with multiple independent designers who are sending whatever stock they can. It’s hard to single them out, but some of them are Collina Strada, Réalisation Par, Hommegirls, Roome New York, and Tank Air. And I want to highlight some especially generous donations that we’re waiting to receive from Supreme, Levi’s, Spanx, Stüssy, and Stella McCartney, and there’s more brands to come. And we got our warehouse photo studio space donated to us, so we’re able to move everything there to hold the scope of all of this.

RAJAGOPAL: Are there any items that you need more of specifically?

LACKEY: Right now, we’re looking to partner with a children and baby clothing company. I know Baby2Baby is getting some, but it’d be awesome to be able to get another brand. We need a mass quantity of pajamas, too. We are also receiving monetary donations, which goes directly to whatever doesn’t come in on our list. If we’re missing a size, we can go shop it out immediately. We have multiple shoppers that are dealing with that. We needed crates and shelving and stuff, but everything to run this operation so far is getting donated. The biggest thing that I want to say to brands is don’t stop emailing us. We need more clothing in general. Don’t stop asking if you can send things, because the amount of families needing help is not going to reduce. That is a very clear reality.

RAJAGOPAL: How will you be handling the distribution?

LACKEY: Everything is being shipped, and then we have some local donations. We’re waiting to get some big shipments, and then we assemble a customized box for each family. We have their sizing and their needs, so it’s going to be an assembly line of volunteers that are organizing the deliveries, and then we will deliver directly to the families. The office is full of different plastic bins that have each category organized. So T-shirts in one, hoodies in one.

RAJAGOPAL: It’s amazing that the community came together without any preexisting structure.

LACKEY: Yeah. It’s a team of stylists, producers, fashion industry assistants, and volunteers that are from every type of industry. We’ve also been hearing about donation centers being flooded with donations.

RAJAGOPAL: I heard about that, in regard to an overload of used clothing or unusable items at donation centers.

LACKEY: Yeah. That’s why it was a no-brainer to use the tools of my job, which is working with samples and new clothing, to help provide for others. Having the knowledge about how movements of clothes and shipments work, we’re able to use that knowledge to provide for people who have lost everything. 

RAJAGOPAL: What feels meaningful to you about doing this drive?

LACKEY: I mean, as stylists heading a clothing drive, we’re trying to help people regain a sense of identity through clothes. And we know incredible brands that can help. I was writing it out to myself last night, and I was like, “I don’t know, I just love clothes. I just know that I love clothes so much. This is what I want to do. I want to spend my time helping get people something to wake up to and put on to start their day.” This is ridiculous, but I’ve been calling this the biggest fashion call-in of all time.

RAJAGOPAL: Just one huge pull letter.

LACKEY: Yeah, it’s the biggest pull I’ve ever been on. [Laughs] I do have that deep-rooted insecurity that I have on every job like, “Are we going to have enough?” But I’ve just been having faith in the process, because every step of the way, it’s been working out.

RAJAGOPAL: When you have so many good people involved, everything will come together.

LACKEY: Totally. I’ve been relying on people I’ve never met, and it’s working so beautifully. 

RAJAGOPAL: Any shoutouts?

LACKEY: Yes. I would like to shout out Rosco for leading the production and organization on this because that is not my strong suit. And then the stylists Hayley Francise and Sofia Amaral. That’s my direct team. Our stylist volunteers are Olivia Singer—amazing—and Francesca Burns—amazing. Mel Ottenberg, Alastair Mckimm, Charli XCX. And I think this is important to say, because it’s the only person like this that’s also donated, shout out to Kaia Gerber. She donated today. And shout out Nick Fish, who’s donating his space. And then to the volunteers, of course. I call the volunteers the Bleeding Heart of L.A., they’re just so great. Everyone’s doing whatever they can. And it’s still burning outside. We have no idea when it’ll stop, so we’re constantly on alert on all fronts.

RAJAGOPAL: It’s hard to wrap your head around.

LACKEY: I know. Just a week ago I was out at an Angelyne Hollywood event looking at literal food art. That’s what I was doing eight days ago. But I hope there’s a way to keep this idea going.

RAJAGOPAL: Yeah, it’s important for people in fashion to do stuff like this. Looking behind and around and not just in front of you.

LACKEY: I have multiple jobs, but it’s like, is this a nonprofit that’s about to be started? I don’t know. It could be. But for now, it’s a day at a time, hour by hour.

RAJAGOPAL: How is it now where you are?

LACKEY: The east is on fire watch, but we’re no longer on the fire watch. We get alerts on our phone. But you’re on constant high alert, so it kind of feels like COVID. That’s what I can relate it to. You have to worry about the air. As soon as you go outside, you have to wear a mask. But yeah, shout out Mel.

RAJAGOPAL: I hope you’re staying safe.

LACKEY: I just can’t wait to put on an outfit and wear makeup. That’s why we’re doing this, so people can put on an outfit or whatever and move on.