In ELLE.com’s monthly series Office Hours, we ask people in powerful positions to take us through their first jobs, worst jobs, and everything in between. This month, we spoke to Jasmin Larian Hekmat, the founder of Cult Gaia, a brand defined by its sculptural, sensual, and often viral clothing and accessories. (See: this dress, that bag, this other bag.) As the story goes, she was surrounded by hypercreativity starting at an early age. Her dad, who immigrated to the U.S. from Iran, founded the toy company that makes Bratz dolls, even naming the doll Yasmin after her. Larian Hekmat started her own brand in 2012 with a line of flower crowns she made for (and similarly named after) her friends. Now, after 12 years, she’s expanded the Cult Gaia footprint to include ready-to-wear, gowns, fragrances, and as of today, a new collection with Gap. “Most people I told [about the partnership] were like, ‘Are you sure? What?’ That’s how I knew it was good,” she says, noting that the leather and denim pieces are particularly “amazing.” Below, the entrepreneur shares why she was excited to link up with Gap, her process for coming up with new It items, and the best career advice she’s ever received.
My first job
My first jobs were internships before I could get real jobs. I interned at a really big licensing company when I was about 14 or 15. I learned how to do CADs and work on all the Adobe softwares, and it was really an amazing experience. It was very collaborative, and we had to build designs off style guides. Then I would also intern at MGA, which is my family’s company, working on Bratz. I’d build different mood boards for the [doll] collections. [My favorites were] Slumber Party Bratz, Winter Wonderland, and Tokyo A Go-Go. They live rent-free in my brain.
My worst job
When I was in New York, for extra cash, I went on Craigslist and got a job. I was 19, and honestly, it paid well for what it was: handing out flyers for a place that had a sample sale. I would see my parents’ friends, and they’d say, “Oh, what are you doing here?” I learned that finding a way to get people’s attention without being annoying is a very important skill.
How being first-generation affects my career mindset
I think the immigrant mentality is you never know when you’re going to have to pack up and leave again. There’s this sense of urgency and paranoia and work ethic built predominantly off this inner fear of having to leave and start all over again. It really teaches the values of grit and hard work; there’s really no choice other than to find a way to succeed. In my interviews, I always ask people: What does the American dream mean to you? There’s value in understanding the opportunity and possibilities this country can provide. And I think immigrants can really understand that more deeply.
What I learned from Bratz dolls
The power of brand-building and the power of details. I think what made the Bratz brand so successful was really the attention to little details. Kids’ worlds are so, so small, so they pay attention to the little zipper; they pay attention to the eyeliner, the extra strokes. That’s what the kid is going to be obsessed with and see and what will bring them joy. And I feel like I do the same with Cult Gaia. I’m making a product where the more you look, the more you see. It’s an exercise in creating something artful and beautiful.
The power of my original flower crowns
It taught me that if you have a product that is on someone’s head and is very easily recognizable, then you don’t need as much marketing money, because in and of itself, the product becomes viral and has legs of its own. The flower crowns were an accident. It wasn’t the big plan. It also taught me about the power of being able to pivot. The flower crown was really the seed of our brand DNA, which is creating something that makes people happy, feel beautiful, and is a conversation starter. It’s one thing for a girl to be like, “That’s amazing.” But when you get random mailmen, security guards, men on the street being like, “What is that?”—that’s hitting a different nerve.
How I come up with viral products
We made this Reina clutch, the boob brass clutch—it’s new; I’m obsessed—based off of a little bust I had by Kelly Wearstler. I was like, “I just want to be holding this as a bag.” And our flower earring—I’ll never forget, I was in Miami having dinner at Milos, and I see a flower. I just pick it up and put it to my ear, and I take a picture, and I sent it to the team. I’m like, “This. We need to do this.” Then I put it on shoes, and those were really successful. It’s those moments that actually make the best products. My mom is like, when that happens, it’s angels speaking through you.
My design checklist
With bags, I’m always like, this should be beautiful just on a bookshelf or coffee table. It’s not a blanket rule, but I really value bags that stand—I think they should stand up like people. For gowns, I want them to feel unique and make someone feel really, really amazing about themselves. There’s a transformative power of fashion—a good fabric, good fit, good quality with little details sprinkled. I always say, “Will she want to give this away when she’s done, or will she want to save this for her archive?” [The latter] to me is a good piece. Then a new one is: If she finds this at the bottom of a giveaway box and pulls it out, and it’s still nice, we’re doing something right.
How the Cult Gaia x Gap collab came to be
When I say yes to things, I’m like, “Can I bring something unique? Is there creative tension?” For me, the amazing tension of Gap is: It’s so clean, it’s so iconic, American classics versus our brand. Great things come out of a little bit of contrast. The contradiction that both brands have—the product ends up being amazing. We really added the Cult Gaia brush stroke to the Gap world. It’s stuff we want to wear every day in the office.
Their team was so fun to work with, and it’s just so exciting to be a part of an iconic brand that I grew up with. I have amazing stories about Gap. I’ll never forget, I had a pair of red leather pants that I thought were so cool from Gap, and I was like, “Oh my God, I’m so cool. I’m going to wear these to all the bar mitzvahs.” And then my cousin bought the same one. She’s my best friend. It was my first fashion memory—the first time I felt a need to claim my fashion identity.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Madison is the digital deputy editor at ELLE, where she also covers news, politics, and culture. If she’s not online, she’s probably napping or trying not to fall while rock climbing.
