Meet Alexandra Mot

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Alexandra Mot. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alexandra, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?

My resilience comes from the challenging journey of moving from Hungary to the US at 20 to pursue my dreams and become a successful fashion designer one day. I landed at LAX with only 2 suitcases and a big dream. Taking more than a year to apply for and receive my student visa in 2022, life and living here has it’s constant ups and downs. Moving to this huge city only with my boyfriend wasn’t easy to get accustomed to, you learn to figure things out on your own, you have no other choice. Leaving behind family is the hardest, but I feel like I’m at home here. I became a lot more independent, even though hardships come at me month after month, I always overcome them. Sometimes it’s hard for me to keep my head above water. I don’t come from a super wealthy or connected family that I see with certain creatives who have those advantages, but it never stops me from striving for more in life. You can get smaller or bigger opportunities in LA as a beginner but sometimes they don’t lead you to places you expected them to and that’s okay. You keep on going and trying, because you owe it to yourself. I’m certain I need to carve out my own path like so many other designers did, there’s no guide book on how to make it in this industry.
This year is particularly tough with uncertainty in the economy and for students with a visa but I believe I can figure out the next step to continue to live here and find the way to the top.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I’m a Hungarian girl living in LA, who’s deeply interested in gothic subculture and the beauty in darkness. I’m a fashion designer and I specialize in crochet, stage clothes and dabbled into upcycling as well. I’m finding my own voice in design by combining these interests with historical fashion, especially the Victorian era; the 80’s post punk and goth movement, my love for leather, denim, knits and textures and upcycling them in awareness of sustainability as well as the DIY spirit that’s prevalent in music subcultures.

Fashion peeked my interest first when I started doll collecting as a child and my favorite line was Monster High.
I started sewing and designing little clothes for my dolls day and night as a kid, didn’t really know that there was a career in fashion at all, so years went by before I realized this could be for me. After watching an Alexander McQueen fashion show at 14, it changed everything for me.

I knew I had to leave to a bigger country and move to a fashion capital but I had no idea where to go. I met my boyfriend in highschool and he was determined to move to the US in pursuit of his own creative career. He asked me one day nonchalantly, should we go to Los Angeles or New York? And just like that, we agreed on LA and worked hard for the visa to be able to come here even.

I went to community college, and I obtained my Associate’s degree in fashion design this June. It was wonderful to see my own clothes go down the runway and to experience my first fashion show, even if it’s for a small segment. I was very proud of my work, sleepless nights, endless samples, patternmaking and fittings, hammering grommet holes at the park to avoid complaints from neighbors, it was all worth it in the end.

Through recommendations from a friend, I’ve worked for the Palestinian rising star Elyanna and got to see behind the scenes, learn how different it is to design and sew for stage versus everyday wear. I was also lucky enough to be apart of a project where my spine-shaped satin drapes made it onto a touring rock band’s jackets and I couldn’t be happier by the results. Including these experiences and a photoshoot where I assisted in dressing at Milk Makeup Studios, I’m eager to find some type of job in the fashion side of entertainment but it’s challenging to get my foot in the door, I have to stand out somehow and meet the right people.

While I’m working on this, I have a full-time retail job, so I can make ends meet and fund starting my brand. I’ll be doing markets and prepare items to sell on Depop, if anyone’s interested in taking a look at my work or order custom clothes please follow me on Instagram at @babybatblossom where I regularly post about my creations, availability for custom requests (crochet or sewn garments) and updates about the birth of this brand!

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Hunger, determination and creativity.
Hunger is how I describe passion, but it has to be next level, I feel like I’m starving without creating something beautiful on a regular basis.
Determination and resilience came from my sheer will to move here and juggle the legalities as a nonresident, but I remember the whole visa process was no after no, dead end after dead end. I learned to refuse the answer no and look hard until I can find a workaround and get onto the next step.
Needing creativity is a given if you want to be a creative and be so good you can start make a living out of it which I’m still working on myself.
An important advice that I have to remind myself constantly of: don’t break yourself for others and ask for help when you need it. The ups and downs will make you feel like you’re going insane and if you have a support system, be it good friends, a pet, family, and/or partner, it acts as a warm blanket while there’s a storm outside.
We have to achieve what’s called a “flow state”, where you effortlessly create your best work, focused but not rigid. You can’t force yourself, or exhaust yourself physically/mentally thinking this is the only way others will recognize your worth, you need a bit of self worth in the first place so you don’t get exploited and used. You need confidence to expose your art to the world and all those little scars and imperfections, which is a journey I have to go down myself. Exposure therapy helps when you start with small steps and a promise you make to yourself: never say no to a great opportunity. No matter how unqualified you feel, or you’ll be too awkward or tired or you haven’t reached that level others have, just do it. Every time I said yes to those things, they turned out to be the most memorable moments and it wasn’t that scary as I imagined it to be. You will regret not doing it more than if you’re there and you make a little mistake.
Be courageous even if it’s fake, you can learn from experiences but not from overanalyzing in your head.

Tell us what your ideal client would be like?

An ideal client or customer for me is a very free-spirited person. Someone who isn’t afraid of self-expression and being the odd one out. Probably a sensitive soul who’s just as passionate about alternative fashion and having an edge as in love with the idea of being soft and vulnerable. If someone’s unsatisfied with the selection of popular brands and looking like everyone else, I can provide a unique take on alternative, witchy and gothic clothing for them. If someone likes crochet items but wants to rock them in dark colors and edgy styles, they found what they were looking for in my pieces.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Babybatblossom
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/me?trk=p_mwlite_me_notifications-secondary_nav
• Other: Tiktok: babybatblossom

Image Credits

Nagisa Tanaka