Lela Becker: A Mother In More Ways Than One
By Caroline Kilgallen
I’m sitting in my dorm room with my phone in hand at my desk. I admire my perfectly light-washed denim jeans. I look at their detailed bottom fabric fray and the carefully embroidered M’s on the back pockets of the jeans- a signature touch. The jean’s steep, nearly 200 dollar price is one I justify because of their quality and comfort. To this day Becker’s brand of jeans MOTHER – based in L.A – are the only jeans that I truly enjoy wearing. This may be due to the fact that I’m 5’3 and most jean designers seem to tailor to women 5’7 and above.
I’ve never had the experience of knowing the creator of the clothing I wear, but I recently learned, to my pleasant surprise, that a friend of mine at Wake Forest University, where I’m a sophomore, is Becker’s niece. When I learned this, I was eager to talk to her myself. I was so curious to learn how one actually creates a company like MOTHER. Ten years ago Becker was designing jeans in her basement, these days you can find her jeans in Bloomingdales, as well as most other women’s boutiques across the country- so far as I’ve seen.
“Hi! Oh my goodness, I love this!” Becker immediately spoke enthusiastically towards her interview opportunity. But, Becker also gave off a sort of collected, California ease. Throughout our conversation, Becker’s husband and toddler daughter interrupt, providing laughs and giving me a true insight into their lighthearted family life. Becker doesn’t take life too seriously; she laughs while her daughter makes noises in the back of our call and demonstrates a “no matter is too pressing” aura, multi-tasking is second nature for her.
Becker always danced to the beat of her drum; it wasn’t until she dropped out of college when she finally found a like-minded community.
“Everything started happening very quickly. Growing up I wasn’t always surrounded by people that had the same interest in fashion as me and I had finally been able to find those people”. A true individualist at heart, Becker’s decision to leave college was fueled by her desire to learn more- in the real world and beyond the barriers of a classroom.
Since her early 20’s Becker has thrived in the fashion business, but her talent and eye for design simply come naturally to her. “I come from a very instinctual background, I just knew what products were relevant to the market. Before MOTHER I had a multi-line showroom, so I was really able to understand the buyers and fashion-side of the market.” Becker’s trust in herself paid off, no classroom or general education requirement could have fueled her in the way that show-rooms and fabric samples did.
“Its been a learn-on- the- go process for me; it’s just been me figuring it out as I go along… I worked in someone’s showroom in my early years but a few years later I became an entrepreneur and opened my own show-room. I just liked running my own business, ” Becker emphasized. She truly embodies the mantra of trusting her intuition and the process. Although I was wearing her jeans, I soon realized that I had a very different approach to life than Becker. Hearing her much more laid back approach to life made me rethink my life approach- which consisted of over-thinking and planning.
Becker’s easy-going attitude translates to her response to failure; “I’ve learned that getting upset doesn’t help, it’s important to be even-heeled and work to move forward. Especially when you’re young, you’re going to fail and it’s all about how you respond to it.” Although said with the fashion world in mind, Becker’s advice is a sound piece of advice for nearly all life aspects. “All brands and companies have an idea that starts with people in apparel, it’s all about how you direct that idea.” MOTHER was directed on trust, Becker founded the company in 2011 and trusted her gut with her vision of success. Becker’s faith in her employees is unwavering, she trusts who she hires, but there is no one more that she trusts than her right hand man and business partner, Tim.
Tim is like the “father figure” to Becker’s“mother figure”. Working hand in hand, Tim focuses on design while Becker focuses on the fabric of the products. Furthering their seemingly parental roles, Becker and Tim are in the office everyday working alongside their work family/employees, supporting their endeavors.
“I know I’ve created a good work environment where each employee is treated kindly ; I’m an entrepreneur at heart so I never really thought about hierarchy, it doesn’t come natural to me” Becker stated with pride. From the early stages of MOTHER, Becker laid equality out as a foundational aspect to her brand. The importance she focuses on the happiness and equal treatment of her employees also extends beyond her company, Becker has a real social justice mission that is instilled in the heart of MOTHER.
“Especially now, the landscape of having a brand has really changed, there’s a much greater social responsibility now, even in the past ten years, the amount of time MOTHER has been an established company, there has been an enormous social responsibility shift amongst society.” Although the new-found obligation to answer the call of social responsibility is a transition for many companies , Becker weaved in the importance of social justice and charity during the very early stages of MOTHER.
For Becker, business and social justice are not independent. MOTHER has partnered with Doctors Without Borders, funded healthcare access for Mothers in Africa, and worked with charities aimed at promoting equality for the LGBTQ community. Of course, certain social movements provoke more anxiety in companies when tasked with the assignment of crafting a response. Becker recalls, “the BLM movement was a very intense time, companies were being watched on how they responded to the situation at hand. We had a backbone of understanding social responsibility so we weren’t afraid to speak out on injustices.” Much like a mother instilling values within her children, Becker instilled the aspect of social justice through the veins of MOTHER.
Apart from quite literally being a mother to her daughter, Becker steps up to the role of “mother of her employees”, a “mother in social activism”, and a mother in “real world and entrepreneurial experience”. A mother keeps her composure, steps up to the plate, and demonstrates compassion and kindness, all of which are pillars that Becker both lives and runs her company by. Lela Becker: a denim connoisseur, individualist, and mother- in more ways than one.
