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OJAI MAGAZINE | SPRING 2021
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or something that’s eco-friendly and actually made from things that grow, natural plant dye that’s true green in color is difficult to create. Spinach, grass, nettle and a few other plant sources work, but the resulting hues can be more yellow-green, olive or gray. Tie-dye designer Laura La Rue, however, likes bright colors: Crayola classic vs. camouflage drab. So for her Ojai company Ride or Dye, which offers clothing made from plant-based dyes, she’s developed her own color “recipes.” “Surprisingly, green is pretty hard to achieve in plant dye world,” she said. “I love combining pepper tree and indigo to achieve a beautiful turquoise/green color.” La Rue, 28, a self-taught tie-dyer, combines a bright outlook with business savvy. She lives in an off-thegrid trailer on an avocado orchard in Ojai, where she makes her line of clothes by hand. Not long ago, however, she was in a very different fashion world, working as a model in Los Angeles, a career she started at age 12. She still does some modeling locally, and brings to Ride or Dye lessons she learned in the fast-paced fashion industry.
by KAREN LINDELL photos: MARC ALT AND JESS PURPLE
La Rue, who has a day job as an innkeeper at Ojai’s Lavender Inn, grew up in Thousand Oaks. When her mom bought a ranch in Santa Paula 11 or 12 years ago, La Rue moved to Los Angeles to pursue modeling, doing high-fashion editorial, runway and commercial work. She’s also a musician and songwriter. But after eight years, she went back to her “roots,” at first living in a cabin on her mother’s property. “I never thought this was where I’d be at 28: living in a trailer with a cowboy, four dogs [and] some mules, and spending my days getting my hands stained with beautiful plant dyes,” La Rue said. “I feel very complete and appreciative.” Modeling, she said, ended up paving the way for her career as a designer. “It’s all tied into what I’m doing now, like arranging photo shoots and building a website, so it’s nice to have a background in that world.” Ride or Dye isn’t La Rue’s first retail business. A few years ago, she sold
Laura La Rue likes bright colors: Crayola classic rather than camouflage drab. “butt pillows” — pillows with custom pictures of customers’ or celebrities’ bottoms printed on them. “That’s where I learned all of the mistakes and ways to run a business,” she said. “It didn’t work out because I wasn’t as passionate about it as I am with Ride or Dye, so I lost steam.” La Rue got interested in tie-dye about two years ago through a friend who had dyed some old bed sheets using turmeric, which creates a warm, golden yellow tint. “They looked so colorful, and I’m a big fan of bright colors and color therapy,” La Rue said. As a hobby, they began making other items using natural plant dyes, then started selling their creations around Ojai, mainly at concerts, the farmers’ market and other small events. Her friend left the business a year ago, and La Rue now works with one employee to make the clothes outdoors next to the trailer she shares with her boyfriend, Boone, her “dream hippie cowboy.”