Meet Lizania Cruz

“Born and raised in the Dominican Republic, Lizania Cruz is a New York-based designer working in fashion, arts and advocacy. Before moving to New York she worked at Anthropologie where she helped design their global brand language. She now works as a Graphic Designer for the Language Dept with clients ranging from food startups to nonprofits such as The American Cancer Society. Her work has been recognized by AIGA, Type Directors Club, Communication Art among others. Most recently, she launched her own jewelry line, Bagavundas.”

*Outfit Details: Jumpsuit, 6397 ; Shoes, Dries Van Noten*

on her morning routine

I am not a morning person. So my mornings are typically a blur between checking emails to see if there is anything urgent to tackle, getting ready and listening to NPR.

on her personal style

I typically shop online. I’m not an impulse buyer so I usually look at things for a while and see how they go with everything else in my closet.

I am mostly drawn to things that have great smooth fabrics and interesting silhouettes.

on her favorite book

A Flower with Love is a book Bruno Munari made for one of his workshops on flower arrangements. He was an Italian writer, designer, artist, and inventor who saw no differences between designing a logo, a flower arrangement or an art installation. I admire how prolific he was. I try to approach my design practice in a similar way. By blurring the lines between jewelry design, art direction, graphic design and art.

““Merengue music is always in me. The album Wilfrido Vargas presents The New York Band came out when I was 3 years old and I remember my mom signing one of their songs all the time. So it reminds me of home. Also, Wilfrido was an amazing trumpet which put his merengues on another level.””

— on Merengue music

on growing up in the Dominican Republic

I spent most of my childhood at my grandparent’s house in a small town by the beach called Boca Chica. They had a beautiful backyard with lots of plants. I use to play in it. It felt like my own little jungle. I would hand pick the best leaves to sell in custom packaging made out of newspaper and whatever else I could find. Then I would sell them to my “customers” using an old register my dad gave me from one of his shops. I started school as a painter but switched to design after seeing the design student’s projects which reminded me more of my custom packaging. That’s when I realized that what I was doing while playing was what I wanted to do all along.

on being a designer

As a designer, I’m interested in how things are made. The processes, tools and materials that allow products to come alive. For example, how the invention of the spool made fashion more accessible. The fact that this tool has gone unnoticed is what inspired me to highlight it through Bagavundas and bring it to the forefront of people’s styles.

on her hair care

People always think that going natural is effortless but for me it’s a personal work in progress. I used to see women with beautiful curly hair and ask them what products they used. And I’d go running to the store to get them only to find out that they didn’t work for me. It took me a while to find something that fit. Now I’m loyal to Bumble and Bumble’s curl conscious defining creme. I don’t wash my hair everyday so on the second day I use their surf spray to add texture. I like that the products smell great and last long.