THE INTERNET is a funny place—it can be both stifflingly small and a place so large, that we can all be “known” in our own little corner of it without ever running into each other. I only discovered Pia Baroncini, the Creative Director of Los Angeles clothing label LPA, today and loved the little glimpses she gave on Instagram of her Spanish colonial home in Pasadena, California.
Born and raised in Pasadena, Baroncini studied Design and Management at Parsons, before taking on freelance roles—working as a producer, casting director, blogger and photographer in NYC. What followed was two years at fashion PR firm, People’s Revolution, and in 2010, Baroncini landed at that other well-known LA label, Reformation, where her skills developed in the areas of design, brand-building, management and social media.
In the time leading up to LPA’s inception, Baroncini would leave her job as a designer at Reformation with plans to move to Spain for a position at Zara. This move would never take place, for Raissa Gerona, co-founder of Alliance Apparel and the VP of brand marketing and strategic partnerships at Revolve, would find Baroncini (on Instagram), set up a meeting through mutual friend Emily Ratajkowski, and pitch the idea of the designer launching her own label. LPA was born.
Known formerly as Lara Pia Arrobio (LPA) before her marriage to Davide Baroncini, whom she met (also) on Instagram, the designer spent five years at Reformation before launching her own label. Davide was based in Brooklyn and designing for menswear brand Brunello Cucinelli at the time they began dating (and has since founded his own label, Ghiaia Cashmere, of which Pia is now CMO). She was based in LA. Both are now in Pasadena, in the very home Pia grew up in, the one they were married in, the one we see here.
The original house, purchased by Pia’s parents, was one story with three bedrooms and two baths. With a blended family of five children, Pia’s parents added the upstairs, consisting only of a primary suite for privacy. The room was brown when the couple moved in: brown bed, brown ceiling, taupe walls, huge brown furniture, brown couch and dark floral jacquard curtains. They took everything out and made it as light and breezy as possible. There are also glimpses of the rest of the home, the living room with its wonderful fireplace and kitschy virgin Mary artwork; the kitchen, with is original brown black splash tiles that will be replaced; the gallery walls and big brown storage hutch and even a peek into Baroncini’s beauty cabinet and refrigerator…
Above, the (formerly all brown) upstairs suite.
