The Northern Sea.

Lara Schilken, the founder of Virago Active was 5 years old when she almost drowned in the cold Northern Sea. Carried on the shoulders of her father, he decided to leave her, where he thought was a safe place, atop a large sand bank isle. The isle soon vanished however, due to the incoming tides. When Lara got scared, she decided to be a big girl and the day had come for her to learn how to swim. Without a second thought, the child jumped into the streams of the channel. She didn’t last 3 seconds before the water ripped away her feet, leaving her with fumbling arms aiming to manage the waters until she went under. Fighting for air, she lost consciousness, before a stranger saved her life.

KEEPING IT REAL.

Lara grew up in Germany, a small humble town 40 mins outside of Frankfurt. Her parents weren’t competitive or involved with many sports but they would bend over backwards to have her and her sister growing up in nature. As both parents were extremely young, there was no money for holidays or splurge. Lara remembers eating the exact same dinner for many years: Bread and cheese. Her grandmother would often cook for them, but the heritage and flavours of the meals were still reflecting the taste of 1945. Nothing was ever wasted and she remembers having to remove the mould from the raspberry syrup her grandmother stock piled for the kids. “It wasn’t a matter of health, it was a matter of surviving. They never wanted us kids to feel like we were missing out.”As a result, they would drive us up to the Northern Sea each summer holiday, with the old Toyota. She still has memories of herself with her sister in the hot back seat, sleeping, playing and listening to story tapes. The hours that went by observing their mother trying to find direction on the folded ADAC map, whilst their dad was driving.

LARA LOVES THE TIME AND SPACE UNDERWATER.

The Northern Sea has left an imprint on Lara. The weather, the rough sea with all its wildlife and changing moods. Since young years, the ocean has developed a power over her and she would go on, in search of a life being close to it.

IS THAT ALL THERE IS?

Her grandmother was a pattern maker and sewer. Whilst spending much time as a child with her grandparents, her “Oma” would involve her in selecting textures and colours when they would place new orders for fabrics. She liked this process and she liked how her grandmother made her feel, whilst taking part in such a big adult decision.

After finishing school, she secretly applied for university. No question, there simply wasn’t the money to study. Better to stand on her own feet, paying her own rent. Stubborn enough, she enrolled to study business economics, coming home and trying to hide her success from her parents for over 3 full months! At a certain point in time, she was ready to move out and was able to push through her degree whilst receiving funding support she later paid off with her first job. Independence and adaptability involuntarily became the most valuable assets to her life.

All the efforts and hard work laid the foundation to a career in the European Fashion industry, where she kicked off working for Louis Vuitton, then Bally Switzerland and later, working for the American Corporation VF. She remembers catching the train from Frankfurt to Zurich and from Zurich to Lugano or Milan. Between the mountains of the Swiss alps, she often was inspired to reflect. The endless mountain chains, the highs and lows of the landscapes, she understood the world out there has more to offer, all she has to do is keep taking chances. Her mindset was shifting and after Switzerland, her life would never be the same again.

EXPLORING THE BACKCOUNTRY IN NEW ZEALAND.

Do What Makes You Itch.

Lara and her friends would get up at 5am to be the first ones on the slopes in winter. Skiing and snowboarding became her favourite winter sport. She would take the day off work to train herself in snowboarding and when winter ended, the wide open spaces and outdoor adventures were waiting to be explored. But it was the backcountry skiing that made her itch, that gave her perspective and made her feel like she has found a piece of the very essence of life’s beauty. It’s all she wanted to do. She would seek to go out there with her much more experienced friends every weekend possible, riding, flying, falling, connecting. And it was her friendships empowering her growth on the mountain and she is forever grateful for their friends presence. “Being far away from everything, lost on the back side of a huge mountain will wake you up to what’s important.” She promised to herself, never would she live in a place that doesn’t have the mountains or the ocean in her backyard.

the most important THIng.

Coming back from a trip to Hawaii, Lara witnessed a car crash putting everything into perspective. Lara’s car stopped just in front of the Gotthard Tunnel, Switzerlands longest tunnel. Her car came to stop next to a severe crash, which had occurred seconds before she stopped.

The drivers car had hit the truck in front of him straight on. Half of the vehicles corpse had disappeared, ripped apart from the impact. The accident was fresh and all signs pointed towards a human body still being trapped inside the remains of the vehicle. An immediate fear of finding a dead person arouse. How would she be impacted to find a dead person? But the fear went as quick as it came. Instead, her instinct took over and it was as powerful as having an outside-of-body experience. As if she was being directed, she opened the door of the wrecked car and started pulling out everything that was between her and the victim. Newspapers, cartons, and yes, broken wine bottle glass. She found a hand. Deep breath. She kept going until she found him.

A middle aged man who had ducked his head before the truck got him. He had hit the steering wheel with his forehead, no airbag visible, and he wasn’t responding at all. She grabbed his hand softly to feel his pulse and freed his head from the shards, talking to him, holding his neck gently with the other hand. In the next minutes, whilst a young man called the ambulance, she would not stop breathing life into the Italian man until he came back. The first breath he took was magic. His brain responded shortly after and he would try to move. Lara was as calm and soothing as she could be, telling him over and over again that he has had an accident, everything was looked after and that all he needed to do was rest in her hand and breathe with her. It felt like ages until the helicopter arrived to finally cut him free and stabilise the man that ended up surviving this horrific car crash. The father of two children was out of risk the next day, with serious internal bleedings, broken rips and a broken arm.

“After they got him, I cried all the way through the 17km tunnel, taking the first exit to call my dad. I told him, it was the most important thing I ever did in my life. We were both speechless.”

Leaving the ALPS.

With an ache in her heart, she decided to take a mountain break and follow the call of the ocean, to reunite with the sea. The boards were now swapped to suit a liquid underground. Surfing became the base for a new start in Sydney, Australia in 2015.

Australia and in particular, the beaches of northern Sydney, had won over Lara’s heart by the time she decided to move to the other side of the world. All the years before she had felt restless. But when she came here, she knew could make it work. Life finally seemed en-route.

Manly, NSW is where she first decided to launch Virago. A brand that was meant to be called Siren instead. However, the day she found the word of Virago, she fell in love with it’s meaning. The new brand had found it’s identity- strong, vigorously and heroic.

Virago’s EARLY STAGES.

Lara started Virago as a side-hustle next to her job in 2019. It’s was the passion for good quality products, combined with the need to create something she would wear surfing. She designed the styles and insisted to use ECONYL regenerated nylon. A fabric she first heard about in Hawaii 2015 and was inspired by the technology of it. She knew what she wanted and used her skills and experience to create it.

When the outbreak of the epidemic hit home in 2020, Lara was without a job at the time. All efforts to get hired went into a void to the point that she had to crash on a friends sofa, whilst unable to pay rent. It seemed to be a good time to focus on the business with the ultimate goal to hire herself and overcome the hardship. Said and done. The brand was successfully launched in February 2020 and the first products rolled in for August. Thanks to a close friend, she learned how to make effective sales, an area Lara sees as her only weakness in business.

“I don’t like selling. I am not good in it. I’m a critical person and know my customers will be just as critical. That’s why I want to have a product that speaks for itself.”

— Lara Schilken

From Compliment To Mission.

When creating the first product range of Virago, Lara’s friends all mentioned the styles would make them feel incredibly strong and confident. Lara was proud of what she created and decided, all women who wear Virago should feel strong and confident. Out of a compliment became a mission.

She likes to see other women succeed and doesn’t think much of gender-inequality and the patriarchy which is causing it. She never relied on anyone to get to where she is now and doesn’t see this change with a man in her life. The idea is to grow something together where everyone contributes as a team.

She knows she can’t continue to run the business all on her own. There are big plans for Virago and the business had an incredible kick-start. The goal is to have a team with members who can positively learn from each other and take the business into it’s next phase. Plus, it can be a lonely road to walk on and a single person can’t know it all “ There are much smarter people I’m already working with that inspire me daily”.

The Future of OUR GENERATION.

Whilst studying the fabrics for her products, Lara came across the issue of microfibre pollution, concerning all fibres. The only variance is, natural fibres biodegrade, whilst synthetic fibres don’t. It’s an issue Lara wants to spend more time on, as to date there isn’t a single swimwear fabric from natural fibres.

In our previous article, Veronika Mikos made a statement leaving a big impression on Lara. “We are leaving our children to finding plastics in the sand, instead of beautiful shells.” If we were raised to safe each drop of water and pick up our trash after ourself, we would be more mindful with our environment and it’s resources. Lara is committed to find better solutions for her products. Her secret weapon philosophy is slow-fashion. Realising you can take the time-pressure out of the equation, everything becomes possible.

Lara’s life evolves around the ocean and the mountains. She recommends everyone, especially other women to challenge themselves in nature and listen to nature to find healing, softness and reflection.

If you would like to get in contact with LAra, please FOLLOW @lara_underthesun on INSTAGRAM.

We hope you enjoyed this article.

Stay true to yourself, dare & care.

X

Team Virago.

OCEAN VIBES, MOUNTAIN TRIBES.