Fashion Film Composer Sofia Hultquist Gives Her Two Cents on Those Met Gala Gowns

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Considering she moved here from New York just two short years ago, we think it's safe to say composer Sofia Hultquist has settled into our city's fashion scene quite nicely. Besides being a patron of many local designers (upon our meeting she's repping four different LA labels) the Florence native has her own company, Drum & Lace Music, in which she gets to work directly with local talent by creating original music for fashion-focused films.

Besides D&L's work, which includes projects with Palatines, Alternative Apparel, Echo + Air, Clare Bare, and Atelier Delphine, Hultquist also recently collaborated with her husband Ian (formerly of Passion Pit) on the score for First Monday in May, a documentary that takes viewers behind-the-scenes of 2015's Met Gala production—including plenty of screen time with the iconic Anna Wintour (read more about that process in her Q&A with our national site here). The film even premiered at NYC's Tribeca Film Festival, where Hultquist got to indulge in a red carpet moment.

We met up with the unabashed music nerd (she studied first at the prestigious Berklee College of Music, then got her master's degree in Music Technology from NYU) at East Hollywood's healthy sipping spot Raw Cane Super Juice where we learned which fashion legend had her starstruck at the festival (spoiler: it wasn't Anna) and who was her best-dressed at the ball this year.

What are you drinking?

It's a Ginger Lime Cane juice. It's very sweet. It kinda tastes like the ginger they put on your drink, like in a fancy-schmancy cocktail. But as a juice.

What do you miss most about NYC?

Accessibility walking. Just walking is the thing I miss the most. Being able to wander, because I love just putting on music, or just even just putting on headphones and not listening to anything to dull the sound of the city a little, and just walk. Especially around Brooklyn. I just miss exploring and finding time to isolate yourself.

What do you miss the least?

Oh my god, where do I start? The smells, the noise, the dirt. As much as I miss having a public transportation system that works efficiently, I really don't miss the subway. I've seen way too many poops on seats, crazy people getting into fights, I don't miss that. And I don't miss the weather, even when it's Christmastime. I can go to Mount Wilson and see some snow if I really want.

What do you miss about Italy?

So much. It's funny, I miss more as time goes by. I miss being able to go to any coffee shop and know it's good coffee. I miss the people, even though I hate Italian tourists. I miss the focus—for better or worse—on family and tradition, though there's a lot of sexism that comes with that, and a lot of views that I don't agree with. And the beach culture! I feel like the beach culture here just isn't the same. There's something that's so beautiful about Italian summer beach culture that I haven't found here.

Beauty must-haves?

The only thing that I do is splurge and get my nails done by Bakeneko Nails every once and a while, and a lot of red lipstick. And I need a haircut every six weeks to keep this cut, so I go to The Hive in Highland Park.

If money was no object, what LA designer would you totally splurge on?

I don't own any of her stuff but I'm always drawn to—especially her coats and dresses—Jesse Kamm. I love her stuff. It's basics, but I'm not at a point where I can spend $400 on a dress. But those are things I could see myself wearing 30 times, or forever. They're timeless classics. Rodarte is technically from here, right? So that would be another. That would be a splurge since it's definitely not day-to-day wear.

What did you wear on the red carpet for the Tribeca Film Festival?

I wore an Italian designer called Marco De Vincenzo. His collection has gradients in colors and a lot of texture—I love the mix of textures. Every season I have a folder on my desktop with screen shots from Style.com as inspiration/mood board, and his Spring/Summer collection was one of the ones in there. It's hard because I didn't want to get too dressed up since I'm just the composer. But it's about fashion, too. It was the perfect length, perfect everything. I just emailed the address on the designer's website and they emailed back. It arrived via DHL from Milan!

They even sent these fuzzy shoes but they were 4 1/2" and I couldn't walk in them. It worked out because I told [Palatines designer] Jessica if I ever went to a premiere, I'd wear her shoes. It worked so much better because they're so comfortable and beautiful. And my bag was Micoli Studio. It all worked out so, so well.

Recent fashion purchase were you most psyched about?

The other day I went to Staud and since then I've kind of had to put myself on hold. I did buy these [Darner] socks and a Botanica Workshop bra and this [Mondo Mondo] earring at Echo Park Craft Fair. But the big splurge was at Staud.

Did you meet Anna Wintour at the festival?

We were too scared. After walking the red carpet, we were all in the same room. We looked over and Robert DeNiro was hanging out with Anna in a corner. We nearly went up to say something—I said hi to Grace [Coddington], who is my personal hero. And the most exciting person I met backstage Jane Fonda! She was backstage and she and our friend were talking. We went up and she was just like, "How are ya'll doing? I'm Jane Fonda!" And I was like, "Yeah, I know who you are." She was so beautiful.

Who were your Met Gala faves this year?

Kate Hudson always looks amazing. She was wearing that white [Versace] dress. Claire Danes, obviously, I mean how can you not like that? I liked Chloe Sevigny, she was wearing Simone Rocha. It had a little pocket, a little sheer thing on her butt. So cheeky!

Guilty pleasure pop song?

I feel like "Since You Been Gone" is one of the best songs of all time. That's definitely a guilty pleasure. That and honestly, anytime "Toxic" comes on the radio, I blast that shit. It brings back such visceral feelings of high school.