Field Trip

Field Trip is a homebase for the research and references that inform the work and life of designer Lauren Scarlett. Every year, thousands of runners travel across the world to participate in marathons; arriving in cities like London, Berlin, Tokyo and New York days before the race begins. They scout routes, attend shakeout runs, adjust their routines, think carefully about nutrition and rest, and mentally prepare for the challenge ahead. After crossing the finish line, recovery begins.

Field Trip is a homebase for the research and references that inform the work and life of designer Lauren Scarlett. For decades, the sexual wellness industry has felt oddly disconnected from the intimacy it claims to represent. Despite sex being one of the most universal and emotionally complex aspects of human life, the brands surrounding it have long been defined by cheap aesthetics, seedy imagery, and crude messaging.

Field Trip is a homebase for the research and references that inform the work and life of designer Lauren Scarlett [RESEARCH ©FT] I like to joke that being a designer is my entire personality and that it’s all I have. It’s become scarily clear to me lately that it might just be. It’s clear in the way I spiral when I don’t have work for a week; I lose all sense of myself and question my entire life and purpose on earth.

Field Trip is a homebase for the research and references that inform the work and life of designer Lauren Scarlett [RESEARCH ©FT] The sound of glass bottles being thrown out from the bar near my apartment reminds me of the day’s end. I look up from my screen glowing in the dark and, for a second, I envy them, finishing a shift. The walk out the door and it shutting behind, a head immediately cleared by fresh air and the route home.

Field Trip is a homebase for the research and references that inform the work and life of designer Lauren Scarlett [RESEARCH ©FT] I know you don’t read the books on your shelf, and you get overwhelmed by your phone. I know it was hard to get out of bed some days, and your bad habits got the better of you. I know not everything went to plan and you felt disappointment too many times. I know you don’t think you did enough this year.

Field Trip is a homebase for the research and references that inform the work and life of designer Lauren Scarlett [RESEARCH ©FT] Back in the summer, I had one of the best at-home movie nights of my life. I watched Top Gun for the first time and immediately followed it up with Top Gun: Maverick. I not only had a great time because they’re great movies, but I was genuinely inspired in a way I hadn’t been for a while. That night, I grabbed my laptop and reached out to a driving school.

Field Trip is a homebase for the research and references that inform the work and life of designer Lauren Scarlett [RESEARCH ©FT] It’s my last weekend being 25. I’m cooking pasta with a glass of white, the same way I’ve done most weekends this year. Heaviness and doubt still find me on a regular cycle, but I feel good about my life. Notifications of babies, engagements, and new homeowners from my hometown all confirm what I desperately don’t want. I’m still a dreamer, but a realistic one now.

Field Trip is a homebase for the research and references that inform the work and life of designer Lauren Scarlett [RESEARCH ©FT] Over and over again, I drive in circles in silence, thinking about my bloodline and our natural tendency to shut it off and not talk about it. A genetically flawed communicator, but tried so hard to fight it; I convinced myself that maybe I could be somebody’s girl.

Field Trip is a homebase for the research and references that inform the work and life of designer Lauren Scarlett [RESEARCH ©FT] On the train home after dark, a couple of Aperols deep, I realise how truly happy I’ve been. How life lately (it disgusts me to say) has felt like a movie—one I would watch on repeat in my teens, and hope to one day live out the scenes. My friend asks me why I haven’t been writing, and I have no reason other than life’s been too good.

Field Trip is a homebase for the research and references that inform the work and life of designer Lauren Scarlett [RESEARCH ©FT] When I was young, my biggest dream was to have a flat of my own. When I pictured it, I didn’t see much more than a mattress on the floor of a small space, but I knew it would be everything. I later imagined getting a bookshelf and a bar cart and figuring out who I was through the things I chose to buy.