What made Becks Lange Miami's whirling dervish of a party girl?
Maybe it was leaving Venezuela when she was only 15 and arriving in the Magic City as adulthood beckoned.
"The hardest part was really not having my friends with me," recalls Lange, now 34. "Maybe that's what drove me to study fashion — missing my friends."
Her forebears, who were Jewish, left Germany around World War II and settled in Caracas. When she and her family moved to South Florida, they settled in Pembroke Pines, where she attended Charles W. Flanagan High School. After graduating in 2000, it was on to Miami International University of Art & Design, where she studied fashion merchandising and fashion design before finishing in 2005.
Since then, she has flawlessly combined the professional world with her avocation: nightlife.
She's traveled widely and developed an eye for what attracts people. In her day job, as South Florida's visual merchandising manager for Louis Vuitton, she's developed a disciplined eye. She's also learned to get things done.
Then there's her interest in music. While traveling in Europe, she heard deep house in small, off-the-beaten-path venues. She returned home and wanted to re-create what she had experienced.
"We didn't have warehouse parties where you could go to hear music you really liked," she recalls. "There was great music, but there wasn't really an outlet for the up-and-coming DJs to play."
So she and some friends threw their first party 11 years ago in a warehouse near Ironside Pizza. They played electronic music for about 60 friends. Soon they formed a company and called it Pl0t. The first booking was the duo Soul Clap at White Room, which would become 1306 Miami. Another early bill presented Seth Troxler at an art gallery.
They moved on to other venues, including Grand Central and Electric Pickle, where they snagged their first residency. But more important than the venue was the DJ.
"We are married to the artist first, not the venue," she says. "We pick the artist; then we find the venue that will fit the right profile for the night."
Lange and her company are planning what could be one of their biggest events yet. It's called Rakastella — which she says means "to make love" in Finnish — and will be held at Virginia Key Beach Park during Art Basel weekend.
Several DJs — including Âme II Âme, Axel Boman, and Jennifer Cardini — will perform on two stages. Lange hopes to attract 4,000 attendees.
"I have learned how to make things work," she says. "If I didn't have the professional background I have, I wouldn't be able to multitask the way I do."
