Designer Leyla Piedayesh’s work is striking on a conventional catwalk but the strongest setting for her cool-girl clothes, for her Lala Berlin label, was the Seven Star gallery. The rock-n’-roll photography on the weathered walls brilliantly complimented her models’ casual wearing of her S/S 09 collection. However, art did not serve Lala Berlin well this season. An awkwardly executed reference to Vanessa Beecroft’s satirical performances literally left critics in the dark. Smoke, heat and rib-cracking abstract music undermined potential appreciation for “NEW AGE PHOSPHOR, ” her SS’ 12 collection. Both the presentation and concept for the collection were overly ambitious.
Press information states that Piedayesh’s inspiration for a series of white and patterned outfits, remotely resembling Jem and the Holograms (a good thing) was actually “Raw phosphor. Warm neon. Cold diamant flashes. A Gaze searching for the invisible . In another time rebellion might have been denial- but today it is calm vigilance. A ride through the night, hoops on the asphalt, faster, the highway gets bigger, the sky full of stars in the rear-view mirror, flickering lights, noise. Eventually, he will take me on a ride over the rainbow where we will come across orchid coloured unicorns…”
We’re looking forward to the return to her cool, down-to-earth, sexy and smart roots next season.
