Designer of Interest- Lanre Da Silva Ajayi
Hello stylish readers, good weekend? well, let’s start the week with something nice and stylish! welcome to the world of Nigerian designer, Lanre Da Silva Ajayi or LDA as her line is popularly known.
Mrs. Ajayi is a designer whom I have heard of for a while now, although not really followed her progress, I must admit and so have slowly been drawn to her designs. I stumbled on a few of her ‘Color Storm’ collection on instagram and I became a believer!
This mother of two began her fashion house in 2005 in Lagos, not having had any formal training in fashion beforehand, she already had her degree in Business and a Masters in Finance when she started making clothes at home after her first child was born armed with her knowledge of dressmaking taught her by her mother. Her initial designs were ”with iconic 1940’s couture signature designs – a result of what has evolved into a much more modern and cutting-edge brand and a full-blown fashion house.”
Her label turns out Couture pieces, Ready-to-wear and Accessories. She crosses the culture divide with an exotic mix from print to embellished to feminine lightweight fabrics. ‘An LDA woman is the personification of sophistication, femininity, brilliance and boldness, which are the inspiration for each of her collections. Lanre states “Couture, colour and boldness with an edgy twist are the signature of my designs”.’
She’s found a way to hold her own in the industry with her creatively which ‘combines pattern, print, exquisite and even traditional fabrics to produce day wear, evening wear, gowns and cocktail dresses that bridge time and make the label successful within and outside Nigeria.’
She began to get international recognition for her designs 3 years later when she was invited first for the Thisday Africa Rising Festival, London (October 2008),and the following year, the ARISE Africa Fashion Festival, South Africa (June 2009). From then on it was show after show from New York, Lagos, London, Florence and still counting! She’s been featured in so many magazines from ARISE Fashion to L’Uomo Vogue! you know with that amount of exposure, it can only get better, so much so that even when she was photographed falling off the stage at Arise African Show in New York, every one wanted to know who this designer was and so, more publicity!!!
She’s had her pieces from the ‘Butterfly Kisses’ collection put up at the Dolce & Gabbana Store in Milan, Italy and some of her designs were put up for sale for a month at the Selfridges U.K store.This is in addition to her store in Lagos and the Temple Muse store that shows and sells her designs too…let’s not forget the 41 Luxe in Abuja which stocks her designs too.
Her designs have been favored by a lot of celebrities both in Nigeria and abroad and we hope to one day shop these favored pieces!
OK back to the stuff we want to see- her designs!
My favorite thing about her designs have to be the dresses.I think that’s her edge. Besides the fact that I have a thing for dresses, She does know how to make her dresses look like art! the fabrics, the print, the cut and the embellishment! awesome! true to her words, her designs breathe out lots of colors, inspired by the tropics perhaps? and her cuts are simple, letting the fabrics speak for themselves! I would only have to gaze at one of her mini 60s inspired mini shift dresses to remind myself all over again why LDA is my designer of interest!
Hugs:))
Molekor
photos: Lanredasilvaajayi.com
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