Essence of Woman
You will find Leiela in many places if you look for her. She is one of those rare creations that allows a woman to play any character she may choose. She is a fragment from the universal soul of elegance. She makes a woman what she is, what she ought to be – free. Free to express herself in every colour and every texture. This is a notion that transcends the idea of fashion; it is one that speaks to the spirit of creation across all forms of aesthetic expression.
ALIDA (White Mozart taffeta Gown, Leiela Evening wear, Gallery Collection)
Emerging in a shade of white softened by the innocence of wispy clouds, Alida appeared. At first she was just a vision, a light of elegance floating somewhere between black and white memories and the pursuit of a modern aesthetic. She was, to all who be held her, a space of white light; dynamism and creativity seeping from silk seams that danced softly in the breeze. For it is a dance that Alida does, a dance of celebration for the feminine spirit that she captures with an artist’s intuition. As I watched her glowing in luminous finery, I was transported to places, fragments and ideas from years past. It was strange that a gown could provoke wonderings of the intellect in this manner, yet her silhouette became a means through which the creative spirit could be universally understood. In the first afternoon light, she was a marble column from the Enlightenment; a nod to the aesthetic developments in the ‘Age of Reason’ when the rediscovery of white marble statues and antiquity art made it the colour of Virtue.
The unfaltering smoothness of her white silk caressed by soft hands had been primed from nothing more than a roll of fibres, just as Renaissance sculptors primed the profiles of Ancient Goddesses from white stone blocks. As the sun bowed its head in firm resolution, shadows embarked on their worldly journeys across Alida’s skirt, imprinting their cameo-lithographs on its surface. From this angle, I saw a dramatic tableaux of shapes and forms evolve on the fabric; a blank canvas for the dreams of a designer who instils a portion of herself in every thread. Against a moody sky, Alida’s essence, part Hollywood goddess, part ethereal snowflake, radiates its white light to the world; seducing sailors and passers by as they are drawn to her aura of femininity reflected in the ocean’s ripples.
CAPRICE (Red satin and Georgette Gown, Leiela Ladies Evening Wear, Gallery Collection)
Sitting behind her golden instrument, Caprice hums to the cadences of forgotten melodies. The red draping of her gown rustles through the breeze, rounding out the soft vowels of her musical notes. She is every inch the goddess, with a soul grounded in the roots of classical antiquity, and the heart of a modern goddess. Red has always been her colour; the colour of passion and conviction that stirs the movement in her veins. Red is, to her, the colour of life – a means of conveying the visceral experience in an artistic language. The duality in Caprice’s souls is registered with mirror-like clarity; as the satin caressing her bodice in shy folds gives way to a flush of georgette. Her silhouette is defined as if she might take her place as an object in the foreground of Henri Matisse’s painting The Red Studio (1911).
The Red Studio (1911) by Henri Matisse. (Sourced from Flickr, Creative Commons)
Caprice is simple but striking; a mysterious vision that has encouraged innovation in redefining the female figure as Matisse sought to redefine spatial perspective. In her mind, there is no beginning and no end to the harmony between curve and line, there is only rouge space that radiates from her core, sharing its sensual energy with an eternal language of style and grace that dwells within every woman.
OLEANDER (Petunia Deluxe Satin, Leiela Ladies Evening Wear, Gallery Collection)
As a child I never touched the Oleander tree. I heard a story about a young boy who stirred his tea with an Oleander petal from his garden, and was instantly poisoned by its toxic juice. However, I was beguiled by its deep magenta hue, and longed to touch its watery, fragile buds. Oleander is a fusion of classical beauty and seductive allure, a contrast between seeming and being. Much like a character in one of Oscar Wilde’s plays from the decadent era, Oleander is never as she first appears. She is a figure of dark mystery, of smooth surfaces, and of unexpected allure. There is something about the depth of her amethyst shade that indicates an inheritance of majesty – she is crafted with a fancy for things of the royal nature. She is at ease in a grand ballroom, enchanting the inquisitive gaze of coiffured men and ornate chandeliers dripping golden tears.
‘Emile Floge’ (1902) by Gustav Klimt..(Sourced from Flickr, Creative Commons.)
As she takes her place to dance, the curves of her elusive silhouette are the desire of all who behold her, but the prize of none. She is a violet femme, and she belongs entirely to herself. Her essence is constructed in such a way that magnetises all wandering souls, and yet, she slips out of their hands and out of the room silently into the night. For a similar vision to Oleander’s unique aesthetic, one might look the portrait Emile Floge (1902) painted by Gustav Klimt. Klimt portrayed his life-long love as an embodiment of feminine strength and allure; bathing the canvas in hues of deep purple and magenta to highlight the capacity of clothing and design to express the nature of one’s individual style and intellect. Like Emile Floge, Oleander connects with observers through essence and emotion; speaking a language of colour that binds together all the world’s creative endeavours.
Photography: Ronald Diocera http://www.rondiocera.com.au/
MUAH: Vanee Pham for Babydolls MUA
www.facebook.com/pages/Babydolls-Make-Up-Artistry
Styling: Lannae Nguyen for Babydolls MUA
Model: Alexia Petsinis
Gowns: Leiela
Blog by: Alexia Petsinis
Fragrance Note: Poeme by Lancome
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