In today's episode of Raw Talent, we are hanging in London and experiencing a French twist with footwear designer Léa Zana who is also the founder of emerging homeware brand Vaisselle Boutique founded during lockdown as a homage to all the favourite restaurants and bistros she is missing.
Léa confesses that the food she cooks is terrible and she had to find a way to make it tasty and yummy. So she designed a range of kitchen and decoration essentials inspired by Spanish antique ceramics with a stunning glazed finish and colourful twist. All the items are interchangeable so you can create your own tablescape.
By the way, in case you're wondering what Vaisselle means... it’s the French word for crockery.
As we delve into Lea's story she tells of her childhood growing up in a small town near Bordeaux in France with hippie parents who loved to travel during her formative years, before eventually settling down in France. Lea went on to study Haute Couture at Atelier Letellier for 3 years and shares a tale or two of her experiences and internship with the legendary Claude Montana.
Age 21, Léa tells us how her career evolved by chance from clothing into footwear during an entertaining story of her time at Barbara Bui. Her mum then moved to Spain and Lea decided to follow and work for Zara which began a journey into fast-fashion and led to roles at Topshop and Asos. When redundancy hit in 2019, Lea took a few months off to go travelling and was offered a new role at Topshop starting in March 2020, which suddenly evaporated as the pandemic manifested.
Thinking about what to do, Léa decided to start a small, low investment passion project fuelled by a love of crockery and homeware from her childhood and Vaisselle Boutique was born in May 2020.
Knowing most of the best crockery is produced in Spain and speaking Spanish, Léa fortuitously timed a research trip between lockdowns, initially to Majorca to source a manufacturer, however when the first samples arrived they fell short of her expectations and she was forced to search online for someone new, ultimately finding a wonderful family open to stepping outside of tradition and applying their artisan craftsmanship to modern designs. The quality has exceeded even Lea's expectation. Her designs are infused by the sun and have a beautiful, iridescent glaze and vibrant colours that put a smile on your face, something we all need right now.
Add a ray of light to your home at Vaisselle Boutique which is launching online in Liberty London very soon and will brighten your feed on Instagram.
