Last year I attended the Interfilliere Lingerie show in Lyon, France. Although mostly underwhelmed by the offerings and disappointed by the over-abundance of swimwear, I was in contrast, completely overwhelmed by the beauty, decadence and fully indulgent vision of Loveday London’s Titania range.
I also got to meet the completely wonderful designer Luisa Loveday who tirelessly attends lingerie shows around the globe whilst also maintaining a relationship, a toddler, creative genius and life with all its challenges.
The splendor of the Titania range has stayed with me since that time and was reinforced when it arrived at the store about six months later, amid gasps of utter astonished delight from all of us at Passionfruit.
Luisa’s inspiration for the collection was Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with its contrast of romance and darkness, strength and whimsy.
This year’s VIP event ‘A Midwinter Night’s Dream’ has been inspired by Luisa's vision and will reflect the romance of the collection with a bit of hardcore sexuality thrown in for good measure.
(Also during my visit to Europe, I fell in love with Selfidges ‘Shakespeare Refashioned’ theme where the entire department store paid homage to the famous playwright with clothing collections especially commissioned to reflect Shakesperean themes and the interior utterly transformed into a mid century play.)
Below is an interview I had with Luisa about her inspiration for the collection.
Michelle. How has A Midsummer Night's Dream influenced your Titania collection?
Luisa. A Midsummer nights dream is an exploration of contrast, light vs dark, passion vs pain, love vs hate much like our longstanding use of leather vs lace. Titania is the queen of the fairies, divinely feminine yet strong with a real ethereal nature. Her contrasting characteristics translate into a both a blush and rose gold, our blush corded Italian lace embodies her femininity whilst flashes of glimmering rose gold leather signify her strength.
Michelle. Do you have any favourite quotes from the play?
Luisa.
”The course of true love never did run smooth"
"Though she be but small, she be fierce"
"What angel wakes me from my flowery bed"
Michelle. Do you have a mood board for the collection? We'd love to see it!
Luisa. The moodboard is more about the colours whilst the book originally created the theme.
Michelle. What are some of the traits of the Queen that you wanted to translate into the collection?
Luisa. Mysterious yet magical, strong but whimsical. In charge of her life yet clashes with her love. I think all these traits are telling of the collection. The leather and lace match yet contrast, pink is soft and feminine then rose metallic leather breaks the mold, shows strength, dominance & magic.
Michelle. What does Titania represent to you?
Luisa. The divinely feminine, strong female. A soft ability to fall head over heels in love whilst retaining strength and demure. Titania is the epitome of 'hardcore romance’.
------------------------
How can you not just fall more deeply in love with the collection after that explanation?
Lingerie design is deceptively challenging and difficult to produce and it is important to support these independent geniuses who make our lives so much more magical.
We did a photoshoot around The Titania range with our multi-talented staff member Chanelle as Queen of the Fairies modelling the lingerie. The fabulous, fit-for-a-queen merlot gown is by the equally fabulous designer and performer Catherine D’lish and the stunning photography is by Steph Cammarano.
Book your free ticket to the Midwinter Night's Dream VIP event here.