LEBY LE MORIA BY GABRIELLA MARSH
“Coexistence is our utopia,” is the battle cry of transgender Filipino designer, Leby Le Moria. Undoubtedly a maverick of surrealist design, Le Moria’s modus operandi lies in conceptualising themes of belonging, and journey, through an avant garde approach to fashion.
In her world, a hand (the perennial symbol of creation) is woven onto a lime green slouchy shirt dress or inflated with stuffing and adorns a pair of gladiator sandals. Eyes – the medium in which we absorb our surroundings–are cut out of blood orange faux fur and constructed into a hat that doubles as a bag. It’s all a matter of perspective.
Textural elements of the garment’s laser cut finishes evoke a sense of motion, like a constant progression towards the next phase of fashion, one that Le Moria will be firmly positioned in the centre of. More importantly, this piece is a reminder of the childlike naivety and nostalgia in which all things transpire from or return to in time.
The intersection of curiosity and anonymity summoned by the monster-esque silhouette is strangely familiar. Here, the 1980s favourite troll doll becomes the vessel in which Le Moria explores a sense of wonder and euphoria that fashion so fondly provides. A fitting correlation considering her sartorial muse is a fuchsia-haired troll called Verò. Le Moria presents the latest iteration of Pamela Anderson’s iconic Ivy Supersonic bubblegum pink hat from the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards. As the designer herself states, “Surrealism belongs in the streets.”
GABRIELLA MARSH: An award-winning artist, illustrator and animator, the beauty of humanity is in the innocuous details and messy moments captured by Gabriella Marsh. Based in London, her work conveys the kaleidoscopic virtue of a connected world, employing a scribbled and freehand approach that brings a lightness and jovialness to observations of her surroundings.
Follow Gabriella Marsh @gabriella.marsh