Attending London Fashion Week for her first time this February, I happened across Hungarian born designer Leona Lengyal and her stunning collection of hand designed scarves, displayed in the Library on St Martins Lane during the London Fashion Week Avant Premiere Brunch. Her vibrant colour scarves in soft silk (£180), or beach wearable rayon (£150), are a perfect accessory for any outfit, and have already been discovered and featured in magazines including British Vogue, Marie Claire, Tatler and InStyle.
Leona, 29, was born into a creative family of jewellers, and her love for art and design started at an early age, when she started to paint with oil and acrylic. She studied fashion design in Hungary at Szegedi Divatiskola. Leona says “My passion is to paint for hours on end, encapsulating my playful imagination down on paper.” In the last couple of years, and launching in 2012 she “mixed my love affair with painting and my passion for fashion accessories; creating and capturing a sense of mystery, inner beauty and drama.” She went on to explain to me how each design is created; Each scarf starts as an original painting, which is then professionally photographed so the file can be digitally output and transformed into wearable art on silk satin, chiffon or rayon depending on the season or use for the scarf.
Leona says that the inspiration for her Spring Summer 2015 collection came from the view through the large windows of her south facing London studio, allowing her to observe the ever-changing light over the city.
“Whether it is a beautiful sunrise or a storm rolling in, I am fascinated with the infinite colours and the contrast of light. I expressed this with using vibrant oranges, mystic purples and seductive blues. When I can see a storm brewing I always look forward to see the rainbow at the end as it makes me believe that it must be someone behind the scenes who makes this magical light, like Iris who was the personification of the rainbow in the Greek mythology.”
One if the things that impressed me so much about Leona, was her creation of scarf tying tips she’s put together. Working with photographer Rob Sharp, she’s created a stage by stage imagery of different ways to wear her scarves, resulting in a number of looks. Her ‘how to style a scarf’ instructions are brilliant and show just how creative and innovative she is.
L e o n a L e n g y e l
Fashion Designer/Artist www.leonalengyel.com
Leona’s scarves are available to buy from stockists – Grazia Shop, Then and Now Shop and Rtister