The
first time I was made aware of Lady Gonzalez was as I visited Colab in Bristol. I really liked the bright teeth mugs and the bright
gold/silver chained mouth/teeth necklaces. The bright trippy patterns of eyes,
scales and brains alongside leopard print/bling vibes was so exciting and
immediately stood out to me, I wanted everything.
 |
| Photo from: http://ladygonzalez.com/shop/mugs/teeth-mug-with-box |
“LADY
GONZALEZ is a unique textile-design based Fashion and Lifestyle brand,
officially launched in 2013 by the artist Celia Arias-Gonzalez, currently
living and working between the cities of Bristol and London (UK).
Celia was
born in Barcelona and raised in Madrid (Spain). She moved
to London in 2001, where she combined working as a freelance fashion
stylist with an
apprenticeship at the costume house, Prangsta
Costumiers,
going on to complete a BA in Fine Art Textiles at Goldsmiths University of
London."
At some point I heard that Lady Gonzalez World
was doing a pop-up shop somewhere in Bristol soon so I kept an eye out for more
details. Then during a stop at Biblos for a jerk chicken wrap (yum), I noticed
a brightly colourful flyer and I knew it was Lady Gonzalez.
The
weekend the pop up shop launched I was in Bristol and had time to explore and
go check it out. I walked into town and after browsing a huge vintage shop in
Stokes Croft I wondered over to Old Market using maps on my phone to find
SPACE, where the pop up shop was. SPACE (Sound-Performance-Art-Community-Engagement) at Arts West Side, 6 West Street is a newly opened hub by The Island Bristol to
be used as a welcoming space for the creative community in Bristol where they
can showcase their work and share ideas.
I
walked in and after a warm welcome from Celia Arias-Gonzalez herself, she
kindly showed me around the room pointing out different designs from her new
and previous collections. It was so nice to speak with her and hear her talk
about the designs a little, she kindly described some of the wacky wall hanging
creations to me as I drifted around the room making “woooow” and “cooool” comments
more than a few times.
Also, can we just appreciate this incredible 'Financial Times' flaming wall art for a second.
Lady
Gonzalez is amazing! I love everything! Her clothes are bursting with brains
and lizard eyeballs and mouths and teeth and bliiiing. ‘Neosurrealism’ is a word
I have seen associated with Lady Gonzalez and I love this, it seems perfect.
I
got cash out at the ATM across the street and went back inside to take on the
decision making of what to buy as I struggled to narrow it down to one thing.
With the intention of buying more LGW items in the future, I left with one of
the COOOOLEST necklaces I have ever seen. That’s the blue mouth emblem on the
silver chain seen in the photo. I really really wanted one of the ‘one-off’ customised
Lady Gonzalez jackets from the selection on display across some of the walls
but I just could not pick one!
(Yep, should have bought that red jacket.)
The Lady Gonzalez World pop-up shop at SPACE is
over now but you can see Lady Gonzalez World shop online here. Or if you are in Bristol, stop by Colab. Hopefully next
time I will make it to the launch/opening of a Lady Gonzalez pop-up shop. Look out
for her super cool stuffs in Bristol and London!
All photos are my own unless stated otherwise, please credit if you want to use them, or ask my permission. Thank you.
