She says she loves Agatha Christie’s style. Cat glasses, a schoolboy look with lots of jewellery and femininity “on the second encounter”.
Lalica has been infected with design since she was a child. Her mother had a tailoring salon in Sombor where she grew up. I can imagine her wandering around the salon and listening to the stories of her mother’s clients.
She remembers every detail, all the secrets of the craft. Whenever I enter her shop in Čumić, I feel that I have entered the place of creation. And then that everything is, above all, courageous.
Lalica is brave. Fearless. No compromise.
Her pieces tell a story, and I hear the voices of women singing.
You should also meet Vera, a woman without whom Lalica’s pieces would not exist. She is a sewing genius. Perfectionist. Refined taste and sense of style.
Lalica is a symbol of Čumic. On the top floor everything looks more like an art commune. Pascal is also there, a Frenchman who opened a gallery and the Montmartre Children’s Drawing School next door.
Try Lalica’s pieces and tell her how you feel in her coats with raised lapels and dresses with ruffles on the shoulders. In an apron dress and a white shirt with a scarf.
We are neighbours. Sometimes we meet on the corner, and she shows me samples of materials for new dresses full of dots, dashes, flowers, and how to combine a silk dress with a narrow waist and a white cotton collar.
Her hands are full of life: children’s school bags, supermarket bags, bags with fabrics, and who knows what else is in her big bag. She always runs in front of everyone. And yet, when we stop, I have the feeling that she is present and carefully absorbs every moment.
Lalica also inspired me to put on the pioneer scarf again, and I feel proud with or without red lipstick.
P.S. Are you building relationships with local designers and buying their designer pieces because you like them and the background story? How do you feel about the materials you chose with the designer, who personally took measurements and sewed something just for you?
