lala Berlin x Fritz Hansen

The Collaboration
In the pursuit of the perfect union of forward-looking fashion and enduring furniture design, Fritz Hansen approached designer Leyla Piedayesh, the woman behind the successful fashion brand lala Berlin, known for her creative mind and unique ability to interweave her Middle Eastern heritage and Berlin’s modern, bohemian ambience. The mission: to reinterpret the iconic Series 7 chair. The result: a perfect match between the softest velvet in warm, elegant tones and powder-coated legs that complete the modern, monochromatic expression. The lala Berlin x Fritz Hansen collection consists of a front-upholstered Series 7 in the colour lala Barberry and a fully upholstered Series 7 and Dot™ stool in the colour lala Caspian.

The World of lala Berlin
lala Berlin was founded by Leyla Piedayesh, who was born in Tehran, Iran in 1970. After studying business administration, she first came into contact with fashion as editor of the MTV Berlin TV series Designerama. In 2003, she began exploring her own design talent by making knitted accessories, and launched her celebrated debut collection in 2004. Translating the meeting of urban cool and elegant chic into high-quality knitwear, Leyla captured fleeting, anarchic big-city chic in fresh new ways with her unconventional yet elegant and feminine collections. Today, her Berlin-based, Berlin-inspired fashion brand is sold in fashion capitals all over the world. 

lala Berlin x Fritz Hansen
Both the Series 7 and the Dot are upholstered in rich, comfortable and durable velvet produced by the Italian fabric house Dedar. As much a pleasure to touch as to behold, the material also proved a time capsule for the designer: "Velvet brings back memories of my childhood in Iran and, above all, is comfortable and cosy. Taking this approach to a chair as iconic as the Arne Jacobsen Series 7 has been a great opportunity for me," says Leyla. 

The colours are interpretations of her Iranian heritage. The midnight blue lala Caspian and the burgundy red lala Barberry evoke memories, traditions and sensations – and fit seamlessly with the palettes of both lala Berlin and Fritz Hansen. "The dark blue takes me back to midnights in the city of Isfahan, Iran, and the Cimmerian water of the Caspian sea, and when I see the burgundy shade, I can almost taste the barberries used in traditional Iranian cuisine. These two highly saturated shades are also widely used in the creation of Iranian rugs and can have the same mesmerising effect as an intricate rug pattern,” says Leyla.