Cape Town-born photographer and artist Lea Colombo champions color and emotion in her first collaboration with COS. Lea gave us a peek into her vibrant and atmospheric world through her mood-boosting floral prints for the Scandinavian retailer. In this Metro exclusive, Lea herself takes us through her design process. From creating three exclusive prints for COS to incorporating them into the brand’s signature silhouettes and more, celebrate light, color, shape, and form through Lea’s creations.

Constantly exploring duality, tension, and balance, Lea shares what inspired her collection, “Color is my guiding frequency. I gravitate towards color; it holds such a strong and powerful healing energy in lots of different ways and for lots of different reasons. I’m really interested in its relationship to energy, how we’re all made up of energy centers and chakras and how they’re all based on colors.”

Lea loves the freedom of expression that color allows and it’s only fitting that the shirts, dresses, skirts, swimsuits, and sarongs in this collection is a reflection of this. “I can express feelings and ideas in such a versatile way thanks to the endless possibilities color allows me,” says Lea.

The design brief from COS was simple—create mood-boosting pieces that are perfect for summer and all Lea had to do was her magic. “I worked with flowers in a dark room and had a very fun, open and free process, playing with light, shape and form - which resulted in those prints,” Lea adds, “I work very intuitively and openly and always see a dark room as my own little play space. The images were a mere extension of the abstract prints, really creating and showcasing a world full of Colombo color.'

COS Design Director Karin Gustafsson said it herself that Lea’s unique design process has showed her team what it’s like to live in color through her designs. “Embracing the synergy between art and fashion, we learned to approach color in a new light and embrace it as part of our approach to style,” says Karin.

If there’s one item or two from the collection that spoke to Lea the most it would be the red shirt and shorts ensemble above. “The warmth in the colors are very true to me. As well as the red floral knit, which I love!— the print translated so well into knit,” says Lea.

Get your hands on this limited edition collection by shopping online. Drop by at COS SM Aura Premier to see if the pieces you’re eyeing are available in-store!

Photo Courtesy of COS Philippines