DIALOGUES WITH MISS LYLO

Her love for the art of embroidery is palpable in every stitch. A designer by trade, Loly Ghirardi uses her talent to create works that are not only visually beautiful, but also tell stories. Skilled in various embroidery techniques, Loly experiments with tools, elements, colors and textures to bring her ideas to life and infuse each work with her personal touch.

In this interview, Loly told us about her creative process and how she manages to capture her vision in each work she creates.

How did the Señorita Lylo project come about? What led you to fall in love with embroidery?

The Miss Lylo project was born without consciously looking for it. It was about ten years ago , when I was in the middle of trying to get pregnant and after several attempts I discovered that I couldn't get pregnant naturally and I was going to need treatments. During that frustrating journey, to calm my anxiety, I took classes on different things, I always looked for workshops to develop the more manual part , because I worked in front of the computer every day. I am a graphic designer and I have always been a very curious and creative person.

Motherhood never came, but during that time I discovered something new: embroidery. I started taking all the courses that came my way, I was like a sponge that absorbed everything. I learned different techniques and made different pieces. And then the opportunity came to participate in Agustina Guerrero 's book “Diary of a Volatile”, I was able to join in with a double-page embroidery. It was the springboard to make myself known and from all this, Miss Lylo was born. Learning to embroider helped me develop patience and make peace with my reality. When I sit down with my threads and needles and start a new frame, everything becomes calm. I concentrate on that unique moment, the sound of the needle piercing the fabric, my fingers caressing the stitches that are joining together. I always say that my embroideries are a sum, a collection of my minutes, hours and days that translate into unique pieces. And all of that is what makes me fall in love with embroidery.

Of the entire process of creating an embroidery, what part do you enjoy the most? What inspires your work the most?

I enjoy the whole process of embroidery, because each part has its own interesting point. When looking for inspiration, I am like a child who is attracted to simple things. As I am a restless person, I always have my antennas tuned to find something that catches my attention . It is key to find a story behind it, a concept to know what I am going to say or tell with my embroidery. And once I find it, the other part is to see how I can synthesize the image, what stitches I can work with, what type of thread and what the color palette would be.

It may sound like a utopian idea, but it's true that I find inspiration in everything around me. In several of my projects, you can see that everyday life. I recreated the hydraulic tiles in my house using the punch needle technique, I used photo transfer to work on my grandparents' wedding photo, and I used stumpwork to remake a photo of myself from a trip to Bali when I came across a plant with giant leaves.

Embroidery, with techniques such as darning and cross-stitching, has become a tool to confront the mass consumption of clothing. What do you think about the growing trend to recover these traditions?

I think that embroidery is more relevant than ever, it is gaining a very interesting claim and luckily it is no longer seen as a feminine task to be carried out inside the home. There is also a historical revisionism that rescues the history of female embroiderers from other times and that shows us that for a long time embroidery has been used to communicate messages , like the suffragettes who embroidered their banners or embroidered scarves with advice from women to other women.

I consider myself a fan of embroidering my clothes, it gives them a unique and unrepeatable value. I have embroidered sneakers, jackets, and I repair my worn jeans with visible mending. Embroidery has infinite possibilities and the fact that it is once again visible and trendy is a joy.

Do you think that the fact that this is a technique that requires time, effort and skill makes it an act of resistance against mass production and the "use and throw" culture?

Yes, embroidery is an act of resistance. Nowadays everything is fast, dizzying, everything is now and now. When I start embroidering, time is different and passes in a different way. Even breathing calms down and ideas flow calmly. It helped me get through a very important moment of stress and anguish in my life. Embroidery is also a therapy. And it is an act of protest that, although it takes place in silence and calm, and sometimes even in the solitude of home, can provide many powerful messages to the outside world.

The educational part is essential in the Señorita Lylo project. Do you have any workshops or courses in mind?

In 2016, I was the first to offer an online embroidery course in the newly launched “craft” section on Domestika . Then more came along and today I have four embroidery courses, at different levels, on the platform. I also give face-to-face courses in Barcelona at the Duduá space. Every so often I visit other cities with my threads and needles and teach embroidery wherever I go.

And some very important news that fills me with excitement is that I am in the middle of writing and embroidering my first individual book with the publishing label Lumen (Nothing more, nothing less!). These have been months of hard work. I don't have a definitive publication date, but it will be in the second half of the year. Writing and embroidering this book is a journey into my past, my most personal story and my beginnings in embroidery.

If you want to join the embroidery revolution, check out our capsule collection of embroidered espadrilles.