hai Sofia de Moser Leitão
Joining Hai Society this week is Lisboa-hailing, Paris-based artist, Sofia de Moser Leitão. Sofia currently spreads her time between her work in the fashion industry and, more recently, her ceramic art, something she found a calling for 3 years ago when she took it up for fun in a small pottery studio back home in Lisbon. She's since moved into a more permanent studio and exhibited her playful yet polished pottery designs at shows amongst other rising artists, as well as working with a number of concept stores and boutique art dealers. Aside from this, Sofia's colourful yet curated sense of style shines through in her online presence, where she perfectly combines the laidback salty seduction of her Portuguese roots, with the cultivated classic aesthetics that come hand in hand with a Parisian lifestyle, never failing to make our eyes light up when they come into contact with her work.
Sofia invited us on a play-date with her and her new Bamboo Bag, giving us a peak into the double-life she leads split between city and sea...
Hi Sofia...or should we say Hai!
Hey :-)
Can you describe what you do?
I work as a fashion producer and I am a ceramist artist.
Where do you consider home? When do you know you are home?
I've lived in Paris for the last two years, but home is Lisbon, where I grew up all my life and where my family and a lot of my friends are. I love Paris a lot, but Lisbon will always be first in my heart. I miss the sea a lot when i'm in Paris.
Where do you want to travel to when it’s possible?
There are so many places I want to go. I think I want to explore Italy more. It’s such a beautiful country. I would love to go to Japan too, but for that I want to take like 2/3 weeks so maybe just in a few months.
What was your dream job as a child?
When I was very little I remember I thought working in a supermarket seemed so fun. Then I changed ideas and thought being a ballerina would be more cool. Then for ages I really didn’t know what I wanted to be. Haha
How, or where do you go to find inspiration?
I find inspiration everywhere. In movies, music, Instagram, my friends' clothes. It’s a lot about interesting colour combinations and shapes and if we keep our eyes open, we can find that in the most random places.
Of course other artists and exhibitions can inspire me too. But it’s much more than that.
Do you have a film that you keep coming back to?
I love La Collectionneuse by Eric Rohmer. It's a bit of a cliché, but it’s so so good.
Which books are you reading, or rereading, right now?
I just started l'Heptaméron de Margueritte de Navarre. And I’m also reading on the side a book called “I think too much” from Christel Petitcollin that my psychologist suggested to me haha.
What’s the biggest risk that you’ve taken?
Moving to Paris, as I am so attached to my family in Lisboa.
Do you collect anything? What’s your most treasured possession?
I collect so many things. My friends that know me well are always joking with me about that. I love little objects. I buy them a lot in flea markets.
My most treasured possession is probably the jewellery I’ve inherited from my mother and some art works I’ve been buying from my artist friends.
Is there any particular outfit or item of clothing you’ve worn that holds a special place in your memory?
My Portuguese designer friend’s pieces have a special meaning to me.
Where are you going to take your Hai next?
To have a pisco sour in my favourite restaurant in Paris with my best friends (Mancora cevicheria hehe).
Hi Sofia...or should we say Hai!
Hey :-)
Can you describe what you do?
I work as a fashion producer and I am a ceramist artist.
Where do you consider home? When do you know you are home?
I've lived in Paris for the last two years, but home is Lisbon, where I grew up all my life and where my family and a lot of my friends are. I love Paris a lot, but Lisbon will always be first in my heart. I miss the sea a lot when i'm in Paris.
Where do you want to travel to when it’s possible?
There are so many places I want to go. I think I want to explore Italy more. It’s such a beautiful country. I would love to go to Japan too, but for that I want to take like 2/3 weeks so maybe just in a few months.
What was your dream job as a child?
When I was very little I remember I thought working in a supermarket seemed so fun. Then I changed ideas and thought being a ballerina would be more cool. Then for ages I really didn’t know what I wanted to be. Haha
How, or where do you go to find inspiration?
I find inspiration everywhere. In movies, music, Instagram, my friends' clothes. It’s a lot about interesting colour combinations and shapes and if we keep our eyes open, we can find that in the most random places.
Of course other artists and exhibitions can inspire me too. But it’s much more than that.
Do you have a film that you keep coming back to?
I love La Collectionneuse by Eric Rohmer. It's a bit of a cliché, but it’s so so good.
Which books are you reading, or rereading, right now?
I just started l'Heptaméron de Margueritte de Navarre. And I’m also reading on the side a book called “I think too much” from Christel Petitcollin that my psychologist suggested to me haha.
What’s the biggest risk that you’ve taken?
Moving to Paris, as I am so attached to my family in Lisboa.
Do you collect anything? What’s your most treasured possession?
I collect so many things. My friends that know me well are always joking with me about that. I love little objects. I buy them a lot in flea markets.
My most treasured possession is probably the jewellery I’ve inherited from my mother and some art works I’ve been buying from my artist friends.
Is there any particular outfit or item of clothing you’ve worn that holds a special place in your memory?
My Portuguese designer friend’s pieces have a special meaning to me.
Where are you going to take your Hai next?
To have a pisco sour in my favourite restaurant in Paris with my best friends (Mancora cevicheria hehe).