Ladies of Leisure founders Savannah Anand-Sobti and Sally Tabart met through a mutual friend six years ago. It was a creative partnership made in heaven. Since that time, their vision of a publication where they could share their femme-identifying and non-binary friend’s work has evolved into a uniquely supportive and community focused collective.
While LOL’s vision has remained steady, Melbourne’s creative scene has changed dramatically since they started out. “There are different creative spaces, different people, different platforms. Instagram wasn’t even around when we first started. I think there is a certain naivety that has been collectively lost in the past six years. Now there is no way of avoiding the truth of what our world is. I think that’s changed the way people have approached what they’re putting out and what they’re supporting,” says Sally. It’s this awareness of the divisive, problematic nature of the world at large that drives Savannah and Sally to keep the LOL community alive. “While there are so many incredible women and female-identifying people running amazing creative projects in Melbourne, there isn’t really a hub for people to come together. We wanted to be that,” she says.
LOL recently returned from a hiatus, and the time away was a chance for Savannah and Sally to redirect their creation. For months they were working tirelessly behind the scenes, and their hard work paid dividends earlier this month when LOL relaunched. They’ve been selling out workshops, hosting packed friendship speed-dating evenings and writers and readers clubs. Their workshop line-up features some of Melbourne’s most fascinating and accomplished creatives—think Beth Wilkinson of Lindsay Magazine and Alice McIntosh and Emma Cutri, the design duo behind Sister Studios.
They’re imbued with a warm, welcoming atmosphere. It’s a safe space where attendees can work through complex ideas and issues. A place where achievements and successes are demystified. The aim, explains Sally, is to provide workshops that cover topics you don’t see explored elsewhere. “We kind of think of them as the stuff you wish you learned in traditional education that would actually help you in your life and career. Sometimes we’ll start with the idea and then find a leader who we think would fit the topic. But often it’s about approaching a person that we think is making great, important work and collaborating with them to come up with a topic they’re passionate about that would resonate with our audience,” she says.
But it’s their recently unveiled physical space in Fitzroy that is the most tangible representation of what they have achieved. An embodiment of the playful, inclusive energy that the collective is known for, the space is really something to behold. Bold greens and pinks, painstakingly reupholstered vintage church pews and floral arrangements by Hattie Molloy lend it a very specific feel. Experiencing the space is akin to drinking a chilled glass of rosé on a Saturday evening in summer. You feel content and comfortable, yet excited and anticipatory.
“In the six years that we’ve been doing LOL together we have always dreamed of having a physical space. Although LOL started as an independent publication, it’s ultimately more about a philosophy of finding your voice and uplifting others. We’ve spent a long time building this incredible community, and it makes sense to have an IRL environment for people to actually meet each other, make friends, have discussions and learn together,” says Sally. For Savannah, the fit-out process was a labour of love. “I got obsessed with interior design and sourcing second hand furniture. Pip Newell of Curated Spaces, who I designed the space with, used Pinterest to create a mood board with such mega aspirational stuff. We were inspired by really immersive interiors from all around the world,” she explains.
During their hiatus, the LOL website was also given a revamp, through a collaboration with New Zealand designers Meide Studio. “We decided we wanted to create ‘slow content.’ There’s so much out there on the WWW — it’s over saturated. There’s already good news outlets and platforms. We didn’t feel like we needed to aspire to that. We decided we would rather make content that can be looked at time and time again. Quality over quantity,” says Savannah. Much like LOL, the website is fun, diverse, and engaging. “We want this to be an outlet for female-identifying people to share everything and anything. There’s so much talent out there making incredible work, and not a whole lot of places to put that work anymore,” she elaborates. It’s the heart of what makes LOL so essential. It’s a place, both virtual and physical, that gives creativity the chance to flourish. “When you can see people feeling so good after attending a workshop, getting out of their comfort zone, making friends or projects afterwards, you can have a moment where you say to yourself, ‘This is the whole darn point,’” says Savannah. Ultimately, LOL proves that there is strength and power to be found in kindness. It shows that it’s important to care. And it’s a community that celebrates the collaborative, work-in-progress nature of us all.
Credits
Photography Anu Kumar