(Photo by Vitorino Coragem)

 

MEET LOLA

The Londonesque is the brainchild of Lola Roftoples Mealha, a ( visually-obsessed ) multidisciplinary creative based in London.

With a bohemian upbringing set amidst rows and rows of books (namely those by her favourite author, Henry Miller), the sound of music, the hard thumping of tireless fingers on her journalist father’s red Valentine typewriter, and an imperishable passion for beauty, nature, and animals, she would spend her days indulging in creative endeavours by reading, writing, and photographing the world around her, always searching for the hidden beauty in the seemingly mundane. Not much has changed since then.

At age five she would ‘play editor’ by creating Style magazine from the photos her parents would bring home from the newspaper they worked at, and two decades later was working as a makeup artist for the fashion and advertising industries. Visual-awareness and a dire need to create has driven her to design and digital development, having founded Flash website development agency Plastic Elastic in the beginning of the noughties, and then La Maison de Lola, a soft toy company whose fun characters have graced the pages of well-respected publications and are retailed by some of the best design shops from L.A. to Tokyo, and everywhere inbetween.
She has also founded Botânica Lisboa, a ‘design meets natural history’ shop, once located in Lisbon’s leafy neighbourhood of Príncipe Real, and purveyor of iconic pieces and other beautiful finds – a lovely project which spread her wings into different directions and was a fundamental part of her learning curve.
In 2011 she moved to her favourite city, London, where she made a home and has been freelance writing for Essential London magazine, interviewing industry leaders in beauty, fashion, and travel, and profiling brands and the amazing people behind them.
2013 has seen her – along with launching The Londonesque – go back to graphic and web design through working on some major real estate and design industry websites, both as a freelancer and on Pixelatti, her own design agency, as well as perfecting her craft at one of the leading WordPress digital agencies in the world, where she has worked with household names – Rightmove, Press Association, Microsoft, JLL, Ecover – and lifestyle brands – Mr Fox magazine – on every step of production, from design and front-end development, to project management.

She lives in Richmond, London – alongside her husband, baby boy and ginger cat – amidst vintage dresses and oil paintings, rows of books, and the sound of indie folk music.

PRESS

Lola has received press from an array of renowned publications the world over, including Monocle, Elle Decoration UK, Dwell, Vogue, The Guardian, The Observer, LuxuryCulture.com, Time Out Lisboa, Time Out Dubai, Máxima Interiores, Essential Lisboa, Mexx, Milk, Cookie, Máxima Decoração, and Blu Design, amongst others.

FOLLOW ALONG

You can find Lola on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.
She is also a member of Journalisted and Best British Bloggers.