Colossal prawn towers. Swans crafted from artichoke leaves. Furniture fashioned out of brioche buns. Laila Gohar has caught the attention of the design world (and everyone on Instagram) with her surreal, larger-than-life sculptures that merge the worlds of food and art. In 2020, together with her sister Nadia, she launched Gohar World: a brand of tableware that embraces craft, tradition and humour.

I started Gohar World because…

“My sister and I wanted to make design accessible to more people. I’ve worked in that space for over 15 years, but it could be quite exclusive. At Gohar World, we have brilliantly designed, handmade products over a spectrum of price points.”

My muse...

“A lot of the stuff we produce feels like heirlooms. I was thinking of the sort of person who would collect it. I imagine this much older character. She’s eccentric and eclectic. She doesn’t have any children. And she’s lived in far-flung and exotic places around the world, accumulating all these beautiful objects. It’s a bit of fantasy, but it makes it all the more fun and exciting.”

The importance of crafts... 

“They have been passed on to us, and we have an obligation to preserve them. We design in New York but work with family ateliers around the world – cotton producers in Egypt, porcelain makers in Milan, fifth-generation Viennese glassmakers and so many more. I love that we work with people who have been making things in the same way for hundreds of years. There’s so much soul in it.”

Good design should...

“Evoke a feeling. Everything I invest in raises some sort of emotion in me.”

My top tip for hosting...

“Be present for your guests. As soon as people walk through the door, put your worries away and just be there for them. When it comes to tablescaping, think outside the box and work with what you have: flowers from your garden, centrepieces crafted out of unconventional things that you already own. Be inventive!”

Gohar World, coming soon to Selfridges.