Maayan Zilberman is a cool person. The Vancouver-raised lingerie designer behind bombshell intimates line The Lake & Stars, artist and baker and candy maker has an eclectic array of talents and an the incredible imagination to fuel them. Case in point: her most recent work involves creating rose-coconut flavoured flower-petals out of chewing gum and rendering lipstick in sugar. Here, Zilberman explains how her Star Trek obsession has influenced her taste, where to find glamorous vintage when in Van, and the importance of memories that melt in your mouth.
Tell us a bit about yourself, and the origins of your creativity.
Now I split my time between New York and L.A., but I was born in Israel, and grew up in Vancouver. When I was little, I’d walk to the library in Kits and check out books on cakes, astronomy, Lautrec and Judy Blume’s Deenie. Rather than segregating my hobbies, I mashed them all together.
Your resumé is incredibly diverse: lingerie designer, visual artist, jeweler, baker and candy maker. What unites your passions across the board?
What fulfills me is making things that feel new and that unite people—the medium doesn’t matter. I’m mostly interested in taking the frills away from stereotypical representations of lingerie, jewelry and desserts. Everything I work on has to put a smile on your face… Life is already so serious; I’m trying to lighten it up a bit.
You’ve made cakes that look like giant burritos, and candies that look like handcuffs and orthodontic retainers. What draws you to render certain objects that in sugar?
The objects I make into candy are all nostalgic items for me—pieces of my personal history that I want to share and, in candy, they become memories you can put in your mouth, dissolve and make your own. It’s highly personal. The combinations of objects and flavours are an ongoing conversation.
As someone who works with both food and fashion, is there an esthetic overlap between what you produce and how you dress?
Yes, definitely. I’m drawn to outfits that blur the lines between femininity, science fiction and formality. I like fashion that tells a story. I’d much rather wear a dress resembling something off the set of sixties Star Trek than a runway look.
When visiting Vancouver, what are some cool things you get up to?
My favourite time to visit home is in August, when the gardens are in bloom and I can wander around Queen Elizabeth Park and visit the night market. The first thing I do is drive to the Great Canadian Superstore with my mom and stock up on my favourite President’s Choice cookies, and everything Joe Fresh. I think the best place for vintage is Burcu’s Angels; every dress I’ve worn for events has come from there! Finally, Costco! Nobody realizes this, but Vancouver Costco is the best in the world.
—Adrienne Matei
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