A lady who brings you more than just zouk on the dance floor – Lesley Tam
On 26 April 2014, Lesley is revolutionizing the London zouk scene this with her fashionable freshwear label, Minx: Zouk Fashion that keeps you fresh while you dance away, in style. Saucy. Sensual. Salacious. Inspired by the most sensual Latin dance - Brazilian Zouk.Before the birth of her label, I was planning to feature her as “the most stylish zouk lady” in London zouk scene; obviously I do not have to write this any more. I recall asking her several times where she got her gold dress and top in the past. I am so glad that we do not have to worry about how to get those stylish fashions any more. I am sure her range goes strength to strength. I am just hoping it will not go beyond our means. Here’s my interview with Lesley on her exciting zouk fashion label:What inspired you to launch a zouk fashion line? I’m a zouk addict. Zouk is a strong source of my happiness, my medicine and my all-time-pick-me-up. It literally pulled me out of some lowest points on my life, I’m talking about medical condition level mental and physical pain. A month ago I had some OMG moments of combining my passion for the most sensual Latin dance, Brazilian zouk and my artistic talent to create something new & exciting. A month later, I find myself giving birth to my new quick-dry fashion label, Minx. I then found myself being in the vortex of creating a one of a kind fashion brand ever since I kicked the ball rolling started from when I was on the plane from London to Shanghai a month ago. In a matter of an over haul flight journey I’ve finalized the design of my first Ladies Read To Wear collection; purchased fabric on my 2nd day of arrival; ordered my samples on the 3rd day etc. I’ve been kept up by my own excitement of this new venture for 7 days, to the point that I only managed to sleep a total of 8 hours ...as if Mr. inspiration is in a rush to flow through me to be materialized in the physical realm, that's until my body stopped my by giving me a burn out! ...Well it's still waking me up at 6am without fail everyday, no matter what time I sleep these days! Within a week, I’ve confirmed the date of the soft launch of Minx - 26th April.Has the concept of energy come from sex entirely come up with on your own idea, or has someone inspire you? I have a strong view on sexual energy, reflected by my scarf label Voile Rouge which focuses on encouraging women to embrace their own sexuality – find out more on www.voilerouge.co.uk . I feel sex has been devalued, and the topic of sex has been looked down upon while sexual energy is actually the most powerful energy in the world - without it there simply won't be any existence. I want to challenge the general publics view on sex, and bring in the awareness of tantric sex, which is sacred in its original form.I also want to raise the awareness of Tantric sex to the general public as it helps us to appreciate sex in a more spiritual context.What has sexual energy has to do with zouk? The form of dance call Zouk Lambada is actually very tantric – it’s a dance of the merge of male and the female energy.Tantra is a Sanskrit word that means “woven together”; Hindu and Buddhist meditation practitioners use sexual union as a metaphor for weaving together the physical and the spiritual: weaving man to woman, humanity to the divine – achieving the sense of “dissolving into each other”, which is very similar to the energy of zouking when two dancers are in sync in the dance.What did you make special to make zouk fashion in particular? (Material or cut etc?) Minx dresses are made to help zouk girls to create art on the dance floor – as the dress moves with the body it floats and leave a trail of the movement of the body, allowing zouk girls to paint in the air with their body movement. Minx dresses also provide a solution for conspicuous consumption – the outfit work in layers: a tube dress works as a base layer with built in bra + inter-changeable skirts designed to be worn on top of the tube dress. Zouk girls always suffer from soaking wet bra after each zouk night out, let along finding a bra that works with the movement of zouk which would work with the outfit of the night is a hassle, so I’ve created my zouk dresses to have built in bras so we can comfortably dance without the hassle and uncomfortable-ness of wearing a bra. Like all Minx product, I used quick-dry fabric to keep us zoukers sweat away in style J What occasions is the best to wear? Whenever one wants to feel beautiful and sensual!Can we wear in town? or suitable for parties or show Of course you can! Minx dresses are made-to-impress ;)Any colour concept? (such as earth colour or bling bling etc)if any Mainly head-turning colours and fabricHow long you have been selling fashion products? As mentioned, I have a scarf) line called Voile Rouge that I have just started to put on the market in April 2014. Some of them has been featured at a crowd funding website:How many variations of zouk products have you produced and to sell? For zouk girls: tube dress, skirts, tops, shortsFor zouk guys: T-shirts, shirts On the pipeline: light weight trousers for zouk guys, discreet pouch with adjustable belt for zoukers to carry their cash/card/mobile/lipstick with them to the dance floor - to be worn hidden under shirt/skirtWhere can we get your range? Apart from your website?Into The Dark293 Portobello Road, Notting HillSelected Items "www.kazouk.net" (TBC)PLEASE GO AND CHECK HER LATEST ACTIVITIES on:www.londonminx.comhttps://www.facebook.com/MinxLondon-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Friends & Family soft launch of Minx to be held on 26 April at Meininger Hotel, 65-67 Queen's Gate, South Kensington, London, SW7 5JS Party starting from 7:30 p.m. A zouk fashion show to present MINX at 10:30 p.m., which will be featured as the first episode of Danny’s World TV series.