LAILA GOHAR, Food in Wonderland
- Nathalie Dassa
- Oct 21
- 3 min read
The Egyptian-born artist and designer, based in New York, puts food at the center of her playgrounds in installations, pop-ups, and interior decorations, blending storytelling and emotion, between fashion, art, and design.
Roses crystallized in sugar for a Simone Rocha fashion show, cake chairs for Sotheby’s, a five-meter raspberry tart for Hermès, a four-meter mortadella for the inauguration of Galeries Lafayette on the Champs-Élysées in France... Laila Gohar captivates with her sense of excess and pleasure, conviviality and hospitality. Born in Cairo, Egypt, and now based in New York, she has established her own style between artistic performance and catering, pushing the boundaries of gastronomy. In ten years, she has become a leading figure in the world of fashion, design, and art. Other major fashion houses, such as Gucci, Prada, and Comme des Garçons, call upon her fertile imagination, where glitz and extravagance blend into inventive settings.
FROM THE MARVELOUS TO THE SURREAL
Today, culinary aesthetics are constantly reinventing itself through bold concepts, innovative creations, and immersive experiences, blurring the boundaries between sectors. Artistic expression thus finds its way onto every table. Laila Gohar’s works evoke enchantment and eccentricity. Her repertoire is open to everything, everywhere. She also draws on her roots, heritage, and education to weave stories.
In 2020, she opened up new possibilities in interior design and tableware through her brand, Gohar World, which she created with her sister Nadia. Together, they playfully reinterpret the functionality of everyday objects. Their inaugural collection was designed for hosting in the modern world, where satin and lace interact with playful accessories.
Laila Gohar brings chic back to oven mitts and dishwashing gloves, transforms radishes into flowers, imagines heirloom tomatoes as large ice cubes, sublimates a swan into an artichoke, re-enchants tablecloths with cakes resembling shirts adorned with orange blossoms and almonds, and designs a chandelier with hard-boiled eggs... The inventiveness is limitless!
A WHIMSICAL UNIVERSE
After Salvador Dalí’s gala dinners, it’s time for Laila Gohar’s culinary explorations. This young mother of a two-and-a-half-year-old son, Paz, with her partner Ignacio Mattos, chef at the helm of avant-garde New York restaurants such as Estela and Altro Paradiso, continues to further her expertise. She also writes monthly columns for the Financial Times in her “How to host it” section, where she tells stories about receptions and the art of hosting.
Since 2024, Laila Gohar has been based in the Tribeca neighborhood, with the Gohar World label nearby, leaving Chinatown where she had lived and worked for seven years. She continues to combine the personal and the professional, inviting her guests to large, increasingly inventive dinner parties.
In September 2025, she collaborated with Marimekko, a Finnish lifestyle design brand, on a capsule collection dedicated to the bedroom, paying tribute to the legendary prints of textile designer Maija Isola. The same month, at Paris Design Week, she designed a range of home linens for the Vis-à-Vis Paris brand, accompanied by a scenography in the form of an enchanted vegetable garden with snacks sprouting from the ground.
For Gohar World’s end-of-year collection, “The Table VIII FW Holiday 2025/2026,” she drew inspiration from the dreamlike beauty of the Nile, with refined materials, original accessories, and simple gestures, welcoming more and more “those who sit at our table.”
@lailacooks | gohar.world | @gohar.world
Photo credits Gifts Kits and Products Flats © Rhea Karam / The Table VIII FW Holiday 2025/2026 - Gohar World
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