Profile
Designer, philanthropist, world citizen, wife and mother of three Lanya-Michele Salvail has put SOPHIE FAROH firmly back on the Scandinavian fashion scene.
Lanya-Michele is now the majority owner and Managing & Creative Director of SOPHIE FAROH, a company originally founded in 1997 by Ole Christian Sandberg who later created luxury bottled water company Voss of Norway.
Sold at leading high-end, independent retailers throughout Norway and featured in the pages of leading fashion magazines Elle and Cosmopolitan, SOPHIE FAROH is now positioned to establish an international presence, and Lanya-Michele says she owes all to her family the children, husband, and friends who give her a sense of balance, as she aptly defines it.
The even distribution of weight enabling someone or something to remain upright and steady.The epitome of a truly chic cosmopolitan woman, Lanya-Michele was brought up in Montreal of a Haitian/French Canadian background and has lived in Europe for the past 15 years, settling in Norway with her family in 2003.
Her mixed cultural upbringing put her in good stead for the adventurous Norwegian lifestyle (living in Norway means having an active lifestyle; a full four seasons means lots of skiing, hiking, boating etc.) and gave her the inspiration and endurance to succeed in a rich array of entrepreneurial and cultural endeavors.
First educated in culinary arts at Leiths Institute of London, Lanya-Michele first became a restaurateur, and then went on to co-found MyBrandBoutique (a designer fashion outlet concept) and eventually taking on the position as Creative and Managing Director of SOPHIE FAROH.
Traveling regularly throughout Europe, the Middle East, Asia and North America, her designs reflect an intrinsic understanding of the needs of modern women; for versatility, for mobility; for adventure while maintaining a requisite sophistication, style, and class.
Inspired by her many travels and active lifestyle, Lanya-Michele fashions each SOPHIE FAROH collection with versatile pieces to fit many occasions, climates and cultures for the modern woman who runs a business, has a family and hobbies, and who travels but always wants to look good and comfortable while doing it! SOPHIE FAROH inspires not only the look, but the spirit of the times As a woman of Haitian/French Canadian descent with strong ties her to extended paternal family, naturally the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti was a particular call to arms for Lanya-Michele. In January, she set up The SOPHIE FAROH Haiti project in order to raise awareness and resources for disaster relief efforts. Through local media coverage in Norway and effective fundraising, SFHP.
