Ia Enstera Layadi

From the very beginning of her life, it seems Ia has had no choice of career. Born in 1972 to a set of fashion design parents in Helsinki, Finland, she spent most of her TV-less childhood building go-carts out of strollers, gutting out her dollhouse every chance she got, and constructing intricate miniature townships out of grass, dirt, mud, sticks, stones, moss, pinecones, and snow. She learned very early on that as much as yellow makes a great accent color in just about every situation, it is not ideal in snow.

Although fashion would have seemed the most natural path for Ia to follow, a love of theatre had been running through her veins as well. Her grandmother had been an actor on the Finnish stage and her great uncle had received a Jussi (Finnish Oscar) for his work in Me Tammelat. Growing up an only child, Ia was given many opportunities to grow her interests in various forms of art. She danced ballet with Malaya Bronnaya (Moscow Theatre), folk danced with Tanhukerho, and doodled beside her designer mother until she was six. As her mother professes, “I had to throw her out of my studio when I noticed she drew my designs better than I did!” This Ia finds to be quite laughable. She has always been in awe of her mother’s talents, and has always wished to one day equal them.

It is her art that pulled Ia into costume design. While attaining her BFA in acting from Texas State University, Ia had the opportunity to take a class in costume design. It was in this class that Sheila Hargett (head of the costume dept.) “discovered” her drawing skills and quickly put them to good use. Sheila took a great chance on an unknown designer, and asked her to design Carnival, as well as to be the costume shop manager the next year. Ah, what a proposition. She found something she enjoyed much more than acting, and has never looked back.

It has now been 12 years since that “discovery,” and Ia has made her living production designing, storyboarding, and art directing in film, theatre, and commercials. As the Art Director of Wink! Design Studios, she has kept busy doing all things artistic, from painting murals to designing retail spaces to illustrating novels. All this, while guarding her studio from a hostile take-over by her 8-year old son.

She is known for her brutal honesty, blunt candor, and frightfully creative imagination. While garnering a handful of awards for her designs, she has managed to stay friends with her clients for many years.

To be exact, one of her favorite “clients” goes back some 8 years to days at Zachary Scott Theatre. That is where Ia met Judy while costuming for Project InterAct. 836 shows later, (Ok, we really don’t know how many, but it’s A LOT) they are still loving working together to bring theatre to younger audiences, and making snide remarks about politics every now and then.

Ia resides in Austin with her partner in business and life, Stacy, with her incredibly talented son, Elias, and their three “fierce” dogs. She welcomes you to check out her website at www.winkds.com, and to send her a “Hello” any time at ia@winkds.com.