How a gown is born
We often get asked about where we get our inspiration from. Inspiration comes from endless research, or it could be as simple as something we see in the streets every day; it comes when you are searching for the tiniest detail, or it comes when you least expect it. A bridal gown designer’s job is to turn these inspirations into physical ideas in the form of Bridal Gowns.
We start off by researching on the bridal trends of the season on our own and doing up a few sketches. Then 3 of us will sit together in a gruelling session to discuss the designs – what works and what does not work. The Asian market is very different from the Western market; Asians are more conservative and prefer something more elaborate while Westerners like simple and fuss-free gowns. We always take that into consideration when designing. When the designs are finalised, we go on fabric and material shopping trips, then it’s time to send it to our seamstresses for production.
We’ll schedule a design session with our seamstresses to go through the designs with them. This point is crucial, as any form of miscommunication will result in an unintended outcome. Sometimes, a single design can take up to one hour to finalise. When everything is done, the seamstresses will proceed to make the dresses, and 2 weeks later, it’ll be ready! However, at this stage, the dress is only 50% completed, it still requires a lot of detailing work, which is all done by hand. This is the part where the designers will work their magic! First, we start off by finding the perfect lace to match the gown. Is this lace enough? Is it too flat? Does it need another lace to compliment the design? When all is decided, we get to work cutting out lace patterns and pinning them onto the gown, followed by hand sewing the lace appliques to secure them down. This is what most of our clients see us doing when they step into our studio. The final step to complete the gown is the adding of the beading details. We’ll go through the same process of picking out the beads and crystals that is suitable and sew it onto the gown. Finally, we’ll do a full check and touch up any loose ends and the gown is ready to be placed on our rack for brides to try!
