November 24, 2019 • 17 mins
Ever dreamt of the perfect bridal gown sketched in your school books? Ever wondered what it takes to transform those dreams into a global couture bridal brand? Meet our guest, Moira Hughes, who will take you on her journey from such dreams to reality. Moira, a world-renowned bridal designer, shares her fascinating journey and how she filled a gap in the Australian bridal market with her elegant and sophisticated designs. Hear her share her inspiration behind her collections, and get a sneak peek into her latest transformable pieces that have been wowing brides for their versatility.
Moira made her mark in the industry with her innovative approach to bridal fashion and her groundbreaking work with Melange Blanc and Coded Agency. She will share her experiences from creating a collection for London Fashion Week to meeting the changing demands in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Special series season in partnership with Coded Agency
_____
Raised in London by Irish parents, Moira designed for brides around the world and eventually settled in Sydney, Australia to open her flagship boutique. Moira quickly built a name for designing 'Australia's most romantic wedding gowns.' They are known for being incredibly light and comfortable. Often made with the Australian summer and international travel in mind.
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moirahughescouture/
Places to go - People to see:
Kelly's Site: http://www.kellymcwilliams.com
Kelly's Blog: https://www.kellymcwilliams.com/blog
Instagram: @kellyamcwilliams
About Kelly:
Kelly knows how incredible a well planned wedding can be. Every moment counts and every decision plays a part. Wedding planning should be fun and as easy to do as possible. Besides planning weddings, Kelly travels the globe as an industry speaker. Kelly is a Martha Stewart Top Wedding Planner & this podcast won Brides magazine and WeddingWire's best podcast.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hello and welcome to this versus that making wedding
decisions with Kelly McWilliams.
This podcast is for you ifyou're making a wedding decision
and want to know what toconsider before saying I do to
all the things that will makeyour wedding experience a great
one.
I'm your host, kelly McWilliams, and I'm so glad to be a part
(00:30):
of your wedding planning journey.
In each episode, you can counton me and my expert wedding
co-hosts to give you everythingit takes to make the best
decisions for the wedding thatyou're dreaming of.
Hi, I'm back.
Episode two.
I hope you loved episode onefrom New York Bridal Market 2023
.
We're still here at Melange deBlanc in the coded PR recording
(00:55):
studio.
I decided that's what we'regoing to call it here.
This interview is with MoiraHughes, who I was so excited to
meet and sit with.
I find this interview sointriguing.
Just as a reminder, there arehundreds of people walking by
and I think it's just it's.
The vibe is just spectacularhere.
(01:15):
Enjoy this interview with MoiraHughes.
Well, I'm so glad that you'rehere and and so here's.
The thing is that I went to thelook at your website Just a
little while ago and that heroimage in the beginning of the
dress with the beads, the pearlson the back, I mean, well,
(01:37):
there's you, two of them,there's the one that has like
their.
They're like hanging.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Yeah, that's how.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Yes, love that.
And then I saw another one thatwas like tons of pearls down
the back.
This I bet you never like best,I feel like that's your dress.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Okay, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Yeah, I don't know if I'll have another one the one
that was 25 years ago but Iwould if I was going to do it.
That's where I would be leaninga hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Oh you sure about renewals?
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Yes, I should do that .
We should have it this yearactually, or last year at the
25th anniversary, but you know.
I guess, yeah, you're right,you're right, so okay.
So I'm very excited to talk toyou about your dresses, but I
definitely want to know moreabout your brand and your story
and like how it all came to be,so our audience can like it to
(02:28):
you and then we'll talk aboutthe dresses, because after they
get to know you, I wish I couldsee your outfit Afterwards.
Guys, when you see us, we'reboth like full-on flowers Look
at all these two girly girls andwe brought the flowers.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
We are cut from the same point, I feel.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Okay, so tell me about your brand and how it all
came to be, how you got intofashion, and bridal fashion at
that.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Well, my brand is more a huge couture Bridal, as
just one of those people isalways what I wanted to do it
was absolutely like my mum movedhouse recently and in all the
margins in my school books withlittle sketches of wedding
dresses.
I started right from thebeginning I was a junior as a
Saturday girl in a wedding dressshop.
(03:14):
I was an assistant fordesigners in London and Ireland.
I went to fashion school inLondon then, so everything was
aimed towards being a bridaldesigner.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
I just loved it.
Yeah, I've managed to work.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
I worked with some pretty incredible designers for
years and years and years.
And then I met my husband andmoved to Australia and worked
for a few designers there.
I felt there was just a reallybig space in Australia from all
my experience in Europe andbought a whole new type of
fabric and carton, a way ofdoing things that are an
(03:50):
elegance, and just a space inbridal that wasn't being filled,
so filled a spot that wasAbsolutely.
It's been such a dream.
We're so busy, we have likeafter 10 years now we're
attracting our right kind ofride, right type of clients, how
it really appreciates what wedo.
So we spent a lot of time onthe fit and the fabric and that
(04:11):
really shines through.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Really Okay.
So what is like, what leads youinto your when you're creating
your collections over your.
Is it the fabric or do you like?
Are you just inspired by?
Like you go to museums or youwere out or you see people and
you see them how they're dressedLike what brings the
inspiration to you when you dosketch?
(04:34):
Absolutely yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
It starts so wide and it's really hard to narrate in.
Everyone says, oh, how do youcome up with 12 designs, but I
could come up with 100, it'schoosing the 12 is really hard
and from a variety, exactly likeyou said.
I might find a fabric and think,oh, that would be so beautiful
in this way.
Or sometimes I'm the bride andwe're coming up with a design
and I can have my own spin on itand think, oh, this is.
(04:59):
You know, you just get thatfire and you're really excited
about that design.
It can come from the fit ofanother dress and I think, oh,
if we did this and added thatwe'll change this, it would be
perfect.
So sometimes the designdevelops slightly.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Do you mean, like you'll have one from a few
seasons back, that you look atit again and be like you know
what?
You know what if we had donethis?
Is that what you?
Speaker 2 (05:23):
mean yeah, that could be a now bride like oh, then,
they were asking for this.
But one real piece in my newcollection is transformable
pieces.
Our clients really wantsomething to go from day to
night, or whether they canre-wear an aspect of their gown
on their wedding anniversary.
So a full skirt that can beremoved or a strap that can come
(05:46):
off and be changed or somethingthat can look very elegant for
the ceremony but then be reallyfun for the evening.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
That's what people are really loving at the moment
and I've seen a little bit ofthat here at Melange du Blanc,
where there were like a lot oflike sleeves that could come off
and things like that.
You also I noticed when I wasgoing through your website you
also do veils as well.
Yeah, do your veils like arethey when you create those?
(06:17):
Are they created to matchspecific dresses or you just
love veils separately?
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Yeah, the veils are mostly separate.
I don't like things being toomatchy-matchy.
I like to design the elementsand then let Brice put them
together to really representtheir own personality on the day
, rather than it being toouniform.
Yeah, so we have, yeah, a rulefor Icy.
Obviously there's an influencethrough the collection like my
(06:43):
new collection is Alchemy.
So, like you very cleverlyrecognized, is those pearl
elements.
The spark was a bit moretexture, so that's definitely
represented across in the veilstoo.
But it's not necessarily thisstress goes with this veil.
Sometimes you can have quite asleek classic gown and the veil
(07:03):
is the Brice time to have realfashion element, knowing that
they can have the more refinedlook later.
One of the most popular piecesat the moment is a whole cape
and it has those ruffles allover it and it's been so popular
it's really drawn the eye ofeveryone from across the world.
You know we have been Bricefrom or clients from all around
(07:25):
the world visiting us.
Like I've seen this cape online, I want to know more from
Sydney.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Oh my gosh.
And do they come to Sydney toget them, or no?
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Yeah, sometimes they're calling us from Sydney,
but for Bridal Market it's shopsfrom all around the world and
then saying our clients areasking for this.
How can we get it from you?
Do you get so excited?
Speaker 1 (07:45):
when that happens.
Oh, I can't believe it.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
You know it's so funny.
They're showing me photos onInstagram and different past
clients that we've worked withand like that.
This is what our clients arelooking at.
This is what they're asking for, and they found us from
literally today all acrossAmerica, dubai.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Oh my gosh, globally, yeah, every country To think
that the star of Purdue is alittle girl.
Yeah, I mean, do you ever sitback and think about that Like I
was seven?
Speaker 2 (08:15):
No, I know, sometimes you stop and you think gosh,
it's been a long journey, but Iknow I should find one of those
designs in the margins and makeit a reality.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
Oh, my gosh, can you imagine?
I mean, you never know.
You never know.
I mean, obviously the talent isright there.
So tell me a little bit aboutthe process of how your lines
come together.
Is it that you like you go onvacation and then you come back
and you're very fresh and you'relike, ok, I'm going to do, you
know, try to do 12 dresses?
(08:45):
And you said you probably arecurating down at that point.
But so what's the process?
That you come back and yousketch first, or you go, like,
sit in the room with fabrics andthen you make patterns?
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Mostly sketches.
I mostly start from sketches.
That might be just ideas orelements and then bring them
together.
Then I'm always at fabricmeetings and looking at new
things, so sometimes one ofthose will jump out and it'll
work really well in sketchalready have, or sometimes that
might trigger something?
Speaker 1 (09:16):
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
And you create it together.
So usually then we'd lay themall out, all my sketches out,
and then see which ones are kindof standing out the most, which
ones complement each other,obviously what clients and
brides are asking for and whatwe feel can elevate for the next
year and offer our brides themost.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
When you say that, when things that they're asking
for, do you mean that when theycome in, they're asking for
changes to dresses that theyalready have and that inspires
you for the next line, or thatyou're seeing a trend there?
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Yeah, there are trends a lot of the time.
They say, for example, sleeves.
I'll say look, I want a slaver.
I kind of want to cut my arm,but I don't want it to be too
hot.
So they give you direction ofwhat they want, but not
necessarily what that looks like.
So for us it might be.
That sleeve is made of silkchiffon, so it's billowy and
it's really light and it's kindof translucent, so it's not too
(10:18):
solid and maybe it's alsoremovable so they can have it
for the ceremony, take it off inthe evening or if they're
feeling, and they're feelingconfident and they don't mind
their arm showing, they can slipit off.
But if they want to keep it onall night, they can too.
So I think, filling that spaceand giving them design options
and being innovative insomething that they don't even
(10:38):
know what they want, they havethe idea and you give them
something better than theythought.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Do you think that or not?
Think when you were in schooland they were teaching you up
when you went to school, wheredid you go and like were you
tuned into bridal fair at school?
Do they have like a lane forthat?
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Or I'm very, very, very, very, very, very, very,
very very.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
So I mean, you dress, I was going there and they're
like how am I going to do bridal?
And they have like set classesfor that.
No, that was just me, just me.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
So a lot of people want to work in fashion.
So they'll set you projects andthey'll say you need to design
with this kind of criteria inmind.
And I just used all like silk,some fabrics that you would use
in bridal.
I would just use those elementsso I could learn how they work,
what's possible, what's not,and then you have that real base
(11:32):
knowledge of patterns and whatyou learn, the rules before you
break them Right.
So that was the base knowledgeand that worked really well.
My final collection was all ofthat.
Ironically enough, it wasbought by a fashion label and
ended up in a fashion line.
My final collection wasactually at London Fashion Week,
which was amazing.
From school From school, I meanthen they couldn't use all the
(11:54):
silk, so they refined it andmade it a bit more every day,
but that was great to walk downOxford Street in London and see
my designs on someone walking inthe street was amazing.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
OK, I was going to say like that's like coming to
New York City and seeing yourname on the billboard.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
It was as a fashion student.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
It was brilliant, yeah, but it also reaffirmed me
that I loved.
I loved bridal.
I learned if you were puttingthat much of your heart and soul
into something, make it forsomeone who's going to remember
it forever, not someone whomight put it on one day, might
sit in their wardrobe or, by thetime it was dialed down and
sent overseas and made so theycould get the most out of the
(12:34):
fabric, it wasn't as specialanymore, when what we do, we
make what we really love andthen work backwards from there.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
One of the things that I loved so much when I was
looking through all of your workonline was that you it wasn't
just the dresses.
I loved that you had the veils.
To me, it just showed that youencapsulate all of that.
The whole look means somethingto you.
It's fashion forward, I wouldsay, but also timeless, really,
(13:12):
really timeless.
So beautiful, beautiful work,and so the alchemy that would be
available to brides early nextyear is that when they start
seeing it, it's just launch now.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
So brides getting married in about a year's time
they'll start seeing in shopsnow and boutiques hopefully
around the world after bridalmarket.
That's so exciting.
It's so exciting.
Is it your first time here?
Speaker 1 (13:39):
It's my third time here, your third time here.
Post photos, post photos, postphotos.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
So first time in a little while and had a family in
between.
So we're here.
We've worked on a lot and we'rereally ready to take it all on
this year.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
That's so great and I wasn't obviously none of us
were here during COVID all thoseyears that we had to skip it.
But it's just what it'sdeveloped into at Melange Blanc
and Co-Dude Agency, what theybrought in To me.
It is so much better.
It's just so much moreavailable, but I feel like
(14:15):
there's just a different vibe,there's a different feeling here
.
Now it's amazing and wonderfuland everyone's here so excited
about their lines and everythingthat they've brought.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Yeah, there's a new level of being grateful, I think
.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
I think you're right.
You see, when it's taken away,what it can be.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
And same for Brides.
They're really excited to getmarried there, Excited to be
able to dance and have everyonethey love there and to have
their own personality.
I think that's really been.
The thing is that Brides wanttheir own personality on the day
.
They don't want somethinggeneric or something like
everyone else has already.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Do you?
I didn't look that far, but doyou have dresses other than?
Speaker 2 (14:53):
wedding day.
We have an earrings range, wehave jewelry.
Oh, okay, again, come from aplace where Brides just weren't
finding what they wanted.
So we developed it and it'sbeen.
We sell out all the time, yousell out All the time, and we
have a few day after or a daybefore looks again from, I see,
for our destination of Brides orBrides that have a night before
(15:17):
the wedding and a day afterexactly, so we have those
elements and we have done BridesModes a lot in the past.
But you know, really we focus onBrides, yeah, and we also have
the wedding dress.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
That's nice, though, that you do have the pre and
post event dresses as wellbecause then you can have that
continuous influence and thenyou can see the thread in all of
it, you know, from starting tofinish, throughout their
weekends.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Maureen, thank you so much for coming and talking to
me today.
I'm so excited for everyone togo see, especially the dresses
that I like in the picture.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
What's the size?
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Which, right when you go to the website, you're going
to see and you're going to belike, oh yeah, so, kelly.
Thank you so much.
Appreciate it, kelly, thank you.
Peace, absolutely.
I'm so glad to be able to sharemy wedding experiences and
expertise with you and that myco-hosts are so giving it theirs
.
We truly do want you to havethe best time at your wedding,
(16:18):
and our hope is that thispodcast is helping you to make
your engagement time whileplanning your wedding that much
easier.
May I ask a favor of you?
If this is the case, would youjust take a moment to leave a
review of this podcast on yourlistening platform?
It helps people just like youto find the podcast and to also
(16:38):
find out their answers so theycan make decisions.
I would also absolutely lovefor you to give this versus that
podcast a shout out on yoursocial media.
You can find us at this versusthat wedding podcast on
Instagram and if you would likeme to help you with a specific
question a wedding decisionplease by all means ask.
(17:00):
Send me a DM.
I would love to hear from youand maybe, just maybe, even have
you as a wedding cast on afuture episode.
How fun, we'll see you soon atanother great wedding.
Hello and welcome to this versus that making wedding
decisions with Kelly McWilliams.
This podcast is for you ifyou're making a wedding decision
and want to know what toconsider before saying I do to
all the things that will makeyour wedding experience a great
one.
I'm your host, kelly McWilliams, and I'm so glad to be a part
(00:30):
of your wedding planning journey.
In each episode, you can counton me and my expert wedding
co-hosts to give you everythingit takes to make the best
decisions for the wedding thatyou're dreaming of.
Hi, I'm back.
Episode two.
I hope you loved episode onefrom New York Bridal Market 2023
.
We're still here at Melange deBlanc in the coded PR recording
(00:55):
studio.
I decided that's what we'regoing to call it here.
This interview is with MoiraHughes, who I was so excited to
meet and sit with.
I find this interview sointriguing.
Just as a reminder, there arehundreds of people walking by
and I think it's just it's.
The vibe is just spectacularhere.
(01:15):
Enjoy this interview with MoiraHughes.
Well, I'm so glad that you'rehere and and so here's.
The thing is that I went to thelook at your website Just a
little while ago and that heroimage in the beginning of the
dress with the beads, the pearlson the back, I mean, well,
(01:37):
there's you, two of them,there's the one that has like
their.
They're like hanging.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Yeah, that's how.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Yes, love that.
And then I saw another one thatwas like tons of pearls down
the back.
This I bet you never like best,I feel like that's your dress.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Okay, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Yeah, I don't know if I'll have another one the one
that was 25 years ago but Iwould if I was going to do it.
That's where I would be leaninga hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Oh you sure about renewals?
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Yes, I should do that .
We should have it this yearactually, or last year at the
25th anniversary, but you know.
I guess, yeah, you're right,you're right, so okay.
So I'm very excited to talk toyou about your dresses, but I
definitely want to know moreabout your brand and your story
and like how it all came to be,so our audience can like it to
(02:28):
you and then we'll talk aboutthe dresses, because after they
get to know you, I wish I couldsee your outfit Afterwards.
Guys, when you see us, we'reboth like full-on flowers Look
at all these two girly girls andwe brought the flowers.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
We are cut from the same point, I feel.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Okay, so tell me about your brand and how it all
came to be, how you got intofashion, and bridal fashion at
that.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Well, my brand is more a huge couture Bridal, as
just one of those people isalways what I wanted to do it
was absolutely like my mum movedhouse recently and in all the
margins in my school books withlittle sketches of wedding
dresses.
I started right from thebeginning I was a junior as a
Saturday girl in a wedding dressshop.
(03:14):
I was an assistant fordesigners in London and Ireland.
I went to fashion school inLondon then, so everything was
aimed towards being a bridaldesigner.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
I just loved it.
Yeah, I've managed to work.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
I worked with some pretty incredible designers for
years and years and years.
And then I met my husband andmoved to Australia and worked
for a few designers there.
I felt there was just a reallybig space in Australia from all
my experience in Europe andbought a whole new type of
fabric and carton, a way ofdoing things that are an
(03:50):
elegance, and just a space inbridal that wasn't being filled,
so filled a spot that wasAbsolutely.
It's been such a dream.
We're so busy, we have likeafter 10 years now we're
attracting our right kind ofride, right type of clients, how
it really appreciates what wedo.
So we spent a lot of time onthe fit and the fabric and that
(04:11):
really shines through.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Really Okay.
So what is like, what leads youinto your when you're creating
your collections over your.
Is it the fabric or do you like?
Are you just inspired by?
Like you go to museums or youwere out or you see people and
you see them how they're dressedLike what brings the
inspiration to you when you dosketch?
(04:34):
Absolutely yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
It starts so wide and it's really hard to narrate in.
Everyone says, oh, how do youcome up with 12 designs, but I
could come up with 100, it'schoosing the 12 is really hard
and from a variety, exactly likeyou said.
I might find a fabric and think,oh, that would be so beautiful
in this way.
Or sometimes I'm the bride andwe're coming up with a design
and I can have my own spin on itand think, oh, this is.
(04:59):
You know, you just get thatfire and you're really excited
about that design.
It can come from the fit ofanother dress and I think, oh,
if we did this and added thatwe'll change this, it would be
perfect.
So sometimes the designdevelops slightly.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Do you mean, like you'll have one from a few
seasons back, that you look atit again and be like you know
what?
You know what if we had donethis?
Is that what you?
Speaker 2 (05:23):
mean yeah, that could be a now bride like oh, then,
they were asking for this.
But one real piece in my newcollection is transformable
pieces.
Our clients really wantsomething to go from day to
night, or whether they canre-wear an aspect of their gown
on their wedding anniversary.
So a full skirt that can beremoved or a strap that can come
(05:46):
off and be changed or somethingthat can look very elegant for
the ceremony but then be reallyfun for the evening.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
That's what people are really loving at the moment
and I've seen a little bit ofthat here at Melange du Blanc,
where there were like a lot oflike sleeves that could come off
and things like that.
You also I noticed when I wasgoing through your website you
also do veils as well.
Yeah, do your veils like arethey when you create those?
(06:17):
Are they created to matchspecific dresses or you just
love veils separately?
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Yeah, the veils are mostly separate.
I don't like things being toomatchy-matchy.
I like to design the elementsand then let Brice put them
together to really representtheir own personality on the day
, rather than it being toouniform.
Yeah, so we have, yeah, a rulefor Icy.
Obviously there's an influencethrough the collection like my
(06:43):
new collection is Alchemy.
So, like you very cleverlyrecognized, is those pearl
elements.
The spark was a bit moretexture, so that's definitely
represented across in the veilstoo.
But it's not necessarily thisstress goes with this veil.
Sometimes you can have quite asleek classic gown and the veil
(07:03):
is the Brice time to have realfashion element, knowing that
they can have the more refinedlook later.
One of the most popular piecesat the moment is a whole cape
and it has those ruffles allover it and it's been so popular
it's really drawn the eye ofeveryone from across the world.
You know we have been Bricefrom or clients from all around
(07:25):
the world visiting us.
Like I've seen this cape online, I want to know more from
Sydney.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Oh my gosh.
And do they come to Sydney toget them, or no?
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Yeah, sometimes they're calling us from Sydney,
but for Bridal Market it's shopsfrom all around the world and
then saying our clients areasking for this.
How can we get it from you?
Do you get so excited?
Speaker 1 (07:45):
when that happens.
Oh, I can't believe it.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
You know it's so funny.
They're showing me photos onInstagram and different past
clients that we've worked withand like that.
This is what our clients arelooking at.
This is what they're asking for, and they found us from
literally today all acrossAmerica, dubai.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Oh my gosh, globally, yeah, every country To think
that the star of Purdue is alittle girl.
Yeah, I mean, do you ever sitback and think about that Like I
was seven?
Speaker 2 (08:15):
No, I know, sometimes you stop and you think gosh,
it's been a long journey, but Iknow I should find one of those
designs in the margins and makeit a reality.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
Oh, my gosh, can you imagine?
I mean, you never know.
You never know.
I mean, obviously the talent isright there.
So tell me a little bit aboutthe process of how your lines
come together.
Is it that you like you go onvacation and then you come back
and you're very fresh and you'relike, ok, I'm going to do, you
know, try to do 12 dresses?
(08:45):
And you said you probably arecurating down at that point.
But so what's the process?
That you come back and yousketch first, or you go, like,
sit in the room with fabrics andthen you make patterns?
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Mostly sketches.
I mostly start from sketches.
That might be just ideas orelements and then bring them
together.
Then I'm always at fabricmeetings and looking at new
things, so sometimes one ofthose will jump out and it'll
work really well in sketchalready have, or sometimes that
might trigger something?
Speaker 1 (09:16):
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
And you create it together.
So usually then we'd lay themall out, all my sketches out,
and then see which ones are kindof standing out the most, which
ones complement each other,obviously what clients and
brides are asking for and whatwe feel can elevate for the next
year and offer our brides themost.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
When you say that, when things that they're asking
for, do you mean that when theycome in, they're asking for
changes to dresses that theyalready have and that inspires
you for the next line, or thatyou're seeing a trend there?
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Yeah, there are trends a lot of the time.
They say, for example, sleeves.
I'll say look, I want a slaver.
I kind of want to cut my arm,but I don't want it to be too
hot.
So they give you direction ofwhat they want, but not
necessarily what that looks like.
So for us it might be.
That sleeve is made of silkchiffon, so it's billowy and
it's really light and it's kindof translucent, so it's not too
(10:18):
solid and maybe it's alsoremovable so they can have it
for the ceremony, take it off inthe evening or if they're
feeling, and they're feelingconfident and they don't mind
their arm showing, they can slipit off.
But if they want to keep it onall night, they can too.
So I think, filling that spaceand giving them design options
and being innovative insomething that they don't even
(10:38):
know what they want, they havethe idea and you give them
something better than theythought.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Do you think that or not?
Think when you were in schooland they were teaching you up
when you went to school, wheredid you go and like were you
tuned into bridal fair at school?
Do they have like a lane forthat?
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Or I'm very, very, very, very, very, very, very,
very very.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
So I mean, you dress, I was going there and they're
like how am I going to do bridal?
And they have like set classesfor that.
No, that was just me, just me.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
So a lot of people want to work in fashion.
So they'll set you projects andthey'll say you need to design
with this kind of criteria inmind.
And I just used all like silk,some fabrics that you would use
in bridal.
I would just use those elementsso I could learn how they work,
what's possible, what's not,and then you have that real base
(11:32):
knowledge of patterns and whatyou learn, the rules before you
break them Right.
So that was the base knowledgeand that worked really well.
My final collection was all ofthat.
Ironically enough, it wasbought by a fashion label and
ended up in a fashion line.
My final collection wasactually at London Fashion Week,
which was amazing.
From school From school, I meanthen they couldn't use all the
(11:54):
silk, so they refined it andmade it a bit more every day,
but that was great to walk downOxford Street in London and see
my designs on someone walking inthe street was amazing.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
OK, I was going to say like that's like coming to
New York City and seeing yourname on the billboard.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
It was as a fashion student.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
It was brilliant, yeah, but it also reaffirmed me
that I loved.
I loved bridal.
I learned if you were puttingthat much of your heart and soul
into something, make it forsomeone who's going to remember
it forever, not someone whomight put it on one day, might
sit in their wardrobe or, by thetime it was dialed down and
sent overseas and made so theycould get the most out of the
(12:34):
fabric, it wasn't as specialanymore, when what we do, we
make what we really love andthen work backwards from there.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
One of the things that I loved so much when I was
looking through all of your workonline was that you it wasn't
just the dresses.
I loved that you had the veils.
To me, it just showed that youencapsulate all of that.
The whole look means somethingto you.
It's fashion forward, I wouldsay, but also timeless, really,
(13:12):
really timeless.
So beautiful, beautiful work,and so the alchemy that would be
available to brides early nextyear is that when they start
seeing it, it's just launch now.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
So brides getting married in about a year's time
they'll start seeing in shopsnow and boutiques hopefully
around the world after bridalmarket.
That's so exciting.
It's so exciting.
Is it your first time here?
Speaker 1 (13:39):
It's my third time here, your third time here.
Post photos, post photos, postphotos.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
So first time in a little while and had a family in
between.
So we're here.
We've worked on a lot and we'rereally ready to take it all on
this year.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
That's so great and I wasn't obviously none of us
were here during COVID all thoseyears that we had to skip it.
But it's just what it'sdeveloped into at Melange Blanc
and Co-Dude Agency, what theybrought in To me.
It is so much better.
It's just so much moreavailable, but I feel like
(14:15):
there's just a different vibe,there's a different feeling here
.
Now it's amazing and wonderfuland everyone's here so excited
about their lines and everythingthat they've brought.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Yeah, there's a new level of being grateful, I think
.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
I think you're right.
You see, when it's taken away,what it can be.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
And same for Brides.
They're really excited to getmarried there, Excited to be
able to dance and have everyonethey love there and to have
their own personality.
I think that's really been.
The thing is that Brides wanttheir own personality on the day
.
They don't want somethinggeneric or something like
everyone else has already.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Do you?
I didn't look that far, but doyou have dresses other than?
Speaker 2 (14:53):
wedding day.
We have an earrings range, wehave jewelry.
Oh, okay, again, come from aplace where Brides just weren't
finding what they wanted.
So we developed it and it'sbeen.
We sell out all the time, yousell out All the time, and we
have a few day after or a daybefore looks again from, I see,
for our destination of Brides orBrides that have a night before
(15:17):
the wedding and a day afterexactly, so we have those
elements and we have done BridesModes a lot in the past.
But you know, really we focus onBrides, yeah, and we also have
the wedding dress.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
That's nice, though, that you do have the pre and
post event dresses as wellbecause then you can have that
continuous influence and thenyou can see the thread in all of
it, you know, from starting tofinish, throughout their
weekends.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Maureen, thank you so much for coming and talking to
me today.
I'm so excited for everyone togo see, especially the dresses
that I like in the picture.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
What's the size?
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Which, right when you go to the website, you're going
to see and you're going to belike, oh yeah, so, kelly.
Thank you so much.
Appreciate it, kelly, thank you.
Peace, absolutely.
I'm so glad to be able to sharemy wedding experiences and
expertise with you and that myco-hosts are so giving it theirs
.
We truly do want you to havethe best time at your wedding,
(16:18):
and our hope is that thispodcast is helping you to make
your engagement time whileplanning your wedding that much
easier.
May I ask a favor of you?
If this is the case, would youjust take a moment to leave a
review of this podcast on yourlistening platform?
It helps people just like youto find the podcast and to also
(16:38):
find out their answers so theycan make decisions.
I would also absolutely lovefor you to give this versus that
podcast a shout out on yoursocial media.
You can find us at this versusthat wedding podcast on
Instagram and if you would likeme to help you with a specific
question a wedding decisionplease by all means ask.
(17:00):
Send me a DM.
I would love to hear from youand maybe, just maybe, even have
you as a wedding cast on afuture episode.
How fun, we'll see you soon atanother great wedding.
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