Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Andrew: Okay, we said we're going to learn costs in a little while. Just going back to
what you just said then so if they do make some modifications, they could still end up
basically with the same gown with a little bit less beading or lace, and still have a
couture gown. Kel-Leigh: Absolutely, absolutely. I mean
the beading could be swapped from Swarovski crystals to something a little bit less expensive
or just minimize that beadwork. Handwork, anything that's time consuming always does
cost a little bit extra so we might be able to replace that with something that's a little
quicker to do but still give the effect that she wants, and fabric choice as well. Fabrics
range from one end to another so we could pick a fabric that still will hold the shape
and give the correct feel of the gown but might be a little bit more friendlier for
her and her budget. Andrew: Awesome. So, OK the bride leaves after
the first appointment, what happens behind the scenes? Is it ordering silk? Is it looking
at patterns or do you have to design an individual pattern for every dress?
Kel-Leigh: We usually design individual patterns for every dress so what would happen is once
the client books, we take all her measurements that we need for that gown and behind the
scenes, we spend a day drafting patterns and then we cut out a mock-up of the dress which
is called a toile, which is usually made of calico and she will have on her first fitting
that mock-up fitting which technically is more for us because it's mastering that pattern
and it's creating a master pattern for her body. And then once that's happened, again
behind the scenes, we would tear up that pattern, refine it, reshape it, and then re-cut into
the gown. So, during that time while we're doing the toile, fabrics are being ordered,
crystals, beadwork, lace all that is getting ordered and getting in store, so she can start
to see the whole concept of colours put together and beadwork and stuff.
Andrew: So, it's called a toile? Kel-Leigh: It's called a toile. T-O-I- double
L -E. Andrew: Is that stage is that the actual silk
that's going be in the dress? Kel-Leigh: No, that's just a calico, it's
all made out of calico. If it's, for instance, a corset top and a big flowy skirt, we wouldn't
do a toile in a skirt because there’s no measurements, we won't need to do that. It
would pretty much just be the top that we'll be toiling on her because that's where all
the shape is, where the fit is, the texture. It's, I would say, sort of the most boring
of the fittings but girls generally get really excited to think that their dress starts from
a piece of calico on their body into a couture gown.
Andrew: So, that's not the appointment where they come and go, wow, this looks amazing.
Kel-Leigh: No. Some girls get very excited, very excited, but it's not. It's the one after
that when they start to see their dream dress really start to take shape. So after that
calico, it's then cut into the real fabric so then they come back and have a dress.
Andrew: So they don't get excited in that toiling appointment. So, you’ve done the
toiling appointment and then the girls head off again and that's when you go work on the
actual gown. Kel-Leigh: That's when we actually go to work
on the actual gown. So between the toile and the first fitting, it would usually be a number
of weeks sometimes up to 2 to 3 months because there’s just a lot of work on our end so
there's a lot of refining that toile pattern and then the cutting out, putting all the
layers together, I mean a bridal couture top would probably have anywhere between 5 and
6 layers so when you think about that, you’re cutting 6 tops for every couture gown.
Andrew: Wow Kel-Leigh: So there's a lot of layers and
boning and structure and a lot of handwork as well, so it is quite a little bit in between
that fitting time but saying that we sort of make up with the wow factor so when they
come, it’s worth the wait. Andrew: So that appointment then, there’s
no beading, there’s no lace at that stage, it still just the actual dress?
Kel-Leigh: It still is the dress if she does have like a lace corset, the lace would be
put into the dress, it wouldn’t be finished off because a lot of our lace work gets done
by hand and that can only be finished off when the gown is all constructed completely
but she would have some lace in there but no beading or anything like that at this stage.
Beading usually is the last thing that would go on.
Andrew: So, this appointment here, is this the one where you see on the movies of the
girl standing up on the box, have the dress put on and mums and bridesmaids are there
and... Kel-Leigh: Yes, and then cry, and they get
all excited, yes, that's the one. I love that fitting, that’s special to me as well. I
love that fitting. Andrew: So how far before the wedding is that
one? Kel-Leigh: That one would be, I’m mean,
if they’re their booking their calico 12 months beforehand, this one would probably
be, I would say, 8 months, 7/8 months before the wedding.
Andrew: Oh, that's still a long way out. Kel-Leigh: Still a long out.
Andrew: You still have a lot of work to do. Kel-Leigh: Absolutely, absolutely.
Andrew: There’s a lot more work at the cutting table at that stage that the girls don't see.
Kel-Leigh: Absolutely. It’s the part that yeah, they don’t get to see because it's
in between the gown but it’s the really essential part of putting the gown together
and handwork and beading even some seams, laces that have beads on it, we can’t put
under a machine so they would all have to be, the beads would have to be stripped, the
gown will have to be sewn and they all have to be handbeaded back on and that takes time.
Andrew: Right. So they've have that second fitting and then the next one is to pick up
the gown? Kel-Leigh: No, in general, in total they probably
4 to 5 fittings so then their one after the very first fitting would be, they’d be trying
it on again, with some of the seams that have been finished off, have been closed, maybe
some of the beadwork would be started and they’d get to see a little bit of that as
well and then each consecutive fitting after that would be another stage of the gown that
we have completed and then we try on just to make sure everything is a perfect fit.
This gown has to fit like a glove so it does require anywhere between 4 to 6 fittings and
your 6th one is usually your pickup. Andrew: And the girls can bring someone with
them every time. Kel-Leigh: Absolutely. I think it’s nice
for them to share that because generally a wedding gown is a secret and I think girls,
we do get brides who do come in on their own and never bring anybody cause they want on
the day, they want to have that impact of their hair and their make-up and their bouquet
and that wow factor and we do do that quite a lot with brides but, in general, mum comes
along, bridesmaids do come along so it’s sort of nice, a little girly event.
Andrew: So there is a lot of hours going into each gown even if there’s not a lot of beading.
Kel-Leigh: Absolutely. On average, we would probably spend on a gown that doesn’t have
a lot of handwork in it, we would still be spending anywhere between 40 to 60 hours on
each gown. A gown that has a lot of beadwork we can spend up to 200 to 300 hours on a gown,
so they do take a long time to construct. Andrew: Wow.
Kel-Leigh: Yeah. Andrew: So, and what about if they’re coming
in for an off-the-rack style of dress. You wouldn't call those couture gowns now, are
they? Kel-Leigh: We have a ready-to-wear couture
line which is generally our one-off sample gowns so girls can come in and pick a colour
off one, a top off another and we can create a gown for them or they can come in and actually
buy our sample gowns and they're one-off gowns. Andrew: And they're actually couture gowns.
Kel-Leigh: Yup. They are actually couture gowns and once that gown is bought, we don't
reproduce it. We move on and design something else and in that way girls can sort of, some
girls can't visualize and they need to purchase something that they can physically see on
their bodies and not something that's on a bit of paper, so we offer that and then we
have my other label which is Kayelle, which is our ready-to-wear label and they are dresses
that are designed in house but made offshore and they are more budget friendly for girls
as well and they can come straight in, pick out the style that they like, they pick the
colour and then we measure them up and then we order their dress in.
Andrew: They're still made to measure? Kel-Leigh: In a sense that they're made to
measure, we measure them up. The ready to wears are measured up and then they would
be ordered to whatever their closest size is. I do have a factory in particular who
likes to work on specific measurements, so some girls, we will actually send their measurements
away and the gown will be made to those measurements but we do always request, use it as a guideline
and maybe a couple of tweaks here and there like hems and...
Andrew: So, you do that? Kel-Leigh: Absolutely, we can do that in house.
Once the gown arrives, we can do all that in house, yep.
Andrew: So, whatever they get from you, it's going fit when they walk out?
Kel-Leigh: Correct. Andrew: If it's off-the-rack.
Kel-Leigh: Absolutely, we wouldn't let a gown leave the store door unless it fitted beautifully
and the client was happy with it. Andrew: I just want to go back, you said that
once a gown has gone out of the store, then it's never reproduced again? Is that with
every gown? Kel-Leigh: Not with every gown, just the couture
gowns. So we do a collection every year, which is our ready-to-wear off the rack. So if a
bride comes in and orders the top off that and the skirt off another, we'll make that
for her but if another bride comes in and loves that actual gown and we sell her our
sample, we don't reproduce it again. She's got the last of it so...
Andrew: That's with all the couture gowns? Kel-Leigh: All the couture gowns. They're
one-off gowns. Andrew: All that work on the patterns, that’s
for that one bride? Kel-Leigh: For that one bride. Yup.
Andrew: She really is a princess. Kel-Leigh: She really is a princess. We usually
find even with our collection gowns, there sometimes can be a gown that's really popular
and if 2 brides order it, we will always change something about it to make it her own gown
so we're not reproducing 2 identical gowns. So we always try to tweak it or change something
about it and just make it special for her as well so technically they are all getting
one-off gowns, we don't reproduce.