WEDDING2 may 28 | Page 5

What inspires your designs?

A wedding dress doesn't have to be white - which other colours do you love to see brides wearing?

What's your favourite 2015 wedding dress trend?

Beading and lace. I wanted to update my lace and beadwork for this season. I brought a lot of detail and a lot of new things to the design table. I wouldn't quite call it a trend but it's a big style element I focused on this season.

I keep an open mind and enjoy finding inspiration, whether it be from ready-to-wear fashion week, my international travels, to simply observing nature or architecture on my way to the studio. I have always loved handcrafted things like embroidery, beading, and appliqués. When I decided to do this career, I thought bridal would be perfect for me. You can’t use a lot of these materials on ready-to-wear things.

I've designed several alternatives to the traditional white and ivory colours but not many brides want to break tradition. I think it's great to see brides venture into something a little different, which is why I usually have one or two styles in my collection that offer a bold statement. Last season I had a couple dresses with red accents. This season you won't see options quite as bold but the bead work this year definitely plays into brides looking for a little more colour. I kept colours neutral but enough to really make a statement.