Exhibitor Insights: Andrea Hawkes Bridal

Hey all!

As its a little chillier whats better than curling up with a cup of tea and a lovely blog post or two so here I am bringing a new exhibitor insight to you, with cup of tea (and curled up dog by my side).

We were fortunate enough to have the lovely Andrea Hawkes join us for our last show in April at Islington Assembly Hall. Andrea Hawkes Bridal is a new couture bridal wear designer based in Hackney, East London who’s collection shows a great range - from sharp structure to soft flowing romantic silhouettes. Andrea will also be at our October fair in Islington.

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It has been a natural progression for me to start my own bridal design company, having worked for some of the most established British Bridal Designers such as Phillipa Lepley, Suzanne Neville and Stephanie Allin for many years. This gave me a great basis of understanding on how the luxury British Bridal industry works, it felt very natural to then go on and do it for myself. I really wanted to offer a bespoke service in East London for the modern bride. I also live in Hackney so it’s wonderful to be working on my doorstep..

I enjoy the personal element of working with individual brides making sure they have a beautiful dress for their wedding day that they feel themselves in. I want to ensure all my brides feel comfortable and can be open about what they want from their wedding dress and that they portray themselves in a dress they love and can have fun in on their wedding day..

It’s also important to me that the dress feels amazing on a bride so I only use silk and natural fibres when making my dresses.

My inspirations come from so many places! Classic shapes and simplistic and elegant styles from eras: 20′s to 60′s for example. Beautiful luxurious fabrics/Modernist design style/Scandinavian design - all were very key when creating the 2014 collection. Icons such as Audrey Hepburn, beautiful elegant 50′s icons such as Mia Farrow, Jackie Kennedy’s 60′s simplicity - all offer a great deal of inspiration. The elegance and sophistication of the 20′s is another, along with the sexiness and understated glamour of the 40′s bias cut dress. As you can tell, everything ranging through the ages can inspire me!

Brides are also the biggest inspiration sometimes..

The service we provide at Andrea Hawkes Bridal is modern contemporary design with couture traditional methods of making. Dresses from the collection can be made to measure with full couture service or made to standard sizes and we can offer a bespoke service too!

All production is carried out in Hackney, London - using European sourced fabrics. I feel passionately about keeping production in England, especially London and also sourcing the highest quality fabrics for my dresses and each individual bride. Its good to support others who are working so hard in their trade - there are so many fewer people doing this in the UK and without a doubt the quality is always so high.

A wedding is a happy occasion that people are preparing for and I love being a part of the build up to the big day. It’s a special journey having a dress made and you honestly feel like you’re sharing a very special time with them, after all its an intimate process creating something personal for the best day of your life! I love being able to create a garment that is very special in its individuality to each individual woman, everyone wants to look their best on their wedding day so its an honour assisting this process.

http://www.andreahawkes.co.uk/