Exhibitor Insights: Sneaky Peek at the New Collection from Olwen Bourke

Im so super excited today to introduce to you one of our lovely exhibitors for the Islington show on April 27th. Olwen is launching her first full collection and today lets us behind the scenes of the photo shoot of those glorious dresses and lets us in on a little background behind the designs and her journey to get here. We feel rather honoured - amidst swoons! Enjoy. xo

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I am an Irish born fashion designer based in Hackney. Previously I designed the ballroom dancing dresses for Strictly Come Dancing and also worked on ballet costumes at the Royal Opera House. I started my own fashion label in 2012 specialising in bespoke dresses and I am just about to launch my first bridal wear collection. The collection composes of six very different styles and are aimed at a modern, style savvy bride! All the dresses are made to order at my London studio.

I had been working in Paris for a design house and was becoming disillusioned with the commercial side of the job. I have always loved working directly with the client, meeting them, hearing their story and creating a unique dress especially for them. My background in costume meant that I had a lot of experience with directly fitting garments on the body and making one off pieces. When I came back from Paris at the end of last year I decided not to go back, and instead stay here in the UK and focus on making wedding dresses!

Since starting out on this bridal wear journey I have loved every minute, and really feel like I have found my niche. I really enjoy the process from design to pattern to toile to final dress and I love the fact that each dress will be a really special part of someone’s wedding day. It’s fun getting to meet brides and I really enjoy the interaction.

With the collection I have really tried to ignore the mainstream associations with meringue type wedding dresses and make dresses that are stylish, effortless and comfortable. I’d like to think they could also be worn to a black tie event afterwards!

The inspiration for the collection came from a lot of ideas I have had in my head for a long time that I decided to bring to life. I was designing a lot of short occasion wear dresses when I was working in Paris and I was longing to create some beautiful long sweeping silhouettes! So doing the bridal collection allowed my imagination to let loose on the romantic side of things. I grew up in Ireland by the sea and I’m always very influenced by nature, so there are a lot of flowers and leaf shapes running through the collection too.

Please do pop along to our Islington event on April 27th to meet Olwen who will be forming part of our interactive walking bridal display with her stunning collection.

www.olwenbourke.com