For those of you who don’t know I love BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing, so I was super excited to find that the programmes former designer Olwen Bourke had set up her own fashion label specialising in unique, handcrafted dresses and jackets for women. Inspired by opulent jungle motifs, feathers, Japanese silkscreen prints and oriental art, Paradise Lost, the first collection under Olwen’s own label, launched in spring 2012 and seems a perfect choice if you are looking for a gorgeous little number in time for all your festive celebrations.
Naming all her outfits after suffragettes who fought for women’s rights and stood for female empowerment. Go Olwen! The Sophia dress featured above showcases a wool body, organza and leather flowers and a tulle skirt. Price £1,660.
Feminine in its attention to detail, yet bold in its use of over-sized leather appliqué techniques, dramatic shapes and unique mix of materials, this collection is to die for. This Rosa dress above features a silk jersey body & leather flowers. Price – £1,660.
The Olwen Bourke experience involves an initial design talk at her studio or at your home where Olwen will sit with you, share design ideas, take your measurements, choose fabrics and then sketch your chosen design. This Elsie dress above has a wool body with a cotton flower underskirt. Price £1,650.
Back at the studio Olwen will create a toile of the design based on your measurements, then there will be a fitting before Olwen makes up the design in the actual fabric. Featured above Selina dress with silk & suede flower detail. Price – £1,750.
Are you loving these outfits as much as I am? Well if you do here is a taster of Olwens second collection know as Waters and the Wild which launched in spring 2013 and was inspired by Art Deco and Henri Rousseau’s jungle paintings. Key pieces include this silk mini dress featured above embellished with Art Deco leather appliqué.
Emmeline – Silk body, leather & suede fan detailing. Price – £1,660.
This Dora dress made completely of wool. Priced – £1,650.
Sourced vintage wedding dresses for silk. The Sylvia dress above features a silk mix brocade (£799).
As well as end-of-roll fabrics from luxury fashion houses. The Jane dress featured above features a cotton net, lace dress with suede. Price -£1,899.
As you know I only wet your appetite with collections so to see both full collections please head here. For those of you getting married you will be happy to know that Olwen has also brought out a bridal collection called Aislinn for her third collection which you can see in full here.
With a fourth collection due in the Spring 2015 I wait with baited breath. But if you can’t wait lead times on these bespoke occasion dressea are usually 3-6 weeks and orders will need to be made by the first week of December if you are looking to wear one of these over the Christmas/New Year period. So don’t delay give her a tinkle to place your order now.
Credits: Photography by Claire Harrison
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