Wedding Path NewsWire

The colourful world of wedding fashion 660 views

UP-and-coming young designer Katie Campbell is planning to make her mark in the world of wedding fashion with a unique take on colours and themes. Katie, 22, has recently completed a Fashion Textile Enterprise degree at Portsmouth University and will start work for prestigious London company, Ellis Bridal, this month.

She said: “I try to be less traditional and more experimental.
“I like to manipulate fabrics to create different textures and make something really unique.
“For example, the ideas for my graduate collection were taken from a diving holiday in Egypt - from coral and underwater life and it’s textures, tones and colours.

“The dresses are more about making an impact than wearable fashion, but the colours can also be changed to make them more practical!”
Katie’s first design commission came after a period of work experience with dress company Catherine Jane and Orchid Bridal in Leicester.
She was given the opportunity to design two dresses for their couture collection which went on sale last September and are still available now. They have since approached her to design the 2008 Catherine Jane collection, which will consist of 21 wedding dresses and eight bridesmaid dresses.
This meant that in May, as well as completing the final stages of her degree, Katie spent a month in India working on designs and sourcing fabrics ready for the collection.

She is also dismissive of current industry worries that the increasing number of high street wedding dresses available will mean a drop in trade for more expensive designers.
She said: “I think it is great that no matter what someone’s budget is, they can have the kind of dress they want.
“Obviously it means that there will be more competition but I don’t think that anyone should be threatened by that.
“One of the best things about the bridal dress industry is that it is extremely competitive and this helps keep the designs fresh and forces designers to push the boundaries forward.”
After starting work at Ellis Bridal, Katie plans to make the most of working for a large company.
She said: “I would like to gain experience in every area so that, hopefully, in a few years I will be ready to start up my own business.
“My dream is to be able to work producing one off, couture pieces for brides.”

This story was taken from the August/September edition of the Wedding Professional article.