Fashion designers play a huge role in some of the biggest events of our lives as individuals. At events like graduations, birthday celebrations, award ceremonies and so on, we see their work in action because they design and create the clothes, shoes, bags, and jewellery that we wear. Here’s a behind-the-scenes peep at how the beaded bodice bridal dress was made by the popular designer, Adedewe.
Previously, we had an exclusive chat with Adenike Adedoyin on the creation of her midi owanbe outfit that has a side train attached. This week, our focus is on Oluwapemi Akintan to find out how she created the off-one shoulder beaded bodice wedding gown with a multi-coloured petal skirt that she coined Eden.
We will tell you how she made the dress, but first things first 🙂
She is a creative, art lover and the founder of the eponymous brand, Adedewe. Adedewe is a fashion brand that creates modern stylish outfits for women. The brand was also born out of a need to create a safe haven for creative and young professionals in the fashion industry.
She started sewing when she found that she was never satisfied with the outfits that her mother’s tailor made for her. There was always something wrong with them and the tailor never brought any of her ideas to life correctly. Fed up with always getting outfits that she didn’t like, she took matters into her own hands and started sewing. For her, fashion became an outlet through which she expressed her creativity and from there, Adedewe was born.
“There was always something wrong with the clothes and the tailor never brought any of my ideas to life correctly”
Oluwapemi Akintan, Founder of Adedewe
The Step-by-step Process of Making the Beaded-Bodice Eden Wedding Dress
The theme for the wedding was #EdenForever. Eden is God’s original plan for mankind and it translates into “Everything good and peaceful”. The dress was supposed to depict that colourful beauty and peace that is described in the scriptures. Besides, I have always been sort of a rebel so I knew that my wedding dress wouldn’t be pure white. Therefore, when I made it colourful, that was a way of adding a piece of me into the dress.
Creating a fashion concept with beads
I am very skilled at beading embroidery and I knew that I would not want my wedding dress to be without it. So, I decided to depict raindrops in the fruitful land with some beadwork. Thus, the beadwork on the front of the dress’ bodice. The flowers at the bottom half of the dress were supposed to depict the Eden idea by harmoniously bringing together the colours. I had to do a study on colour theories to make sure I didn’t misfire.
For this dress, deciding on the fabrics to use was easy. I already had a design, so I just picked the ones that were close to what I had designed and within my budget. With these, I was able to bring my idea to life.
The Process
I had an idea of what I wanted in my dress. To help me come up with more design ideas, I had a brainstorming session with a colleague and, together, we came up with the Eden design. The design fitted the idea perfectly. I also had to do some research to aid my imagination using Pinterest.
Next was the Fabric sourcing stage. I wasn’t sure how to shop for bridal fabrics because this was my first bridal project, so I went to the Balogun market with my mom. From there, we were able to get fabrics good enough to bring the idea to life.
The pattern drafting stage came next. From interpreting the design, it was easy to know what the patterns should look like. I drafted the pattern for each part of the dress and went on to cut the fabrics with the pattern drafted.
Once that was done, the dress construction began. Piece by piece, I put every component of my dress together, from the bodice down to the skirt. When I got to the lower part of the dress, I had to get more tulle. I initially got 20 yards but I ended up using about 50 yards to get my desired fullness.
Then, I moved to the embellishment stage which was when I started beading. I had to rework my original design because I was short on time. So, I stuck to beading the upper bodice only. All this while, I couldn’t get flowers online that fit exactly what I wanted. This meant that I had to go and source for a craftswoman who created the flowers for me. Then I carefully glued the flowers on, arranging them the way I had pictured in my mind.
It took me about 6 weeks to go through the entire process of making the Eden dress.
Check Out: 6 Ways To Encourage Employee Innovation In Your Fashion Brand
What Factors did you Consider when Making The Eden Dress?
1. Time
Time was an important factor for me because I needed to have the dress ready at a particular time and I was lagging. I had many plans for that dress but I couldn’t do a lot of it.
2. My Budget
I also had to consider my pocket in purchasing the needed materials. I didn’t want to go over budget and spend much more than I had planned for it.
3. The Theme
Of course, the theme I had in mind for the dress guided me through the whole process. It was how I was able to finish the creation of “Eden”.
Making a wedding dress can be highly demanding and time-consuming, but the result is usually worth it. And that’s how the Eden dress by Adedewe was made. What was your favourite part of the making process? Do let us know in the comments below.
If you liked this content, then you will like our email newsletters that contain other content like this one. You can subscribe below and reach out to us if you want your brand or product to be featured on Mauvelli.com
2 comments
Loved it! I still love it!
The dress was the highlight of your wedding!
Excellent jobs sis, am super proud of u