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I met Ily of Ily Bridal at the British Bridal Exhibition in Harrogate this Spring. I was admiring her fabulous yet fashion forward bridal designs and we hit it off. In this exclusive interview, Brides Up North finds out a bit more about the lady behind the lace…
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What sort of bride do you design for?
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Ily Bridal caters for women with an appreciation for a high sense of style, couture details and with desire to be different. Our dresses appeal to brides that want to look elegant but have their sensual ego highlighted by the way the gown dresses their body.
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Tell Brides Up North a bit about your collection…
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The collection is an expression of sophistication, style and elegance combined with haute couture details that make every piece a unique work of art. The dresses I create reflect sophistication and glamorous luxury by enhancing the bride’s silhouette and giving her a seductive aura.
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Creative designs, a great sense of style and true passion, combined with years of experience and expertise are offered for each gown created by Ily Bridal.
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Incorporating only high quality fabrics such as silk duchess satin, taffeta, silk chiffon, fine tulles, French lace and embroidery, each dress is the result of meticulous workmanship and expertly adorned with couture elements that gives it that special look.
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Which is your favourite design in your collection and why?
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I have always loved the Josephine dress since the moment I designed it on paper until it was made. It is one of our bestselling dresses from the collection. “Josephine” reflects the concept behind Ily Bridal: it is sensual and has couture details.
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The design has Grecian style influences, a low cut back to give it that sexy aura, an intricate leather flowers garland going all over the empty back, the shoulder and the front that gives it that couture look and it is adorned with pearls and Swarovski crystals for enhanced glamour.
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Are you married yourself? If not, what would your dream day be like – and what sort of gown would
you choose?
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I am not married yet but I have always dreamt about my wedding day as I suppose any girl does. I love creativity and glamour so probably my wedding would be a feast for the eyes.
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Being a bridal designer I would wear more dresses than one for sure as I could never decide upon only one. I will be wearing at least 3 different dresses for each part of the ceremony: the church, the reception and the evening cocktails and dance.
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I think the wedding dress is one of the most important pieces in a wedding as it describes you as a person, reflects your style and it will be featured in all the wedding pictures.
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Which celebrity would you most like to dress and why?
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I would love to dress Kim Kardashian from the States and Cheryl Cole from Britain.
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They are both sensual, very feminine and have a great sense of style.
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For Kim I would design a more simple but sexy dress in mermaid shape with a few particularities like: low cut back, fitted on the body and made out of shinny luxurious fabric.
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For Cheryl I would choose a more intricate dress with a few couture details and a romantic feel. As she has amazing legs I would go for a dress made out of pure silk fabric short in front and with a long train at the back. Like our Doria dress.
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Which of your designs would you choose for Kate Middleton? Or alternatively, what sort of dress would you design for her?
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I would choose the Fairy dress from Ily Bridal collection if I was to dress Kate Middleton on her wedding day. It is more traditional, has a lot of romance in it and softness and I think it characterizes Kate’s style.
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How did you get into wedding dress design – what is your "story"?
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I think I have always had a very creative mind. I must have inherited it my father who used to be an artist in his early twenties. He wanted me to develop my talent and creativity so I enrolled in the School of Arts when I was only 9 years old. At school I had the chance to experiment with different areas in art and the most appealing to me was drawing and painting.
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I was only 19 years old when I first thought of becoming a bridal wear designer and create beautiful and exquisite wedding dresses for brides. I paired with my best friend at that time and we both plunged into the amazing world of evening wear and bridal wear. We collaborated with a local seamstress and designed dresses for her clients and later on by word of mouth we had our own clients.
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After a couple of years my friend wanted to go on and study science and I wanted to continue and study more into the fashion field. We basically split up and lost all our contacts and shut down our small dress making business. I had big goals so I applied at the prestigious London School of fashion to study Fashion and Garment Technology in order to gather more information about clothes and to have access into the real fashion world. During my college years I used to intern for a few designers and always found it quite difficult and not very enjoyable as I was never given serious tasks. I believe that I always wanted to be taken seriously and I felt I could do better than them. It’s my entrepreneurial instinct that never allows me to be controlled but to control.
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By the end of 2009 the first Ily Bridal collection was finished and ready for the world to see. I was so proud I could do that even if it was hard work. I can’t deny there was a lot of pressure and stress but eventually I overcame it all and launched my first bridal collection in February 2010 at the National Wedding Show in London.
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The incredibly positive feedback at the show gave me more confidence in myself as a designer and gave me a tremendous impulse to persevere and go further in developing a true business out of this. For a whole year after the show I had individual customers that adored my designs and the way the dresses fitted them. This was something I really needed and gave me so much satisfaction that made me truly enjoy my work.
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Is this your dream job? If you weren’t a wedding dress designer, what would be your alternative career?
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Being a bridal designer is my dream job. I have always dream of expressing my creative ideas and making a living out of that. I adore dresses, whenever I walk into a bridal boutique I feel like I am in paradise.
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My alternative career would have to do with television… maybe as I would like to have my own reality show as I am very confident in front of the camera. But you never know, bridal design and TV could always be paired…
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Describe a typical working day in the life of Ily…
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My working days vary a lot. Sometimes I have to concentrate on office work more or sometimes I have to do fittings, research for fabrics around London, deal with customers and taking dress samples to shops. I love my job and my brides and it is so fulfilling to see my clients happy and adoring their dress.
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How can Brides Up North readers get in touch with you?
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Brides Up North readers can reach me very easily by email to: ilybridal@gmail.com. Or by phone: 07948343397
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I am based in London but I would always be happy to travel to the North for a meeting or have a telephone conversation. Email is always easy and fast. So you have plenty of options to choose from!
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Are you at any upcoming wedding fairs or events/ anything my readers should know about?
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I will be organizing a few Trunk shows and be attending Designer days around the country. I am planning to attend the The British Bridal Exhibition Harrogate- Designer Lounge on 11-13 September 2011 .
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