Studying at Ravensbourne School of Art, Stephanie became interested in Theatre and the traditional dressmaking skills used in Costume design. On graduating Stephanie remained in London to work for a variety of designers before returning home to Swansea in South Wales with her young family and start her business.
“It started off with five dresses in the back of my car and a trip to Harrods to meet the buyers back in 1991-little did I know that it would bring me here today.”
Two of the designs had huge success and myself and Julie would fulfil each order. Within the same year I opened my first boutique in south wales and my team grew to 5. I’m proud to say that I still have 3 of these original ladies still working with me!
In 1992 I produced my collection to wholesale so that my designs could be sold further afield and felt so elated when boutiques in Paris, the States and even Australia were stocking my dresses.
I’ve always been inspired by art, travel and literature and feel that my collections are defined by certain periods of my life coupled with the cultural trends around me.
In 2008 I opened my London boutique which has been an amazing experience and I am now based full time in Mumbles where I will continue to design and produce the most beautiful and fashionable wedding dresses.
The Process for Mumbles Brides
“Once a girl places her made to measure order, our pattern cutter cuts her toile according to her specific measurements for her first fitting. Later the cut fabric goes to the workroom where a team member starts by making the corset and builds the dress up from there. The most time consuming part is the hand sewing of any lace, beading or embellishment a bride may desire. As with the rest of the dress these finishing touches have to be done to absolute perfection! Lastly, the seamstress puts the finished dress on a mannequin for me or my head seamstress for a final check.”
Production Values
The decision not to follow the commonly used practice of outsourcing production to countries like China was taken from the start as we wanted to support British manufacturing, employ our own highly skilled staff, maintain complete control over production, quality control and ensure we could be ultra flexible in meeting the needs of of our customers. We are one of a very few British brands which have successfully avoided this apparently lucrative option. We believe it has serious limitations and have concerns about the exploitation of children as well as adults in very low paid often substandard conditions of employment. We are proud to be “Made in Britain”.