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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Jordan Erica Webber

Dressmaker – a canvas for the creativity of dream dress design

A many-layered purple dress decorated with various trims, on a mannequin.
‘You can get incredibly creative in a way that you couldn’t in real life’ … Dressmaker. Illustration: Cozy Lives/Free Lives

When Jonathan Hau-Yoon wanted to make something as meaningful as the environmental strategy game Terra Nil, he turned for inspiration to his longtime partner. Sabrina Becker had worn a dress she made herself to their very first date, and would have studied costume design abroad had hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (a connective tissue disorder I also have) not put those plans on hold.

The pair developed a concept around the creative decisions involved in dressmaking, like trying to fit pattern pieces on to available fabric while observing the grain line (the direction of the thread in woven fabric). Other decisions followed: a 3D model on which to place garment pieces, buttons and trims with which to decorate them, clients with commissions as creative prompts.

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