One of the best things about writing for Love My Dress is that I get to connect with some amazingly creative people. And the whole experience of making such inspirational new friends and contacts becomes even more of a pleasure, when the talented subjects you want to write about, turn out to be genuinely lovely people - only too keen to take time of of their busy schedules to kindly talk to me about what they love to do.
Like Lee Klabin.
You may not be familiar with her name now, but by the end of this feature, I guarantee you, you'll be dreaming about owning one of her breathtakingly beautiful corseted creations...
Copyright (c) 2008, Wenn Photography (Left)
All Other Imagery Copyright (c) 2010, Lee Klabin
I liked Lee from the moment I first made contact with her - and not just because of her quite simply stunning designs and sweet, good humoured nature; 'behind every successful woman, is a substantial amount of coffee' declares Lee, on her website, and that sure made me feel a helluva lot better about the amount of caffeine I've been slurping on of late! (a woman needs sustenance when she's up late researching for her Blog!). Lee's Facebook page suggests a lady surrounded by adoring friends and family ~ and she likes dogs too, which is always good with me.
Lee is the Designer and Creative Director behind a boutique based on Shoreditch (full address details at the end) called 'Poppy Couture', which first opened it's doors in December 2006. The boutique specialises in couture corsets and ready-to-wear separates.
After her first full year of successful trading, Lee decided to throw a party at her boutique, to celebrate with her staff and customers.
As the party got into full-swing, one of Lee's customers just happened to mention, that she had seen Sarah Jessica Parker wearing Lee's 'Midnight Moth' design on the set of Sex & The City, the Movie.
Let's just put this into perspective.
Carrie Bradshaw, played by the fabulous Sarah Jessica Parker, is without any doubt, the worlds most influential fashion icon to have come along in, well decades. You have to think back to the likes of Audrey Hepburn to really get any kind of comparison. Patricia Field, New York Stylist and Wardrobe Director on the set of Sex & The City, quite literally has the worlds very best designers clamouring to get their designs onto the fabulous Ms Bradshaw, such is her authority in influencing major global fashion trends. That's a fact. So can you imagine how Lee felt, when she found out that one of her designs was featuring in the Sex And The City Movie?
"That was pure amazing luck and timing ~ I heard that they had started filming the movie, so decided I had nothing to lose and sent them a bunch of corsets. I think it was about 10 in total, including my own personal one as we sold the other one and I really wanted to include it, as mine was made to measure & I’m shorter than average ;) I was desperately hoping it would fit!! A few months later, we get the corsets back, minus that midnight moth one, so we wrote to them asking if they’d lost it etc, and they replied saying they loved it and used it on Sarah Jessica Parker herself!! I think it took me until the premiere 5 months later to get to grips with that! It was an incredible experience and I still fell so honoured that Patricia Field liked it so much to include it in her wardrobe for the film!!"Of corsets gorgeous....
I asked Lee what got her in to design, and more specifically, the design of corsetry...
"I always loved the emphasis on female curves that clothing can bring out and corsets were a natural garment to do that, plus, there is always the thrill of the psychological impact wearing a corset has on a woman ~ kind of an in control while being controlled thing. As long a woman feels comfortable and sexy, she will always exude it; and it doesn’t have to be in an ornate piece, it can be in a simple one too ~ something that brings out her inner confidence and charisma..."
Such beautiful and supremely glamorous creations ~ I wondered if Lee had any particular type of client or woman in mind when designing...
"My muse is more of an attitude than any specific person; I imagine how I, or any young woman would want to feel wearing one of my designs; what it would bring out in us, what if any attitude change, confidence boost, feature emphasis etc. Overall, my corsets always have to be super feminine with a relentless curve towards artistic, modern finish, whilst incorporating traditional tailoring methods....what works well, works well :)"
With so many beautiful corset creations to her name, I wondered if Lee secretly had a favourite piece...
"Thats like asking which is your favourite child! ;) There have been the more creative pieces that I allowed myself to really let loose on, and make something crazy, without thinking of “wearability” ~ and that would include a corset made entirely out of capiz thinly sliced cream shells, which incidentally took a grand total of three solid weeks to finish as each bust took a week in itself, and much to my surprise, although I was planning on using it only for PR, or as a studio piece, a lovely woman came in an offered to buy it in advance for her wedding that she didn’t know when was going to happen!! She recently contacted us again, two years later, saying she’s finally getting married and wants us to make a skirt to match for the day! Thats really an incredible feeling, when someone loves your creativity that much that they buy it for such a special day....still brings a smile to my face."And talking of weddings, Lee is branching out into bridal wear...
"In the UK, we are stocked in a variety of Bridal shops as a lot of our collection has been adopted by the bridal industry..."
Fabulous news for any corset-loving Bride to be then!
Prices & Where To Buy...
Prices for one of Lee's beautiful corset creations start at £700 and can rise up to £2,800 for a piece like the 'Midnight Moth', as worn by Sarah Jessica Parker. Now you might be a little taken a back at that price, but remember, this is couture design, each piece individually, and painstakingly crafted by hand. Each individual feather has to be sewn in eight times...
"Making a corset is a complicated process, even for a basic one; it usually involves about 3-4 layers of fabric, bining (which is a long process in itself) and hand finishing where necessary. All our corsets bases are made with duchess silk, which is very thick and sturdy, while being backed by a special cotton called corteal and finally, a lining to the inside. Then, it really depends on each individual design as to what else goes on top! I hope our concept of womens clothing will really catch on and I aim to make the products over a wide price range to make sure everyone has a chance to buy into & enjoy it..."
Lee explains further in the video below...
For details of where to buy, please contact Lee directly on 0207 6131111, or email info@leeklabin.com. The Poppy Couture studio and showroom are located at 78 Kingsland Road, London, E2 8DP.
Thank you Lee for sharing a little about the amazing work that you do. I can but dream about owning one of your incredible designs - though next time I am in London, I shall definitely be taking up that offer of visiting you in your studio to take some photographs for Love My Dress - that's after coffee, of course! :)
Much love,
♥
