Book of Faes and Words- A Designs
Once in a far, far land, there lived a Jennie and a Sylvie, two seamstresses who adored birds.
But, guess what preachers?
Those little birdies were actually faeries! Those faeries then asked J and S to forever capture them in their little wondrous designs. And, since then born was the best of the world!
A new fairytale for adults commissioned by Litfest from contemporary fairy tale author, Claire Massey was premiered at The Storey, Lancaster. Claire wore a custom-made dress made entirely from the pages of books, designed and hand crafted by Lancashire bridal designer, Jennifer Pritchard Couchman.
Using over 2500 pages from multiple copies of the recently reissued ‘Angela Carter’s Book of Fairy Tales’ the gown took three days to make and has “lots of frills, lots of folding, lots of stapling, paper mache and glue.”
“Andy from Litfest approached me and asked if I could make a dress out of books,” says designer Jennifer Pritchard Couchman.She traditionally creates bridal gowns, using silks and lace, so the opportunity to create a dress entirely out of books was an fantastic challenge!”
Claire’s new fairy tale consists of resourceful heroines, lost towns, strange dresses made of grass, smoke, feathers, and finally of books, and a good dollop of the Lancashire landscape.
All in all, Jennifer is a magician for Claire and her book that she turned it into an art like a midfest summer’s breakfast!
Another creator and fashion designer Sylvie Facon sew dresses from fabrics that she has created and with such attention to detail, they would steal any catwalk.
The designer gowns crafted by Facon ranges from very romantic lacework to high fashion dresses made from book spines, highlighting the incredible versatility of the dress designer skills. Craftsmanship without a fantasy couldn’t conceive such dreamy and one of a kind garments, but in Sylvie’s case, there’s no lack of creativity in her work.
Art has always been part of Sylvie Facon’s essence. As in other opportunities, Sylvie Facon was visiting a friend’s bookstore but that particular day she stopped to look at some old books without much value for their owner, those books caught her attention so much that she said “They are so beautiful that someday I will make a dress with them”, her friend, without giving much thought to it, gave her those beautiful books. Finally, after a few hours of work, she got her first masterpiece: A great dress that looked like an old library.
Sylvie and Jennifer continue to inspire you and I, emerging artists, to make unconventional yet wondrous arts and dresses that may change our perspectives on dresses and things!
XOXO, The Fashion Stock Market
