The Collage Gown: LOVEBIRDS (one of a kind)

If you look closely you'll see there is one bird singing his song of love, reminding all the other lovebirds and lovefish they have found someone to practice what Alain de Botton calls a skill, the skill of love.

"Love is something we have to learn and we can make progress with, and that it’s not just an enthusiasm, it’s a skill. And it requires forbearance, generosity, imagination, and a million things besides. The course of true love is rocky and bumpy at the best of times, and the more generous we can be towards that flawed humanity, the better chance we’ll have of doing the true hard work of love." - Alain de Botton

The LOVEBIRDS Collage gown features many pairs exploring the world together, making music along the way. The Crane (who mate for life), the Sparrows, the Phoenix (who rise together), and the Koi fish.

I created this design on the floor of our couturier Mika's studio -  spreading out all of the beautiful art pieces I had been gathering for months of vintage deadstock trim, with handmade art by women around the world, each spreading their voice through their hands into something beautiful that was now in front of me. I knew I wanted to create a gown that was a nod to my Taiwanese heritage, which traditionally wore beautiful colored dresses for their weddings, instead of white.

Then the scene came together: how we explore the adventure of life together.  How the closer and safer we feel, the more we can experience, swim, fly, sing.

This LOVEBIRDS gown was sourced and designed by me (Leanne Mai-ly Hilgart), working with the amazing NYC couturier Mika Inatome to bring it to LIFE.

This design is made of entirely deadstock and collaged remnant materials with a combination of nearly all vintage and handmade trim as follows:

Handmade trim by Female Artisans:

• Beautiful inspiring hand embroidered animals designed AND created by Ukranian artist Julia Yevzhenko in Kiev, which supports her family.
• Handknit flowers designed and created by an amazing woman, Jen, in Oklahoma City whose flower sales support her weekend service of creating care packages for homeless individuals and shut in senior citizens. You can support her work here.

Vintage deadstock trim:

• Handcrafted sequined trim from 20 year ago from one of the best beaded factories. This trim has never been used before, but also cannot be made again since the factory is no longer around - this limits how many can be made of this design.

Landfill diverted Fabric Remnants:

• When someone creates a piece of clothing, it is rare to use all the fabric as the shapes they cut out are not in the shape of a rectangle. The waste is typically useless and end up in a landfill - here though I've gathered these beautiful fabric remnants and we collage them to create a one of a kind design element for your gorgeous gown.

Landfill diverted Industrial Deadstock Fabric:

When a brand creates a line it usually includes fabric production, but often they must order more than they need as a buffer for production issues.  If all of this buffer yardage is not needed then there is very small quantities of excess fabric in these very specific colors and designs which often then take up space in a factory, or end up in a landfill.  It's not enough yardage for another brand to do production with, but luckily it's enough for me to make a few gowns in and voila! Here are the limited run colors then this comes in.  This means though that I cannot make this design in exactly this fabric ever again.

xo Leanne