Originally written by our Junior Designer, Natasha Salim. Edited by Neysa Azalia.
One of the big milestones of 2024 that still makes me smile to this day is designing the Most Meaningful Clothes™ for Alexys, our Singapore-based customer. It was her dream to wear a bespoke SukkhaCitta dress on her wedding day, and despite the geographical boundary that separates us, we still made it happen. In roughly three months, I managed to create two very intriguing bespoke dresses that personifies Alexys’ character, culture, and preferences – under the creative guidance of none other than my mentor, Anastasia Setiobudi, and assistance from our Happiness Specialist, Lulu.
Cheongsam
For her tea ceremony attire, Alexys requested a bright-colored long cheongsam, a Chinese dress also known as a Mandarin gown. She liked our SappanPink™ natural dye on the Seribu Bunga Halter Dress, but thought that the tencel fabric was too light for a cheongsam. Traditionally, the dress has a form-fitting structure, so we decided to use our Regenerative Handwoven Cotton fabric dyed in SappanPink™ for this dress.
To add some SukkhaCitta signatures, I added accents found in our KAPAS collection, like the pin-tuck stitching on the shoulders and Tumpang Sari embroidery on the front – a nod to floral fabrics used in many cheongsams.
During the design process, I wanted a balance of preserving the elements found in a cheongsam and the unique SukkhaCitta signatures we’re known for. The dress adorns a fitted Mandarin collar and an A-line, ankle-length silhouette skirt with high slits on both sides and rounded edging for a feminine touch. Instead of the typical diagonal front opening, I decided on a diamond cut-out on the front top part of the dress – a modern twist to the traditional cheongsam as it exposes a bit of skin in the chest area. I placed the opening buttons of the dress to the center back to fill it with some details. To add some SukkhaCitta signatures, I added accents found in our KAPAS collection, like the pin-tuck stitching on the shoulders and Tumpang Sari embroidery on the front – a nod to floral fabrics used in many cheongsams. I chose signatures from the KAPAS collection because the cheongsam uses the same fabric as the pieces under this collection. To replace the iconic Pankou knots, I used our signature knot as an embellishment on the front neckline.
Wedding Dress
For her outdoor wedding, Alexys requested a dress that is simple and flexible, as this was to be the dress to party in, so it had to be fun and sexy. Another factor was designing for Singapore’s evening weather – it had to be accommodating of the humid climate.
We decided on a backless halter neckline top with criss-cross straps on the back, and an ankle-length fitted skirt that narrows down at the bottom. The skirt features draped pleats on the waist and overlapping slit at the front to tease a bit of skin while providing ease of movement.
Sticking to the traditional white, Alexys chose the handwoven Angkasa Jacquard in Nature White as the fabric and color of choice for her wedding dress. This was a great pick, with the ideal fabric weight for Singapore’s weather.
To cinch the waist and add some subtle details, the dress was paired with a custom tone-on-tone Simpul Belt, as the accessory that finalizes the look. All dressed and glammed for the evening, she was ready to celebrate the best night of her life in the Most Meaningful™ Clothes.
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