Katie Yeung broke new ground when, from day one, she offered bridal gowns in larger sizes that weren’t the usual A-line ball gown style. A master of designing for curvacious women, she explains her commitment to putting brides first.
It’s widely believed that the three most stressful events in life are death, divorce and losing a job.
But picking a wedding dress could easily be added to the list.
Because finding the perfect dress can sometimes be like finding a unicorn with a winning lottery ticket – rare and beautiful.
Especially if you’re a curvier bride-to-be.
Auckland fashion designer Katie Yeung, who founded luxury bridal brand Hera Couture 15 years ago, says bridal stores that do cater to this market often provide only a limited range of styles which they believe suit the fuller figure.
“That’s features such as A-line dresses and ball gowns,” says the 44-year-old. “These are often gorgeous silhouettes for all shapes and sizes in the right fabrics, but honestly, there are many other silhouettes that will accentuate a woman’s curves beautifully.”
“Everyone deserves to look beautiful and confident on their wedding day. A woman might have a bigger bust, hips or waist, she might be a broad-shouldered athlete or have b
Katie, who moved to New Zealand from Hong Kong when she was 10, has heard numerous horror stories about brides traipsing through numerous stores but being unable to find a dress that fits through the bust and hips.
“They comment that the designs aren’t flattering and that some of the dresses have been sitting around for ages. One of them said, ‘I don’t feel like I deserve to get married because I can’t even find a wedding gown I like’. It’s mind-blowing to me that this still happens in this day and age.”
Often, it comes down to a stockist not knowing about these styles and hence avoiding them.
“We love to help our stockists help curvier brides through training, more flattering designs, and widening their sample holding to be more representative across sizes and body shapes.”
The mother of Chelsea, 5, and Chloe, 9, has walked the talk since she started.
“From day one, we’ve made dresses to fit the body, no matter what your size. We launch two collections of between 8-18 pieces a year – our regular collection which comes in sizes 0-40 and the Hera Curve Collection which is sized from 20-upwards.”
The latter includes beautifully fitted styles, dresses with high splits, and separates tailored for the mid to curvy woman.
“A lot of brides and stockists aren’t used to that approach because they think that if you’re a bigger body size then you can’t carry off certain looks. But the feedback we get is overwhelmingly positive.”
Even more unusually, a bride won’t pay more for a larger size. “All of our designs across the range are the same price. So even though we might use more fabric for a larger dress, we aren’t going to charge the customer more.”
So committed is Katie to size inclusivity that she only chooses global stockists whose beliefs align with her own: that brides come in all shapes and sizes and shouldn’t be restricted in what they can and can’t wear on their big day.
“It’s about celebrating the female form. We’ve always designed for women regardless of who they are.”
That belief was sown early: Katie started making street-wear and event clothing when she was young, taught by her mother who trained as a tailor in Hong Kong. Katie began her own clothing line when she was eight and by 13 was designing and sewing ball gowns for clients.
“A lot of our early clients were Polynesian women who came to us because they couldn’t find anything nice to fit their fuller figures. They wanted dresses to wear to church, graduations, weddings and parties. I’m so thankful to those women for teaching me how to design for the curvier figure.”
‘It’s about celebrating the female form. We’ve always designed for women regardless of who they are.’
Katie’s commitment to putting brides first, and her tireless work ethic, saw her move from a tiny studio she fitted out herself with second hand furnishings to a stylish Karangahape Road atelier where today her team dresses brides from New York to London, and everywhere in-between.
She believes her success lies in not only dressing brides of all shapes and sizes, but also her decision to use fabrics that stand the test of time.
“We hand-pick our fabrics from Europe and Asia and often custom-make fabrics to suit our brand design aesthetics and longevity requirements.
“All fabrics are tested over a six month period to ensure their durability so that they can withstand processes such as drycleaning but still retain their sheen, feel, comfort, consistency and drape.
“It’s a long process but it means that our customers get to wear a piece of timeless, modern art which can be passed onto generations with care, or can be made into christening gowns.”
Katie’s inclusive and enduring approach has found fans all over the globe and she’s increasingly busy with international trade shows and trunk shows, where designers hire a venue such as a hotel room to present collections directly to stockists.
So far that has included showings in Australia, London, Barcelona and New York.
Later this year, Katie and her co-founder, husband Cliff Kurniawan, will return to the US for one of the world’s largest bridal shows, the New York Bridal & Wedding Expo.
“There’s a huge appetite out there for what we’re making and how we’re making it. It’s an exciting time to be part of this industry.”
Learn more about Hera Couture by visiting heracouture.co.nz and @heracouture.
