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Rebecca Lombard-Earl (Bex) is the founder of Bexbrides. Bex is an award winning designer with a fabulous studio in Hurworth just outside Darlington. Bex and her team design made-to-measure bespoke bridal gowns and also provide a specialist customisation and repair service for vintage gowns. Bex offers a wide range of styles to suit every client’s budget and theme and is particularly known for her vintage and period styled creations.
Image by Natalie Pluck
Image by Natalie Pluck
Tell us about your background in fashion and design.
I come from a family of seamstresses and knitters. The female line of my family tree traces back with all the women in the fabric trade and all the males as engineers.
I used to sit on the floor picking up my mum’s scraps and making them into dolls clothes and the family business was a department store so I was always in front of amazing clothes and in-house seamstresses. It is no wonder I now have my own mini emporium that reminds me of those happy childhood hours.
Image by Helen Russell
Image by Helen Russell
What made you decide to design wedding dresses?
My first wedding dress was for my mother-in-law when she remarried about 12 years ago. I’ve never looked back. I sometimes am stunned to find I’m now an award-winning dress designer with a job I love.
What inspires your designs?
I’m inspired by historical costumes, paintings, especially Pre-Raphaelite, and museums and I’m a sucker for a period drama.
Image by Natalie Pluck
Image by Natalie Pluck
Do you have a particular style?
I’m known for my vintage stylings; however, my clients say I’m just like a magician who can get into their head and magic up the dress they were dreaming of, whatever that might be, from a Victorian ballgown to a medieval fairy or a 50s rock chick.
Image by Keith Moss
Do you follow trends?
I’ve never particularly been a trend follower; I tend to set my own based on what suits me and my clients. Luckily at the moment the fashion for vintage and period styling fits with my ethos perfectly and some styles I have been designing for years, like capes, bardot necklines and belts, have come into vogue, so for once I feel like a trendsetter myself.
Give me a stylish one liner/statement that you would pin to your wall?
Life is not measured by the breaths you take but by the moments that take your breath away.
Image by Keith Moss
Find out more about Bexbrides on their website here and their Facebook page here.
This interview was taken from Kiss The Bride Magazine, Issue 6 “Wander In Love”. Find more wedding inspiration and ideas here.
