Christina Sfez is a wedding dress designer. Like us, she began her adventure in Marseille and, like us, she celebrates women through her designs while committing to ethical and sustainable fashion. Interview with Christina Sfez - Wedding dress designer.

Christina Sfez is a wedding dress designer. Like us, she began her adventure in Marseille and, like us, she celebrates women through her designs while committing to ethical and sustainable fashion. So many common points that we wanted to celebrate by joining forces for a poetic dialogue within our boutique. Since mid-March, we have been displaying Christina's dresses in our Marseille store window alongside our lingerie sets, accompanied by mood boards reflecting our shared inspirations.

Introduction.

Hello Christina, you have been passionate about fashion since childhood. Why did you choose to set up a wedding dress house after your initial experience in the fashion trade?

As a little girl, I was especially passionate about fabrics, which fascinated me. That is probably why I knew very early on that I wanted to make them my career. After studying fashion design in Paris, I created my first ready-to-wear brand at just 20 years old, which I managed for 8 years. Wedding dresses came next, when a close friend asked me to design her dress. I was surprised to discover that I loved doing it and it was the beginning of this new adventure.

What are the values that guide your brand?

Bespoke work is at the heart of our values. I love the relationship I can build with each of my customers. It gives me a chance to meet and get to know the people who will wear our designs. So my wish is to be able to help each woman tell her own story and highlight her femininity by creating the dress of a lifetime. To live up to that mission, I follow every step for each client, whether they visit our showroom in Marseille showroom or the one in San Diego. Together, we explore every aspect of her personality, we talk about what she likes or what she is self-conscious about, to offer her a dress in which she will feel beautiful and confident on the big day.

Can you tell us something about your eco-responsible approach?

Even though I enjoyed working in ready-to-wear, the pace, constraints and waste associated with that industry no longer suited me. In our wedding dress house, all our designs are 100% French, made in our Marseille workshop with fabrics and lace sourced in France. We enjoy the good fortune of having an exceptional heritage and such prestigious materials that it would be a shame to miss out. We also do not have any stock, as each dress is made to measure, and we take care to reduce fabric waste as much as possible by keeping the scraps to create other pieces. Finally, you won't find a pure white dress with us because we refuse the ultra-chemical process of bleaching silk. Our silks are therefore natural or naturally dyed. Which again helps reduce our impact on the environment.

Why did you choose to partner with La Nouvelle for this store window?

I have known Alix de Moussac for a very long time. We started out at the same time, collaborated and have always followed the development of our respective brands. I love her talent and I like the way she highlights women through La Nouvelle. Her designs are full of freshness in terms of materials, colours and shapes. We are guided by shared values and authenticity. We had already collaborated on the creation of a wedding body suit in 2016 and I am very happy to meet her again for this store window.

How to choose the perfect lingerie to go with your wedding dress?

When choosing your bridal lingerie, there are a certain number of constraints to respect. You have to choose the right shade, the right neckline, front and back alike, and you also have to pay attention to the play of materials and transparency. For the shade, we prefer nude, taking care to always choose a shade above your skin tone. Never lighter, otherwise it shows. You should also go for seamless lingerie made from body-shaping materials that provide effective support while remaining comfortable. In fact, the whole difficulty of wedding lingerie lies in combining technicality, beauty and comfort. And that is what La Nouvelle does very well!

When should you buy your wedding lingerie?

Wedding lingerie is chosen at the first fitting. Once the bride-to-be has chosen the style of her dress, we begin to adapt it for her and that is when the question of lingerie will arise. Body suit or set? Non-wired bra or a push-up bra? Thong or shorts? It is really the wedding dress that will determine the choice of wedding lingerie.

For the wedding night, should you wear the same lingerie as during the ceremony?

Good question! Everyone does what they like, but what is certain is that the choice is wider. You can allow yourself a more daring and sexy ensemble with colour or in black. Thank you, Christina.

To conclude, our ritual question: which women inspire you?

The brides. I am inspired by the hundreds of women I have the privilege of meeting each year. After I’ve talked to them, I often feel like getting down to drawing. They unknowingly give me lots of ideas for our future designs.

Christina and Alix are planning a new collaboration, we will tell you more soon...

Discover Christina's work on Instagram or on her website here.

Also discover our Timeless and Heritage lines, perfect for future brides.