Dress To Believe In: The Artisan

Fashion : Love

13 August 2019

Brand To Believe In: Eponine London

Shifting to more ethical and intelligent ways of working is the zeitgeist of fashion in 2019. Slowly but surely, more brands are placing an emphasis on environmental consciousness – and, as ardent supporters of sustainable efforts, we’re celebrating the brands doing just that. Each week, we’ll be meeting the brands fashioning beautiful goods with the greater good in mind. This week, we're spotlighting a #DressToBelieveIn from Eponine London.

We all have inexplicable connections to places around the world – for Jet Shenkman of London-based bespoke womenswear brand, Eponine London, her visceral connection lies with Thailand and the women that inhabit. "Many, many years ago, during my honeymoon in fact, my husband and I spent a night in a Karen village in Chiang Rai," she says. "I was completely struck by what the women wore and this made a deep impression at the time."

With this deep impression manifesting over the years, in 2015 Jet's team of highly skilled tailors – based out of their Kensington atelier – developed the brand's very first EPONINE Hmong dress. And as Jet puts it: "The rest is history!". Following the success of the dress, this April Jet travelled back to Thailand, by way of the Department of International Trade and Promotion (DITP), to attend the Bangkok Style Fair where she met with Thai artisans and suppliers, before flying to Chiang May to source fabrics and meet some of their longtime suppliers. It was here the seeds for the Artisan dress were sewn.

Pooling inspiration from the fabrics displayed in the Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles ("the batik fabrics there particularly caught my eye," says Jet), the dress is a kaleidoscope display of clashing colours and patterns – made up entirely of hand-embroidered fabrics sourced from rural communities in Thailand. "The process of the design, the choice and layout of the fabrics took a while," explains Jet. "Someone we met through the DITP put us in touch with a small gift shop within the grounds of the Palace where we were shown the small pieces of embroidered fabrics. They all come from the collection that Her Majesty Queen Mother Sirikit has collected over the many years; she travelled and supported the communities that produce these beautiful fabrics."

In support of Her Majesty Queen Sirkit's ethos that to truly help people suffering from poverty, you must enable them to develop practical skills to improve their lives, 100% of proceeds from the first order and 10% of all subsequent sales will go to the the SUPPORT Foundation – founded by the Queen to preserve and perpetuate Thai indigenous arts and crafts. "We decided to work with the SUPPORT Foundation because we like what they stand for and their support of artisans who work in embroidery is a particular area that we feel links us to the charity," explains Jet. And so, much like Eponine London, show your support while ringing in style kudos in this phenomenal made-to-order piece.

Discover Epionine London's complete awe-inspiring collection, here.