SAPPHIRE WHISPER

Couturier Angelo Lambrou Reinvents the Wedding Gown for Spring 2010

Originality shines throughout the unconventional custom bridal designs of Angelo Lambrou. As a designer of haute couture wedding gowns and eveningwear, Angelo Lambrou has had his gem of a shop on East 7^th Street for nine years. Always in the window is what he calls a “WOW” dress, a real head-turner of a gown that shows off Lambrou’s irrepressible spirit. Inside, is the Angelo Lambrou Collection of handmade bridal gowns, each a study in the art of highly imaginative couture.  

“We want to reinvent the wedding gown,” he says. His gowns make that statement down the aisle, and are notably weightless to wear.  “Our dresses will make you want to dance,” says the knowing couturier.

 For the Spring 2010 Bridal Haute Couture collection, Lambrou found inspiration in origami, the Japanese art of folding paper. Drawing on those references, layers have clever folds, intricate wrapping hugs the body in an artful mix of textures and creases. Deconstructed elements, such as raw edges, imitate torn paper. Colors of origami paper made of bamboo, hemp, rice and wheat, relate to the array of whites, ivories, beige and gold in the bridal collection.

Lambrou has a modern and contemporary aesthetic that breaks with traditions in bridal design, and often weaves in vintage ideas. Layers of silk charmeuse and chiffon pour over the body, sometimes with a pop of unexpected color or a dusting of Swarovski crystals. Inventive draping shows an expert’s knowledge and joy in the craft of haute couture.

The intercontinental designer credits his education at Leggats Academy of Design in Johannesburg for learning the skills of the trade in patternmaking, draping, sewing and construction. Lambrou also trained at Central Saint Martins School of the Arts in London, whose alumni count Stella McCartney, John Galliano, and Alexander McQueen.

 “To be different is easy,” says the designer, who has a team of busy seamstresses in a workroom onsite; one works solely on hand beading. “To strike a balance between something out-of-the-ordinary, yet retaining elegance and flattering the body, that’s creative. Our client wants to wear something unusual, that hasn’t been seen elsewhere. We want the gown to be ‘you’.”

The Angelo Lambrou Haute Couture Bridal Collection Spring 2010 ranges from $1,800.00 to $6,000.00 and up, in luxurious silks and laces from France, Italy and around the world. As all gowns are customized, each design can be created for evening in any color or fabric.