Hermione de Paula hand-embroidered botanical gown on mannequin displayed before a wall of framed embroidery swatches in the atelier

THE CREATIVE PROCESS

INSPIRATION

Hermione’s curiosity for the beauty of the natural world has taken her around the globe: old passports filled with stamps sit alongside extraordinary pressed flowers hand picked from far flung destinations, nestled between the pages. Her camera full of images to sketch upon returning home and turning into embroideries

Famed for her art couture aesthetic and creating one-of-a-kind designs with expertly structured silhouettes and feminine details, Hermione’s love of nature and couture training is at the heart of her collections. Gowns can be fully personalised with messages and sentimental embroidered details. View our gallery for personalisation inspiration.

Contact one of our stylists for more information.

Baskets of red rose petals being hand-sorted, source inspiration for Hermione de Paula's floral embroidery designs

Pressed rose petals kept inside a travel passport, part of Hermione de Paula's travel-inspired design mood board

Pressed spotted yellow and magenta orchid petals laid out as reference for Hermione de Paula embroidery motifs

Coral, shells and pink bougainvillea flowers arranged as natural inspiration for Hermione de Paula's embroidery artwork

PROCESS

Within each collection, every design evolves from sketches, patterns, toiles, and embroideries drawn from Hermione’s inspiration and memories and executed through small specialist teams dedicated to each stage of the dress. All pieces are hand made to order and materials dyed in small quantities with offcuts repurposed for appliqués and small accessories

Hand-drawn fashion sketches of a tiered tulle gown with handwritten notes on layered print tulle and chin-tape skirt construction

Botanical line-art embroidery pattern of ferns and leaves drawn on tracing paper for a Hermione de Paula design

Coral-motif thread embroidery samples on tulle with matching thread spools in the Hermione de Paula workroom

Hand-embroidered floral lace bodice panels with attached ribbon straps laid out on a cutting table with sewing patterns

COLOUR

Renowned for bringing colour to bridal through unique ombré variations and unexpected touches, Hermione is an abstract thinker with an intensely visual imagination. She sketches the world around her, dreams and fantasy, in pencil and paint. This is translated onto finished gowns as painterly embroideries, often blending over 150 threads in a complex and rich spectrum of tones

Coined ‘Art Couture’, many clients frame embroideries from their dress, as an artwork an ever-lasting memory

Floral embroidery swatches on tulle numbered for colour placement, laid over Hermione de Paula's signature botanical print fabric

Hand-embroidered bodice with botanical floral motifs surrounded by matching numbered embroidery swatches on tulle

Close-up of hand-embroidered pink and grey floral appliques on tulle with fabric colour-reference tags

Numbered floral embroidery placement guide beside individual botanical appliques used in a Hermione de Paula gown

ARTWORKS

Taking inspiration from the natural work, artworks bloom from an ever-growing and evolving botanical library for unique hand embroideries and hand-painted prints that showcase the brand’s heritage

The intricacies of the artwork make them impossible to replicate and give the Hermione de Paula brand a uniqueness of vision often associated with art

Artist hand-painting a delicate botanical leaf motif onto silk fabric for a Hermione de Paula design

Miniature pleated gown mockup in blush floral print fabric, a design study for a Hermione de Paula skirt silhouette

Hand-painted orchid and foliage artwork in a wooden frame, in-progress reference art for Hermione de Paula embroidery

Technical pattern piece for a bustier front with hand-drawn botanical embroidery design and construction notes

EMBROIDERIES

As a single hand drawing evolves from pencil to paint brush, silk threads and beading, to hand cut appliques and artistic stitching, Hermione de Paula embroidery grows from bud to bloom. Artwork is hand drawn and engineered into every panel of the gown, first onto paper and then to hand embroidered panels, before being cut and constructed into their finished gown

Hand-embroidered fern leaf motif on tulle beside its original pencil sketch and spools of thread

Hand-embroidered white fern leaf on tulle beside a hand-painted green fern artwork, showing design-to-embroidery translation

Artisan hand-stitching green floral embroidery detail onto tulle fabric in the Hermione de Paula atelier

Close-up of white and green ginkgo leaf embroidery on tulle showing three-dimensional beaded petal detail

"So decorative you could imagine displaying it in your home as an art piece, as well as wearing it."

I-D MAGAZINE