My Vision
I’ve chosen to focus on using embroideries as it gives me the freedom to create pretty much any design I want (as long as it repeats!). It opens the door to truly unique textural designs that can become wearable art. I have so many ideas to explore and feel like this is just the tip of the colourful iceberg.
Shaking it up
While embroidery is traditionally seen in lingerie as pretty flowers and cute motifs - I want to offer a different point of view and use fun, bold graphic designs which are usually seen in outerwear and reimagined them for lingerie. I envision Somewhere Never lingerie to be seen as an accessory - like a statement bag or sunglasses - used to complete an outfit and give it that extra bit of va va voom.
It’s the icing on the cake.
What is embroidery?
Embroidery is the process of applying stitches to a base fabric. In Somewhere Never’s case, we use a lightweight rigid tulle and a mixture of shiny, matt and glittery lurex yarns in brilliant saturated colours. Earliest examples of embroidery were found fossilised in China on heavily hand-stitched and decorated clothing - dating around 30,000 BC.
Swiss Partners
I’ve been working with our Swiss embroidery supplier in the lingerie industry for over a decade and formed a fabulous and trusting relationship with them. I’ve visited their head office and factory numerous times and I’m always blown away with their extremely high standards, innovation and passion for design and their customers.
Working with iconic Haute Couture brands such as Dior, Chanel and Balenciaga - our embroidery supplier is definitely the best in the industry (and on the planet!) and I’m so honoured to be able to work with them and supply you with our creations.
Inspiration
Somewhere Never embroideries are mainly designed by myself and can't be found anywhere else. I'm heavily influenced by graphic textiles, architecture and furniture from the mid-century as well as current colour combinations of fashion and interiors. In addition to this, our embroidery supplier has an extensive archive of swatches of hundreds of designs spanning decades.
The Process
Once inspiration hits, both the embroidery house and I collaborate and hand sketch designs, which are then 'punched' (mapping out the sequence of how the stitches are sewn) and then transferred onto a digital machine. Designs are produced in their stitching hall which houses high tech industrial embroidery machines. Each embroidery is then inspected to ensure the highest quality.
Technical Info
As we use high quality yarn and tulle the cost price is much higher than other suppliers - along with the technical aspects that go along with the designs. For example, the more stitches and variety of colours you have in a design then the more expensive the fabric will be. Having a large repeat in the design also makes it more expensive. Additionally as a small brand we are ordering a very small amount of metres so the cost is higher - larger brands are able to order thousands of metres, driving the price down. This all goes into account when costing the lingerie.