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Kate Halfpenny has had an astronomically successful few years.
She’s dressed the likes of Millie Mackintosh on her wedding to Hugo Taylor, Vogue Williams for her London nuptials to Spencer Matthews and Lydia Millen when she wed fellow vlogger Ali Gordon.
Having launched Halfpenny London from her living room in 2005, the former stylist, who calls Erin O’Connor, Kate Moss and Emilia Fox friends, now employs 16 people at her Bloomsbury Boutique and is making around 100 fashion-forward made-to-order bridal gowns every month for brides around the world.
This week, the London designer is adding to her success with the launch of Sister, inspired by her own “tribe” of bridesmaids when she wed brand expert James Duffy in 2012. Kate had an impressive 21 bridesmaids including O’Connor and Fox. “It was a big hurrah” she said with a laugh. Naturally, she faced a challenge dressing 21 women of all sizes, heights and generations. Kate made the outfits – a lace t-shirt with bow detail and knee-length tulle skirt – and it sparked an idea.
“Sister was born about two or three years ago, really” she said. “But I have been talking about it for ages and it is something I always wanted to do after I designed my own bridesmaids’ outfits. I loved creating something for my tribe of bridesmaids. So it was born there.”
Over the years, Kate has had hundreds of brides ask her where to buy stylish, affordable bridesmaids outfits that suit a number of body types.
“We had loads of brides [ask for recommendations]. Literally everyone. I would always recommend certain people and then I thought: ‘We are missing a trick here.’ We see so many incredible brides that have amazing diverse bridesmaids. This is a starting point.”
The Sister range includes seven complete looks in up to a size 22 which can be customized with additional sleeves, jackets and tops. The first collection comes in three colours – navy, grey and dirty pink – with another three colours to drop in a matter of weeks. All items are named after her bridesmaids. There’s Fox – the £295 wrap dress with frill detailing named after Emilia – and the clinch-waist Klas jump suit – named after Myleene Klass’s daughters Hero and Ava who were also part of the bridal party. Each has been designed to be true to size. “I am obsessive about that,” Kate said
Everything in the collection is created from a mixed fibre satin sourced from Portugal. Kate said: “It has that luxe feel and it is a luxury item. We want you to look after it. And wear it again and again – to that party, to the office, at the weekend with a roll neck jumper.”
Kate said the collection has: “The element of interchangeability, with the add on or take away sleeves and tops. I know I don’t like getting my arms out and I am a size 20/22. So I wanted to create something that would look good on my body shape but also my sister who is a size 12 and my niece who is a fabulous willowy 8. So my own family inspired the range. At the moment, we aren’t breaking the mould of the traditional bridesmaids’ looks, but we’re being clever with it. This is just the beginning.”
The collection will go live on the Halfpenny London site on Friday. The first orders will take between three and four weeks to arrive, but once production begins in earnest this week, shoppers will be able to select next day delivery.
