In the end, I decided to dye the jumper navy and add some embroidery around the cuffs and collar. We toyed with more detailing on the chest, but decided it was too busy, and suggestions of adding red were eventually sidelined for white and pale blue.
A lot of the time, Phini’s job is about managing expectations, says Harvey. “Someone might ask us to dye a polyester dress black, which we won’t be able to do [it’s much harder to achieve darker colors in synthetic materials], or they might be looking for a certain type of movement that the fabric won’t give. There’s always something we can suggest, but we have to manage expectations from the outset.”
The barriers of bespoke
The other challenge is intellectual property, continues Harvey. “We haven’t really struggled with this since we relaunched, because we’re more involved in the process now, and we’re very protective of our own designers’ work, as well as other people’s,” she says. “But sometimes we have to tell customers: we can use this picture as inspiration, but we can’t create an exact replica. Most of the time, the final product is a mix of lots of different inspiration images, so it’s not really a problem.”
When the designers need additional materials, Phini encourages them to use scraps and leftover fabric from previous projects. Because most of them have worked in bridal and luxury for decades, they have a plentiful supply of high-quality materials, so it’s rare that Phini needs to source anything new. “It’s never going to be 100% zero-waste, but we do as much as we can,” says Harvey.
The final product. Between the dye and embroidery, this project would have cost £600, almost double what the original jumper cost.Photos: Phini, Niall Wilson
