Can you give us a brief background of the brand?

Peony Rice Bridal and Occasionwear was founded in 2009 after a social enterprise project in Cambodia exploring the work of artisans and their textiles. We decided to situate our atelier in Shanghai and began a bespoke and custom, made-to-measure business with handwoven silks. 10 years on, we have designed six collections all of which have been well-accepted by our international audience.

What are the brand’s secrets to success?

No secrets! We can’t call it a secret if we tell you…

What we can share is that we have been extremely lucky to be close to such an international audience in a part of the world that has been growing at a fast pace. Being surrounded by diverse cultural needs and being able to work closely with our brides from all around the world has taught and inspired us. It has also helped that we are located at the core of silk production, which means we have a unique insight and offering.

Read More: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Peony Rice

Can you tell us five interesting facts about the brand?

• People presume as we are Shanghai-based that our designs are mass-produced. We are proud to make our gowns in-house in our atelier so that we can keep tabs on our processes and make to order.
• Our core fabric is silk and we have many other surprising fabrics. We like to support handwoven and locally produced silk fabrics with special characteristics.
• We love embracing our eastern heritage and western upbringing and we interpret this in all of our designs.
• Our name was conceived after the project we were working on. “Peony” –a huge Asian flower with visual impact. Difficult to nurture, but once it flowers it shows its strength, it is memorable and is pretty on the outside and strong on the inside. It represented our heritage and how we started.
  “Rice” was the main staple grain all over Asia. It created jobs and was the main source of income for many families. This was similar to the social project we were working that helped elevate people’s skillsets to enable them to have a better income and quality of live.
• Gorilla our studio dog is very much a member of the family – it is half Chinese Poodle, half Schnauzer and is as old as the brand.

What are the brands most popular designs?

We have so many well-loved styles! Our versatile separates that can be worn post-wedding are very popular with fashion-forward brides. Our Amanda pants and Pipa camisole do very well, alongside our Cara Angel wings trimmed with feathers. Our gowns are also adored by our customers. Our clean-cut minimalistic styles such as our Katie slip with the silk ruffle layer and timeless bias-cut Gloria continue to be important season after season.

Can you tell us about the new collection?

We will be launching our latest collection at White Gallery later this year. Think clean lines with structure and our sensual soft fluid silks. Textured dimensional white on whites will also be present along with accentuated waistlines and our signature, add-on accessories. We are also excited to introduce more of our occasionwear lines for wedding guests.

Read More: White Gallery 2020: Where every collection tells a story

What was the inspiration behind the collection?

A natural progression, our audience in Asia are diverse and have contemporary tastes, yet like to embrace culture. Our brides are women with a voice who appreciate fashion and because of this, they want something unique to suit the mood. We love the diversity of our brides, so we always keep a cultural element in check and embrace the progression of our heritage.

Can you talk us through the design process?

Much of our designs are influenced primarily by our real brides and their needs. We start the design process by selecting one of our fabrics and then begin to drape it with the bride in mind.

Once we discover certain shapes, we work with our technical team to make sure it all fits together in the way we want. Often, we test and trial fabrics and experiment with techniques until we get it right, and once we have, we will then bring it all together.

Read More: White Gallery 2020: How to Become an Exhibitor

What’s next for the brand?

We want to meet with many more of our retailers so we can support them and hear their feedback before we start working on our new collection. We are also excited to have more visibility in the industry and we will be attending many trade shows both in the UK and internationally.

Why have you chosen to exhibit at White Gallery this year?

We debuted at White Gallery last year and we had such a wonderful response to our collections. Because of this, we are excited to return and we cannot wait to see what the show has on offer for us this year!

Peony Rice Bridal will be exhibiting at White Gallery 2020 on Stand 521. Make sure you register for the event here so you don’t miss out.