Brown velvet dress

This brown velvet dress was designed and fabricated by Kerrie Hughes and Penny Meachin under their label Idol. The New Zealand-born duo established Idol in London in 1989, and specialised in hand-printed, painted and hand embroidered women's wear with a highly romatnic flavour. They offered a whole sale range, whcih they sold through stores such as Harvey Nichols and Liberty's of London, and a bespoke made-to-measure service, which included dressing celebrities such as Miranda Richardson and Paula Yates.

This dress is from Kerrie Hughes' personal wardrobe - she wore the dress as general 'everyday wear'. Penny Meachin was responsible for the strategic hand-bleaching of the dress, which was carried out after the pattern pieces were stitched together, while Kerrie was resonsible for the embroiderry and beading.