Tinsel town star Dress designer goes to Hollywood
Designer Trish Peng is hoping to wow Beverly Hills with her red carpet style.
Auckland-born fashion designer Trish Peng is hoping to impress uptown Californian brides and movie stars with her luxury couture fashion house.
Peng, who is a former fashion and fine arts student of Whitecross College, Parnell, has been looking to set up shop in the West Hollywood or Beverly Hills districts of Los Angeles, since travelling to the city in March to make her name.
And her made-to-measure design service for evening gowns and wedding dresses is already making its mark, despite Peng being just 25-years-old.
As well as launching her first international showroom, Peng will travel back home later this month for New Zealand Fashion Week. She has been given the coveted finale spot at the NZ Weddings show and is planning a spectacular showcase of both simple and more elaborate gowns.
Speaking from Los Angeles this week, Peng said her style was feminine, elegant and beautiful. ’’I like simple styling in luxury fabrics, but there is a difference between Kiwi brides and their American counterparts.
‘‘Kiwis like understatement, but Americans like beading and lots of volume, and of course Chinese brides have around five wedding dresses. Everyone likes French Chantilly lace and I travel the world looking for beautiful fabrics and trims for my gowns. Mine is a couture service, so clients want the best and most unusual additions to the designs.’’
Peng has enjoyed a stratospheric journey to success. She started her business just 4 years ago while still studying her university course by designing and making evening dresses for friends and relatives.
Now her dream is to establish a high-end bridal and couture fashion house on the international stage, in a place where her designs have the greatest chance to achieve publicity and recognition at red-carpet events. A bricks and mortar salon is important to her brand. ‘‘We could never sell a couture wedding dress online,’’ she said.
The wedding business is booming in the US which inspired Peng’s move. She believes the location will help grow her business exponentially.
According to 2015 IBIS world report, over 2.3 million couples are married in the US every year and the market is estimated to be worth a staggering US$55 billion ($76.5bn).
Peng is mentored by the founder of an American fashion label and one of LA’s top attorneys, but her business partner Samuel Wong helps with business matters while Peng creates designs for clients.
‘‘Networking, being innovative and adapting to a completely different market is so important as well as remembering it won’t happen overnight,’’ said Peng.’’Being in business is a huge learning curve, but it is very exciting.’’
Kiwis like understatement, but Americans like beading and lots of volume.
US wedding facts:
❚ According to the annual Real Weddings survey, US couples will spend US$32,641 on their wedding day in 2016 - more than $1,400 more than last year. This represents an increase of over $5,500 in the last 5 years.
❚ In 2015, the average bride spent US$1,469 on a wedding dress.