Costelloe designs the most personal gown of his career – daughter Jessica’s wedding dress
HE HAS dressed Princess Diana, members of royal families, heads of state, tens of thousands of customers around the world, plus squads of corporates.
But this week Paul Costelloe gets to work on the most personal gown of his career: a wedding dress for his only daughter, Jessica.
After the success of his new AW21 collection at the digital London Fashion Week last Friday, the father-of-seven can concentrate on getting his daughter’s dress finished in time for her nuptials this summer.
It was all hands on deck at Costelloe’s Marylebone studio yesterday where Jessica’s second-youngest brother William, an accomplished artist, was busy plotting the beading for the sleeves of her gown.
The Titian-haired opera singer is tying the knot with her Italian fiance, Dr Francesco Strambi, from Siena. They got engaged in September 2019 and their wedding last October had to be shelved during lockdown.
They had considered an intimate, scaled-down wedding for family only in April, but now the big day has moved to July.
Jessica, a mezzo-soprano who trained at the Juilliard School in New York, works part-time for her “papa” on marketing and press when she is not performing or in the recording studio.
So how does a daughter advise a designer daddy to make the most important dress of her life?
“First of all, the designer daddy has to say a prayer and the daughter has to be very tolerant and it works. I’m just the humble designer,” said Paul.
“Jessica is clear enough – as you can imagine, growing up one girl with six brothers. Typical Costelloe, I just drew up a few ideas and gave them to her and she could select from there and of course her mum, Anne, had a say in it.
“Jessica likes things quite simple so it was great and the fitting of the first toile went off very well four weeks ago. We were really pleased.”
He is no stranger to wedding dresses.
He made one for Vogue Williams and is good on guests, too, dressing Zara Phillips for William and Kate’s royal wedding in 2011.
Paul’s AW21 collection has also kept the 75-year-old busy with his high-impact, ochre story (pictured) inspired by his years as a rookie designer in Paris in the 1960s.
There was a glamour and swagger to his tailored pieces, while the slimmed-down, youthful silhouettes and flared minis went down a treat with his increasingly younger digital audience – quite a feat for the industry veteran.
“We only used five models but the collection was very positive, full of optimism. The feedback we’ve got from around the world, from Buenos Aires to Italy, has been just great,” said Paul.