Lace, thread by thread.

Every piece starts with the lace. We buy it by the metre from two mills and look at it under a window before we look at it under a lamp, because that is where it will be worn.

Here it is being joined to black crepe. The lace carries the seam and the crepe carries the body, which is why the back of a top can be lace from neck to waist and still hold.

A corded edge is sewn by machine, then finished by hand where it meets the skin.