Hera Couture marks a special anniversary, celebrating 15 years in the bridal business with a fashion show featuring notable brides donning their wedding dresses. Designer Katie Yeung considers designing significant gowns and explains how brides-to-be can choose their own.
It is a bridal party, but no one is
getting married.
Glasses are raised in a toast, as a crowd celebrates a special anniversary. Brides of wedding-days-past reunite, not to mark their own milestones, but to instead celebrate Hera Couture – and the designer who dreamed up their dresses. The festivities include a photoshoot and a walk down the aisle.
Katie Yeung is the toast-ee. The designer stands at centre of attention, struggling to accept a chorus of compliments. She’s spent 15 years giving them out herself, while pondering the same question every day: “How do you create that garment that makes [a] woman feel the most beautiful on their wedding day?”
Katie Yeung with her dresses ahead of her 15th anniversary celebrations. Photo / Supplied
For Yeung, design is a lifelong love.
“I really hone in on construction,” she tells Viva. “The seams, the architectural lines, sewing that is easy to alter, [and] what silhouettes will accentuate a woman’s curves.”
Yeung was raised in a workroom, within a family-run atelier, where she assisted her couturier mother in creating made-to-order special occasion garments. The environment encouraged an eye for detail and a customer-led approach to design.
“I have been sewing since I was 8,” she says.
Over her design career, Yeung continued to create bespoke pieces for big days: clients headed to parties and events. Then she began fielding requests for dresses for the biggest days. Filing a steady supply of save the dates to her fridge door, Yeung launched Hera Couture in 2010.
Yeung incorporates relaxation into her silhouettes, which she credits to a local preference for comfort. Even when she has worked on mermaid gowns, she wants brides to take uninhibited, free steps.
“Who are we? We’re not a constricted country,” she says.
“The way we dress is very understated, but also very confident. I think we can be a very classy nation.”
Mava Moayyed wears Orion lace: ‘The skirt unfolds in layers of delicate French lace.’ Photo / Supplied
Hera Couture wedding dresses often feature distinct lines and shapes. There are occasional subversions, with gowns in pink, grey and black. A sense of grandeur runs through them all.
Yeung has dressed many notable New Zealand names, including Kirstie Stanway, Antonia Prebble and Mava Moayyed, and showed at New Zealand Fashion Week and New York Bridal Fashion Week.
Antonia Prebble wears the Eclipse: ‘The softening edge of our Babylon veil is a vision for this gown, wrapped in timeless allure for that unique love story.’ Photo / Supplied
Now located in a sprawling showroom on Karangahape Rd, Hera Couture welcomes brides to a space fashioned with silk, lace and tulle. At the bridal salon, Yeung and her team of stylists present customers with ready-to-wear and bespoke gowns.
While it’s always exciting to work with brides-to-be, Yeung says there is a particular intimacy to designing especially for someone.
Elina wears Amara wrap and Vienna tulle: ‘A moment of pure ease. Soft tulle, gentle sleeves, and a bride completely at home in her joy.’ Photo / Supplied
“It’s working with the brides constantly for four months to six months, from the initial calico and initial sketch. I care about the design, the inspiration. I get to know the bride’s personality [and] how they like to wear their clothes.
“That’s very special because throughout this process, you become friends. I think for me, this is not work. This is just living a good, meaningful life.”
How to choose a wedding dress
How does a bride whittle down the options to find a dress that stands the test of time?
The initial approach is important
“Come in with an open mind, do your research and see what kind of silhouettes you like,” Yeung says. “Then, just listen to [the] stylists.”
Left to right: Emily Mitchell wears a custom Florence: ‘No embellishment – only pure structure and proportion. The skirt releases into a rounded cloud of hand-layered tulle.’ Bianca wears the Lavinia: ‘The corseted bodice cinches elegantly before unfolding into a full textural skirt.’ Photo / Supplied
Yeung is firm about one, deeply practical quality.
“Number one, the garment needs to be comfortable,” she says. “Without comfort, the bride would not be feeling great on the day, right? They need to walk, and the dress needs to be able to glide with the body.
“That is 10 hours of the day that you need to move in, dance in, take photos, and if you’re not comfortable, it shows through your face.”
Have an idea what you want…
In approaching the silhouettes and materials of a gown, Yeung says it’s helpful to have an idea of shape for different parts of the dress. She begins at the neckline, with the lines that frame the face, before moving through to the bodice and skirt.
Jazmyne Aria wears the Rochel: ‘A structured, off-shoulder bodice with controlled draping and long sculpted sleeves flows into a fluid satin column, opened by a bold front slit.’ Photo / Supplied
…But be prepared to change your mind
Yeung finds challenging preconceptions about the ‘perfect’ dress can be rewarding too.
“We will give you the silhouette that you’d like to try on, but we also throw in about two or three wildcards,” she explains. “60% or 70% of brides actually do take the wildcard.”
What do you want your dress to say?
When customers have little direction, Yeung also considers what a bride wants to express through a dress.
“Tell me three things about [yourself]. Or, if friends are around, how would you describe [the bride]? Is she fun? Is she meticulous? Is she detailed? Is she independent?”
Kirstie Stanway wears the Ayla: ‘A soft tulip neckline and sheer off-shoulder sleeves drift with effortless romance.’ Photo / Supplied
Yeung, despite the years of design, is still a romantic.
“I think a dress is a feeling. You think you choose this dress, but sometimes the dress chooses you. Once you put it on, you don’t want to take it off.
“I think it’s quite magical at that moment.”
More gowns from the archives
Holly Shervey wears the Astralis: ‘A single sweeping neckline, soft liquid texture, and a clean column silhouette with effortless hip drape.’ Photo / Supplied
Gert Boult wears the Adrian with bolero: ‘The bolero rises in bold, architectural volume – sleeves like carved clouds, ceremonial and modern.’ Photo / Supplied
Hannah wears the Hailey: ‘Hand-pleated bodice with a deep, measured plunge, flowing into a skirt of liquid, vertical folds.’ Photo / Supplied
Lucy Graham wears Le Lilac: ‘The pastel hue feels diffused, like dawn light, ethereal, dimensional and assured.’ Photo / Supplied
Anna wears the Rouge set: ‘The trailing ties and subtle neck drape frame her like a living sculpture, serene, powerful, divine.’ Photo / Supplied
Have a wedding you’d like to have featured in Viva? Email viva@nzherald.co.nz.
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