Do you love unconventional, wild and romantic yet with natural grace, are keen to be less wasteful within your wedding planning and have always envisioned to have your dress tailormade? It’s your lucky moment. Sit back and enjoy discovering Jess Turner, creator and designer of Jessica Turner Design and her vision for ethically made bridal dresses in the UK… “Sketch to bride”.

I could not help but fall in love with what Jess Turner is championing with her bridal fashion designer business. I would define it as beauty with a conscience. A sustainable fashion movement. A brand that stands for slow fashion, a mindset that wants to be kinder to our world by using raw materials, more carefully sourced items, by reducing waste, by focusing on the locality and by embracing a less is more mentality. A more conscious way of doing business yet without compromising an ounce of quality and longevity, aesthetics, romance and elegance. What a beautiful connection to the ethos of Woven.

Jess Turner is for brides that do not want to feel overwhelmed and prefer a bespoke, personal and tailor made experience for their wedding dress design. Jess beliefs in smaller production to reduce unnecessary waste and focuses on the local UK market from a sourcing as well as service offering perspective to help reduce her carbon footprint and support the UK economy. From the materials she sources to the way of her running her business through to her collections that are hand painted on paper to reduce the use of raw materials, Jess is on the way to becoming a leader in the ethical bridal couture landscape.

Photocredit Jessica Turner Designs @jessturnerdesigns

Jess has a beautiful garden studio and it allows for a very special and intimate personalised experience to make any little girls dream can come true to design a dress the way you have always dreamed of. A space to breathe. It’s so interesting to speak with her about the organic bamboo cotton and chiffon she uses, peace silk, how dip dye works that avoids acid dyes and rather focuses on using natural dyes. Did you know that silk worms can be fed on an organic diet?

Her first steps into her business adventure was designing corsets which are now a famous part of her wedding dress styles. Have you heard about her most recent new collection, “Where the Wild Things Grow”? With names like Freesia, Meadowsweet and Daisy, what is there not to fall in love with.

How is her style best described? Think long plunge neck lines yet elegant and graceful. Think neutral and natural yet in a breath-taking way. Think floaty skirts and off the shoulder. Think wild and bohemian with a bit of frill. Even a hint of sparkle is not forgotten in select designs, a gorgeous detail for the photographer to pick up on and capture forever.

Over to you Jess:

Share a bit about the journey of what brides will experience when they work with you?

The bride will be able to browse my small collection, see my range of fabric samples, along with my sketches, this helps brides understand clearly how the dress will look and feel. The first consultation takes just over an hour where we talk in depth about styles, fabrics and what they like and dislike. Brides try on some dresses and we pick the style that they like the most and I use this as a base, then the designing magic happens and I sketch 3 initial design ideas and the bride will chose her favourite. Brides often fear that they might not like it once it is made, and to clarify this I make a mock design first, where any adjustments can be made. Then we finalise the fabric selection. It is a step by step process where the bride and myself work closely together to create the perfect dress.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

Wildlife, plants and the natural wonders of the world.

Tell us about the different styles and materials a bride can choose from?

There are a range of styles to choose, corseted dresses, low plunge neck lines, or this can be altered to a v neck line if a bride wants more support, illusion back designs, a range of boho sleeves the design list is endless when you chose a bespoke designer. Key point is to go with a style that suits your body shape. The materials I use are Peace silk, organic cotton, eco fabrics where the cotton fibre waste is recycled, I try to hunt down the most sustainable fabric and if possible made in the UK.

What is an unforgettable moment you experienced with one of your brides?

Seeing a dress on them and the photos you get back from the photographer. I love seeing the bride so happy and beautiful on their wedding day.

Your collection 2022. Charm and Boho… what can we look forward to?

Romantic floaty fabrics, pretty boho sleeves, illusion back details and low plunge neck lines. Dresses all made with luxury eco fabrics.

Signed off with ethical romantic fashion love, Woven

Slow Fashion – bespoke made bridal wear with a conscience