Be a million dollar Bride
Britain Today; March - April 2004
A look at Lyall Hakaraia's creation - a gown for Punk bride
Each year about 367,000 weddings take place in the UK. With an average spend of £ 14,000, the market is worth well over £ 5 billion a year. One London designer could blow the budget for several weddings with his ideas for the Posh Punk look, on display at National Wedding Shows 2004, in the UK. He is Lyall Hakaraia, aged 35, who has designed a corset with about 240 half to 1.5-carat diamonds, rubies and sapphires worth more than a million pounds.
Four National Wedding Shows are to take place at major exhibition arenas in London, Birmingham and Manchester between February and mid-October, and it is estimated hat 55,000 affluent brides and grooms will visit the shows to help plan their big day.
Hakaraia has designed for the likes of actress Joan Collins and rock star Marilyn Manson but was inspired for this project by the opera Figaro. "Brides have always wanted something special; so I offer a made-to-measure service offering something very different," he says. "People just fall in love with it...the corset is made up of leather with a very up-to-date pattern cut out. The stones have all been lent to me and are set into the corset which is very flexible and roughly hand-painted in salmon pink," he adds.
The corset has been made with the latest technology. The leather has been cut into a lace pattern with a high-pressure water jet - the same computerised technology that is used when building spacecraft and airplanes. He has twined his corset with a tattered skirt for a 'distressed' look (in the antique sense of well-worn) for the pure punk version.
"My distressed chiffon skirt looks ripped and torn - perfect for the Posh Punk bride," he adds.
The jewelled corset is out on display for the first time at the National Wedding Show and will even have its own set of bodyguards. But if it is out of your price range, don't worry - Hakaraia plans to create a crystal version worth about a thousand pounds.
"Brides have always wanted something special; so I offer a made-to-measure service offering something very different."