Elena Dawson creates timeless and beautiful semi-deconstructed garments in her East Sussex studio. She studied at the University of Brighton and began working as a seamstress after graduating, which turned out to be an invaluable experience. “I draw on the knowledge I learned at the tailors still now in the way I make clothing,” she says. “When you work on alterations you are really tearing the guts out of the garment, performing a sort of autopsy—you really get to see a garment at its most vulnerable point. Observing this state of semi deconstruction in the making of a garment or shoe is what I like to retain in my finished work."
She launched Paul Harnden Clothiers with Paul Harnden in 2000, and left in 2006 to start her own line by her own aesthetic standards. She works from a dress form and sculpts everything by hand - designing and constructing her collections in house with a very small team using natural fabrics - her favorites are English wool, Irish linen, Indian cottons and Chinese silks.
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PRINT SHIRT
100% COTTON WITH SILVER PRINT
PRINT WORK TROUSER
PRINT WORK TROUSER
100% BLACK COTTON DRILL WITH SILVER PRINT
SCOTS COAT IN CHARCOAL TWEED
SCOTS COAT IN CHARCOAL TWEED
100% WOOL / 100% COTTON LINING
ELIZABETH COAT IN BLACK MOLESKIN
ELIZABETH COAT IN BLACK MOLESKIN
100% COTTON / 100% COTTON LINING
HACKING JACKET IN BLACK TWEED WITH HAND STITCHING AND FLOWERS
HACKING JACKET IN BLACK TWEED WITH HAND STITCHING AND FLOWERS
100% WOOL / 100% COTTON LINING
MAIDEN DRESS IN BLACK SILK SATIN WITH FLOWERS
MAIDEN DRESS IN BLACK SILK SATIN WITH FLOWERS
100% SILK
HACKING COAT IN CAVIAR
HACKING COAT IN CAVIAR