Photo Credit: Charles Grant
25-year-old Sarah Murphy is an ambitious couture designer from a small town in Fife. The designer recently launched her brand ‘Bellanude by Sarah Murphy’ and plans to continue building on this by creating bespoke gowns and custom orders.
Sarah’s love for fashion began at High School whilst studying Advanced Higher Art and Design. This allowed her to create a folio of work based on textures of nature and complete research about Italian fashion designer, Giambattista Valli. What is more, it was during school days where Sarah first learnt how to sew. However, not only school influenced the designer but her grandmother was a true inspiration as she makes and mends regularly.
After graduating from High School, Sarah studied BA (Hons) Fashion and Textiles at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen, attended a short course in London College of Fashion in Structured Bra Making and completed an internship within the Barbie Design Team at Mattel, Asia.
Aside from fashion, Sarah completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) at the Edinburgh University. At the moment, Sarah is a full-time Art and Design Teacher at a secondary school in her home town. The designer works at school during the day and uses her evenings and weekends to create new pieces for her collection and develop her brand. She believes this strict time management taught her self-discipline.
While talking about fashion, Sarah admits that she likes that “there is no limit”. Sarah is inspired by designers like Jean Paul Gaultier, Alexander McQueen, Victor & Rold and Giambattista Valli. The designer also finds inspirations in architectural silhouettes, historical lingerie, soft pastel colours and delicate stitching.
The designer is known for creating couture womenswear and although dresses and gowns are Sarah’s main creations, other garments such as tops, trousers and jackets can be found in one of the designers’ collections - ‘Promise’.
"My love for womenswear stems from my passion for historical lingerie. I love soft pastel pinks and nude tones which feature heavily in vintage bras and corsets. I am very much a girly girl and couldn’t see myself designing anything other than womenswear", says Sarah.
Photo Credit: Amy Iona Photography
In Sarahs' work, tulle can be seen as a predominant component in every garment. Tulle is a very light material which allows adding several layers to create an endless amount of volume.
"I LOVE tulle! It is my number one material and my safe haven. My biggest challenge is not knowing when to stop. Tulle is one of those materials that you can continually keep layering up and building on meaning it can be a never-ending creation when it comes to designing. Sometimes I have to remember the good old saying ‘less is more’”. Sarah further adds that to achieve many looks she uses a gathering technique to “create structure in garment along with framing the contours on the body."
One of Sarah’s favourite designs is the last look from her graduate collection ‘Seduire’. "I feel like I lived and breathed this look by hand-dying the tulle the exact shade of pink, crushing it to give it texture and gathering the metres and metres until I had an end result. This design is also my most popular design and was purchased by RGU Arts and Heritage to be part of their collection that new art students can view."
The designer is also supporting sustainable fashion and wants to ensure she can do her part in the fashion industry by not wasting materials and supporting local businesses. "All of my Ready-To-Wear pieces that will be launching shortly will be made to order to reduce waste. My runway collections also aren’t wasted and are used for countless fashion photoshoots until they have no life left."
One of Sarah’s most memorable Fashion Events she has taken part in was the British Style Collective in Liverpool. “This was an event that happened straight out of Art School and I just couldn’t believe they had asked me to feature in it! I spent the weekend in Liverpool and had a great time”.
Recently the designer also took part at the Edinburgh Charity Fashion Show, a project showcasing designers as well as raising money for good causes. Sarah says she was lucky enough to sponsor the show which allowed her to showcase her new collection ‘Angel’. To prepare for events like this, Sarah believes it’s all about "ensuring you dedicate enough time to create the collection just as you want it".
At the moment the designer continues to build her brand Bellanude, creating new Ready-To-Wear pieces which are about to launch on her website, and working on her next move for the runway collections.
For all enquires, custom orders or collaborations you can contact Sarah at hello@bellaude.co.uk and keep up to date with upcoming projects on Instagram.