Where can i buy issa london

At the time of the Duchess' engagement, Helayel reveals she had just 25 staff members and three pattern cutters in her West London studio. Meanwhile, her label was on the 'verge of financial crisis'. She admits: 'Issa was a niche brand; we had a loyal following, but in and we were in serious financial trouble. When Kate wore that dress everything changed. With no indication Middleton would wear the Issa dress the morning of her engagement announcement, Helayel recalls: 'That morning I'd gone to yoga as usual, and then I got a call from a friend telling me about the royal engagement.

It was all very exciting. It was bonkers,' she adds. With the dress sold out in minutes and demands for reorders, Helayel soon learned that popularity isn't always sign of success. With sales doubling following the appearance of Middleton in her dress design, Helayel reveals she didn't have the money to finance production on such a mass sale to meet demand.

I needed an investor,' she explains. After Camilla Al-Fayed, a friend of the designer's, offered to buy a 51 per cent stake in the company, the company recruited a new CEO in , which subsequently saw Helayel leave the brand as creative director in May Helayel explains: 'I left because I couldn't take any more.

I felt so stressed that my hair went white and started falling out. I was broken by the end of it. To watch it evaporate was heartbreaking.

I took two years out and didn't design a thing. It was too painful. Helayel's sentiments towards the unrealistic demand for designers to meet orders, especially following when their pieces are promoted unexpectedly by a celebrity, echoes those of several designers who have struggled with the mounting pressure to produce endless collections and meet expectations from consumers.

When Albert Elbaz left French fashion house Lanvin last October after 14 years at the brand's helm, the designer later opened up on the crippling stress of having to start designing a new collection, the moment he finished the last.

Revealing his dissatisfaction with his profession at the time, Elbaz told Vogue : 'People think fashion is one long party that never ends. It's a party, but it ends. The life cycle goes through highs and lows. Likewise, designers such as former creative director of Dior, Raf Simons, have also opened up about the difficulty in finding inspiration on demand.

People think fashion is one long party that never ends. It was bonkers. Five minutes later the dress was sold out—and reorders were pouring in. Ironically that's when the trouble started. The bank refused to give me credit, and the factory was screaming for me to pay its bills.

I needed an investor. Camilla Al-Fayed, a friend of the designer's since age 19, offered to buy a 51 percent stake in the company, and in July , it was official. Although things were good in the beginning, a new CEO was hired in , and Helayel left the business as creative director in May Two years later the label shuttered.

I was broken by the end of it. To watch it evaporate was heartbreaking. It was too painful. The good news? After all of that, Helayel is back—and with a brand-new label called Dhela. See a few pieces below:. View on Instagram. For women who loved Issa, they'll be able to find traces of it in Dhela. Hopefully that means there's more to come—and we're glad to know that Helayel is doing what she's obviously talented at once again.