Meet London-based designer, Francesca Grievson, whose boutique label, Tephi has made a name for itself as a provider of elegant and innovative womenswear. Having studied at both the Oxford Design School and Central St. Martins, Francesca’s passion for design led her to create Tephi in 2009. Initially offering only Bespoke, Tephi has extended their line to offer both Ready-To-Wear and Semi-Bespoke pieces. Now, Francesca’s clothing line has marveled many with its unique style and accompanying accessories. For Tephi’s latest collection, Dutch model Lara Stone had perfectly represented the label’s ‘elegance and originality’ style of clothing by modeling fashionable jumpsuits (seen below).
What initially piqued your interest in design and specifically womenswear? Have you always been interested in fashion?
“From a young age, I was always interested in design – I used to make and adapt so many of my clothes. I loved dressing up as a child and have always had a huge interest in what goes with what and sourcing wonderful pieces, this led to an in interest in fashion design and subsequently going onto study it.”
What are some of the differences in Tephi’s Ready to Wear, Semi-Bespoke and Bespoke dresses?
“Our semi bespoke service is an adaptation of the RTW, often clients would like the pieces, but made to their own measurements with small alterations like a different neckline line or colour. All women’s body shapes and colourings are different and it gives me great pleasure in working to create something that suits and fits perfectly. The fully bespoke service varies, sometimes the client has a god idea of what they would like and often I design something totally from scratch. We make a lot of wedding dresses, which is [a] really enjoyable process – it is a real honour making the dream dress for a client’s big day. “
You originally started off with a focus on bespoke, with that said, how would you describe the evolution to offering both RTW and Bespoke womenswear?
“I have always loved creating a piece of clothing for somebody that fits perfectly to their body and this was something that I felt wasn’t being offered as much, when this became established it seemed like a natural progression to offer clients both options. I couldn’t say which I love more – both RTW and bespoke have amazingly, fulfilling aspects to them.”
How would you describe Tephi’s current collection?
“I have created a capsule collection of jumpsuits this season, which I am super happy with. I wanted to produce the perfect jumpsuit – its feminine, chic and very flattering.”
Take us through a day in the life of Francesca Grievson
“My studio is in my house that I live in with my boyfriend. I often wake up and go to the gym so that I have got out [of] the house before my day starts. Throughout the day it will be a combination of fittings with clients, fabric sourcing and a couple of hours up in Queens Park with my production team working through the pieces we are currently making. Often I have fittings with people after their work day – we stop appointments at 8pm.”
Do you feel that your British heritage
has influenced
the brand?
“Every piece we make is made in England, which is very important to me. Not only do I want to support British production, but it means that I am there everyday to quality control what we are doing. I couldn’t get my head around not overseeing the work we do, so production overseas was never an option. “
What advice would you give to young designers?
“I really stand by quality and timeless designs over trends. I think a lot of people focus too much on what’s current and lose sight of what looks good!”
What is your personal approach when commissioning a bespoke dress? What are the key elements that you look for?
“When doing a bespoke dress the client is the most important person – listening to what they want is essential. With bespoke dresses, we always make a toile of the dress (a mock up in a polyester fabric) this is where a lot of design decisions are made before we cut in the real fabric. When it comes to fabric sourcing for a bespoke piece, I make sure that the client has seen the fabric draped over her body and not just in a small swatch – the fabric is so important and even the smallest difference in shade or texture makes the most enormous difference.”
In addition to dresses, you also have an accessories line, can you tell us more about it and how the idea originally came about?
“Tephi’s luxury garment bags came out of always wanting to [have] a chic and stylish way to carry my dresses. Travelling with a plastic dress bag to carry a beautiful garments didn’t seem right to me, so I saw a gap in the market to make the dream dress bag – it’s really practical as [it] has lots of different compartments for shoes and folded clothes, so [it] works as an essential piece of luggage. The Tephi Washbag was a progression on the accessories as the garment bag was a success – I wanted a washbag that was stylish enough to sit on the bathroom sink looking great and practical enough to fit all your products and bottles standing up – with this, I again, did lots of different compartments so everything has a place.”
Do you have a favourite neighborhood in London? If so, what are some of your favorite things about it?
“I’ve always lived in West London and Notting Hill is a firm favourite, there [it] seems to always be evolving which means it never gets boring. I have to say, I love getting out of London on the weekends, too – I was brought up in the countryside and it’s really where my heart lies.”
Where to next?
“I am very excited about all the brides we are working with at the moment for summer weddings and we have just launched the new collection with Lara Stone as the face of the campaign, which is fantastic. I am also expecting a baby in a month, so on a personal level, that is very exciting!”
Where can we follow you?
“www.tephi.co.uk to sign up to the newsletter and @tephilondon for our Instagram account.”
Images courtesy of Tephi
