This unique dress is a collision of two worlds.
East and West meet in
 the deconstruction of a traditional Japanese bridal kimono (Uchikake) into a classic Kiwi wedding dress.

Grace Khong Samuelson created this dress as a wedding present for her Japanese friend Sachie Hasegawa who was marrying a kiwi and wanted to refashion her heritage to merge with her future. Grace used every spare moment available to work on this daunting project, including during the pattern making classes she was taking at the time, and at one point even in a hotel room on a business trip. Whilst the skirt is created fully from the kimono, the bodice subtly incorporates sections of the unique pattern to merge these two distinctive styles.

Read more about the history of home sewing in the New Zealand Fashion Museum publication Home Sewn.