1

Can you share a bit about your journey into fashion? What inspired you to start Tia Dorraine?

I got passionate about fashion from a very young age. As my mom is a seamstress, she had a small atelier at home and used to always bring work home. While she was sewing, I was making dresses for my dolls with leftover fabrics.

As I grew up, I discovered the world of high-end fashion and I started to design my own clothes, working together with my mom. We learned new techniques, mastered sophisticated cuts, and started transforming haute couture silhouettes into wearable pieces.

I was already thoroughly enjoying working with my mom, making wonderful things happen together, and seeing the reactions of others inspired me even further. So, I started Tia Dorraine.

2

You are a daughter of a seamstress. How has that experience influenced your approach to founding Tia Dorraine, establishing its brand values, and developing a design process?

As the daughter of a true artisan, I learned from my mom the importance of having a passion in order to create a masterpiece. That is why I focused on building a team of people, sharing this mindset and having the skills necessary to make outstanding fashion.

I am proud that we found such people and established a boutique atelier in a historic building in the centre of my hometown.

Our team consists of women from different generations bringing to life timeless and sophisticated designs, infused with modern edge. We focus on craftsmanship, carefully curated fabrics, and feminine cuts – effortless, investment pieces to treasure.

3

What are your brand’s core values and how do they show through your creative process, your supply chain, and production?

Over the years, we have attracted a base of clients who have very high standards and expect only the best from us. In order to serve them well, I am always driven to create distinctive and utterly sophisticated pieces of uncompromising quality, that will be resistant to trends and could be worn day-to-night, season after season.

It is a brutally challenging and extremely satisfying process at the same time.

The team follows the same values. Every single piece is meticulously crafted from scratch by a single artisan.

We only produce limited quantities, never overproducing, and even make pieces to order.

We also focus on relationships and source our fabrics from small local companies and dead stock suppliers.

4

What do you think is the role of platforms like Wolf & Badger—and the independent, ethical designers they support—in creating a more sustainable model of consumption and minimising the environmental impact of the fashion industry?

From our experience, Wolf & Badger is an invaluable way for independent designers to be discovered by clients, thus benefiting everyone involved. Designers can focus on what they do best and create great fashion, while customers can shop with greater ease and the peace of mind that they are making the more environmentally conscious choice.

The environmental impact of an independent brand, operating in a sustainable way, is magnitudes smaller than that of mass-producing conventional corporations. Also, artisanal brands are a disruptive and largely beneficial force driving diversity, quality, and innovation in the fashion world.

5

What does sustainability mean to you? What role does it play in your work and life?

Sustainability means living and operating in a way that minimises harm done to nature. Personally, and also in fashion, this leads to making better, long-term focused purchases, and investing in high-quality items over throwaways. It also means building a capsule wardrobe that is resistant to trends.

At Tia Dorraine, we strive to constantly improve ourselves in that way through our limited production, timeless high-quality pieces that will last for years, local and deadstock fabric suppliers, all paper packaging, no single-use plastic whatsoever, minimising waste and energy consumption.

6

What are some common misconceptions about founding and running an artisanal womenswear brand you wish you could debunk?

For me, the biggest misconception is that the margins are enormous. The cost of producing the way we do is wildly underestimated - every piece cut by hand by a single artisan, from scratch. So is the cost of shipping and returns, fabrics and materials, sampling, photoshoots, website management, packaging.

7

What’s next for you and your brand? Are there any upcoming projects or collaborations you’re excited about?

We have a whole line-up of new releases that take our signature skilled craftsmanship and attention to detail to the next level. It takes inspiration from my own capsule wardrobe, as over the years I realised that the closer a collection is to my own style, the more authentic and successful it is.

Expect the perfect balance of playful and chic, investment pieces that are versatile enough to style and wear repeatedly. Tia Dorraine at its finest.