Archives for April 2022

Sophia wins the Trashion Show

April 27, 2022 By officeadmin Leave a Comment

Every year Mālama Maui Nui organizes their Art of Trash & Trashion Show event. Participants create art and fashion out of trash, finding ways to rethink, reinvent, and repurpose used or recycled materials. We always love seeing how creative all of the participants are!

We are thrilled to share that First Hand Sophia Gallegos won 1st prize for her piece ‘Après Shopping’. Way to go Sophia! We are so proud of you and we love seeing you continuously step into your artistry through every new piece you create.

Below is a quote from Sophia on her creation:

“I wanted to experiment. I didn’t want the dress to look as though it were plastic. Mostly I used packaging materials, and though I do love to shop, it was frustrating to realize how many plastic bags my family had in our house from various shops. It felt really unnecessary. This was mainly an experiment to see if I could successfully transform the materials into a cute dress, but has the subtle message to remind people to bring your own bag!”

Sophia has some very exciting future plans that will take her to Amsterdam this coming fall. She will be attending Amsterdam Fashion Academy to study fashion design and business. It has been such a pleasure to see her grow as an artist and continue to follow her passions in fashion and design.

If you’d like to see the other pieces participants created, then check out the online catalog here: https://issuu.com/malamamauinui/docs/the_art_of_trash_trashion_show

Filed Under: Community, Sophia Style

In-Studio Stories!

April 20, 2022 By officeadmin Leave a Comment

The last few weeks at the Atelier have been filled with prom dresses, glitter, sequins, and endless smiles. It has been such a joy getting to see the excitement of the Maui teens as they get ready for their proms this year. After a two year pause, these teens were ready to experience prom!

Here are some photos we wanted to share with you from the teens and the JOA staff during these last few weeks. A peek into the prom busyness at the atelier…

Sewing Assistant Micah working on alterations for this sparkly glitter prom dress in a pale lavender. Every night after working we went home with glitter all over us! And if you know glitter, it is not easy to get off. We had so much fun during these weeks filled with lots of glitter and glam!

Here is Master Dressmaker Jennifer holding up a hot pink sequins prom dress we were working on. It is very Jessica Rabbit! We loved seeing all of the different tastes and styles of prom dresses the teens brought into the atelier.

The Maui teens at their prom! We made some alterations for the lavender prom gown.

Here is Sewing Assistant Micah with his sister Sara at prom. Micah graduated last year during covid, so he didn’t get to experience a prom. But luckily, his sweet sister Sara invited him to hers. Such nice siblings! We created Sara’s silk brocade vest for prom.

It has been a jam-packed month of prom alterations and wedding clients. We anticipate the busyness to continue with wedding clients as many brides and grooms move forward with wedding plans this year. Brides, please get in touch as soon as possible if you are in need of our services. Appointments are filling up quickly for the summer. The sooner you can book an appointment the better. Email admin@jenniferoberg.com to schedule your first fitting appointment.

Filed Under: Community, In-Studio Stories

Pleats Part Two!

April 13, 2022 By officeadmin Leave a Comment

If you saw our blog a few weeks ago, you learned all about pleats, the history of pleating, and a current custom gown with pleats we have been creating. Continuing with the pleated custom gown we have been creating for a bride we have part two: some details on the process and the final design!

For this custom gown, we used silk pleated organza with a pale pink underlayer of chiffon from a seller based in Ukraine. We were able to order 20 yards of the fabric before the war started. We have been in touch with the owner of the fabric store, Natali. Her family is secure, however her business had to shut down for a while. She is trying to re-open her business. If anyone would like to support her, then here is a link to her business: https://www.etsy.com/shop/SecretSpark

The dress passed through several design plans before we settled on the right one. We had numerous ideas and possibilities for the style, bodice, and sleeves. We wanted to find the perfect look to fit the style of the Bride Holly, who we were creating the gown for. Eventually, we found the look that was perfectly meant for Holly!

Along with the final design, we also created a detachable train for the gown. Below is a video we took during the creation of the train. For this train we ended up using three of our pleated panels to create a cascading train. Usually you would need to add a bustle to the gown in order to pick up the train for the reception, but for this train we made it detachable so the bride could easily remove it after the ceremony.

We were so happy to create this wedding gown for the bride. The pleated fabric was so fun to play with. It inspired many different design ideas. Brides-to-be, get in touch if you would like to schedule an appointment for a custom wedding gown consultation. We would love to bring your vision to life!

Filed Under: Dressmaking

The Dream Team & Unexpected Surgery

April 6, 2022 By officeadmin Leave a Comment

Today, we wanted to send thanks and gratitude to our JOA team and our very understanding clients. Jennifer discovered a large mass in her neck at the end of January. After trying and trying to schedule appointments to have the mass removed, she was finally able to get a surgery scheduled in California.

Jennifer had to step out of the studio for 2 weeks in March – a very busy time for the Atelier – to have surgery done on the mainland at Stanford Hospital. Thankfully, when the large mass was removed it was benign. We were all very relieved when we found out.

Jennifer in California during her recuperation after her surgery.

In the meantime, her wonderful crew at the Atelier held down the fort while she was away. She is incredibly appreciative of her amazing team, their dedication, and their ability to handle the unexpected with such ease and grace. We are very lucky to have so many talented people working at the Atelier! A big thank you to Elaine Gima – Head Seamstress, Lynne Donaldson – Alteration Specialist, Sophia Gallegos – First Hand, Micah Oberg – Sewing Assistant, and Yasmine Lindskog – Office Coordinator! Endless gratitude for being there for the unexpected and keeping JOA running smoothly.

Our team handled nearly 40 fittings while Jennifer was gone. From prom dresses to custom wedding gowns to general alterations. The Atelier was busier than ever with client appointments and busy sewists working on all the garments. Jennifer called in many times via video and everything worked well. The JOA team managed this unprecedented time with grace, grit, intelligence, quick-thinking, and determination.

In addition, during prom season, our staff stayed the course and helped dozens of girls get their dresses done. We are all so happy about this! It has been two years since the teens were able to have their prom, so we were very passionate about ensuring they felt confident in their gowns at prom this year. Bravo JOA team!! And we are very happy Jennifer is back in the studio, healthy and well! When she got back she treated her staff to a special lunch at Hali’imaile General Store.

“Thank you to my incredible staff for their herculean efforts during my hospital stay and recovery in California. They kept the studio running, did amazing work, and most importantly – took care of so many girls with their prom dresses. The thought of being gone from the studio during prom season was overwhelming to me, but the team took the bull by the horns and gracefully muscled their way through! They are the best!” – Jennifer