Yemi Osunkoya – Kosibah

Articles Tagged with: Yemi Osunkoya

November 3, 2022

TRUST THE PROCESS – KOSIBAH COUTURE GOWN THALIA.

The creation of Kosibah couture bridal gown Thalia from Atelier to Runway.

Fitted sheath strapless gown with ruched empire line bodice. Puddle train. Hand stitched Lace appliques down the centre of the gown. Detachable Tulle Watteau cathedral train. Lace appliques hand stitched unto the hem edge.

Please play the video to view the process.

What are your thoughts or questions about the process involved in the creation of this gown? Please leave your comments below.

October 20, 2022

TRUST THE PROCESS – KOSIBAH COUTURE GOWN EUTERPE.

The creation of Kosibah couture bridal gown Euterpe from sketch to reality. Euterpe features an illusion Tulle bodice with Lace appliqués. 3/4 Length sleeves, Duchesse Satin trumpet skirt with a puddle train, Tulle overskirt with Lace appliqués and a cathedral train.

Please play the video to view the process.

Lace appliques pinned in place on the front bodice

What are your thoughts or questions about the process involved in the creation of this gown? Please leave your comments below.

October 6, 2022

YEMI OSUNKOYA INTERVIEW ON THE LUXURY BUSINESS PODCAST.

I was privileged to be one of the few businesses in the luxury space , Founder of Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium, maker of luxury wedding cakes, world renowned sugarcraft teacher, author and luxury expert Elizabeth Solaru chose to feature in her Luxury Business Podcast. Find below her introduction to the podcast episode and the episode itself.

INTERVIEW WITH YEMI OSUNKOYA OF KOSIBAH

I first met Yemi years ago at a luxury wedding show. I had heard of him prior to our meeting as he was the only black couturier in the UK wedding industry at the time. Although the show did not go as well as planned, I was struck by his professionalism, calm demeanour and his grace under fire.

After a few years, we became friends and did many projects together. A consummate professional, he is kind and a great listener. He has a passion for creating beautiful silhouettes and his many brides are very grateful for his ability to make them look and feel amazing.

This podcast revealed a few things about him that I did not know and I’m sure you will enjoy listening to it.

Please listen to the podcast by clicking on the link below.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/luxury-business-podcast/id1607790782?i=1000562684594

I would love to hear from you if you have any comments about this episode.

September 15, 2022

TRUST THE PROCESS – KOSIBAH COUTURE GOWN CALLIOPE.

The process of creating Kosibah couture gown Calliope from the Kosibah atelier till a styled shoot in the beautiful Chateau Challian. Strapless gown with ruched Tulle corseted bodice. Column skirt with puddle train. Hand stitched appliqués on the skirt. Tulle overskirt with cathedral train. Removable Tulle chemise with cap sleeves.

Styled shoot location: Chateau de Challian, Challian-la-Potherie, France.

Styled shoot images by Nek Vardikos.

Please play the video to view the process.

Pinning hand-cut appliques unto the skirt front

What are your thoughts or questions about the process involved in the creation of this gown? Please leave your comments below.

August 25, 2022

TRUST THE PROCESS – KOSIBAH BRIDE IFE.

The creation of Kosibah Bride Ife’s couture bridal gown from Atelier to First dance.

Ife wore a strapless mermaid couture gown. The bodice, with a sweetheart neckline, is in French lace with a duchesse satin underlay and has an internal corset. The mermaid skirt in ruffled layers of tulle and lace has a cathedral length train. The ensemble is completed with a tulle chemise with a high neckline and long fitted sleeves with hand stitched French lace appliques.

The cathedral tulle veil also features hand stitched French lace appliques.

Wedding location: Birmingham, UK.

Please play the video to view the process.

Cutting the applique patterns from the lace fabric piece

What are your thoughts or questions about the process involved in the creation of this gown? Please leave your comments below.

August 11, 2022

TRUST THE PROCESS – KOSIBAH BRIDE CLARA OLATUNJI.

The creation of Kosibah Bride Clara’s couture bridal gown from sketch to walking down the aisle.

Clara’s custom gown features a puddle length trumpet silhouette inner skirt, over which is a modified A line silhouette overlay with hand-sewn 3D lace appliqués, horsehair trim along the hemline and cathedral length train. The corseted bodice, with cap sleeves has a bateau neckline and V back detailing.

Wedding location – Malta.

A bespoke cathedral length veil edged with horsehair trim and embellished with the same 3D lace appliqués completes the look.

Official wedding Images by T. Phillips Photography (tphillips.com)

Please play the video to view the process.

Here is the Google review left by Kosibah Bride Clara.

The floral pattern from the tulle lace fabric about to be cut into an applique

What are your thoughts or questions about the process involved in the creation of this gown? Please leave your comments below.

August 4, 2022

TRUST THE PROCESS – KOSIBAH BRIDE MORGAN ELIAS.

Behind the scenes clips of the creation of Kosibah Bride Morgan’s couture bridal gown from toile (prototype of the gown in muslin) to her walking down the aisle.

Morgan wore a ballgown silhouette gown in sequinned organza fabric with a silk duchesse satin underlay and embellished with hand-sewn bespoke beaded appliqués. The corseted bodice has a sweetheart neckline, off the shoulder cap sleeves, and tie up fastening detail behind. The ballgown skirt has a cathedral length detachable train. The ensemble is finished with a cathedral length veil trimmed with the same bespoke beaded appliqués.

Morgan’s wedding reception took place at the MGM National Habor Hotel, Oxon Hill, MD.

Please play the video to view the process.

Here is the Google review left by Kosibah Bride Morgan.

Fitting the toile (prototype) of the gown

What are your thoughts or questions about the process involved in the creation of this gown? Please leave your comments below.

January 9, 2022

Kosibah at the V&A Museum, London. 2008.

A look back at footage from my catwalk show at the Kulture2Kouture fashion show at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, organised by the Mayors Office to celebrate Black History Month.

July 2, 2015

Kosibah Real Bride Yve.

Today I share with you images from Kosibah Real Bride Yve’s wedding. Creating Yves dress was a joy for many reasons. For one, she was getting married to my good friend Deb and I knew a lot of our mutual friends would be seeing my work ‘in real life’ for the first time. It was also an opportunity to create a fusion design that incorporated aspects of Deb’s Asian culture.

I decided to use Sari Fabric, deconstructed and put back together with silk duchesse satin. We chose a rich burgundy red and gold sari.

The wedding took place in the grounds of the magnificent Tudor mansion Leez Priory with the wedding breakfast in a hall within the mansion.

Here is a short video captured and edited on my iPhone that encapsulates the whole day.

August 23, 2014

Kosibah Real Bride Asia- A couture Nikai bridal gown.

Today I am sharing with you the process of creating Kosibah Real Bride Asia’s couture gown for her Nikai ceremony held in Tanzania.

It involved hand cutting appliqués off the French Lace fabric and reassembling them on silk tulle, by hand, thereby creating a bespoke fabric for the center back panel of the fishtail skirt.

Asia teamed her gown with a head-wrap in the same silk satin as the gown underlay and wore an embellished veil for the ceremony.

This gown would also be perfect for a Reception dress after a white

Please let me know what you think.

June 11, 2014

Kosibah Real Bride Charlotte

It is always a great show of confidence in one’s work when as a designer you get to create bridal gowns for more than one member of the same family. It was such a case in today’s Kosibah Real Bride Charlotte as I also got to create her sister’s bridal gown a couple of years later.

Charlotte wanted a fitted fishtail gown with some texture in the fabric. I created a gown featuring an asymmetrical empire-line bodice hand-draped in silk duchesse satin with a Swarovski embellished knot leading to 2 detachable shoulder straps. The corseted lower bodice and fishtail skirt was in textured silk tulle with Swarovski diamante crystals added on in the Kosibah Studio.

I also made the dresses worn by the 2 Bridesmaids (one of whom I later made a wedding gown for), the Mother of the Bride and the Grandmother of the Bride. As I usually do when I can, I arrived in the morning to dress the whole bridal party.

Charlotte, the daughter of Lord Boateng, a peer of the realm, had the privilege of getting married in the beautiful St Margaret’s Church, Westminster Abbey with her reception taking place across Parliament Square at One Great George Street , a magnificent Grade II listed, four-domed, Edwardian building .

Charlotte removed her silk tulle cathedral veil after the wedding service and just before cutting the cake with her new husband, removed the detachable shoulder straps which created a more informal look to her dress.

Enjoy the images, especially the interiors of both St Margaret’s Church and One Great George Street.

May 27, 2014

Kosibah gown features in OK! Magazine.

The red zibeline and organza couture gown created for our client Sunny Nersian for the party to celebrate her engagement to her fiancé Danny Andre was featured recently in OK! Magazine.

The gown that featured over 1440 hand affixed Swarovski diamanté crystal had a form fitting bodice and textured fishtail skirt.

Here are some images of the dress being created in the Kosibah studio and tear sheets from the magazine.

March 20, 2014

Kosibah catwalk show at the V&A Museum, London. 2006

I’ve been reviewing all the videos I’ve posted in the YemiKosibah YouTube channel and I was quite surprised by how many there were, and I’ve decided to begin posting them here on my blog.

This video was shot in October 2008 at a fashion show called Kulture2Couture, held at the Victoria & Albert Museum’s Raphael Room, and organised by the Mayor’s Office as part of Black History month, K2C as it was fondly known went on for 3 years until it was discontinued when Boris Johnson became the new mayor of London.

I showed a combination of bridal, evening and formal day wear and though the footage is from 2008, the dresses don’t look too dated (I hope!!).

The video also has some testimonial messages at the end.

Please let me know what you think.

March 15, 2014

Kosibah Real Bride Anu.

I share with you today’s Kosibah real bride Anu’s wedding with very fond memories. Her wedding was one of those rare ones that allowed me to fully display exactly what Kosibah can do for a wedding party. I dressed Anu and her 6 bridesmaids not only for the wedding, but also for the evening party afterwards where they changed into Afro-Centric eveningwear.

The wedding was held at the magnificent St Marylebone Parish Church , Marylebone Road near Regent’s Park where the couple were able to take some wonderful photographs after the service, and the Reception took place at the London Hilton on Park Lane .

Anu wore a fitted empire-line fishtail gown, with an integral corset laced up underneath the zipper featuring decorative covered buttons. The bodice was ruched in ivory organza and the skirt was in ivory silk duchesse satin with a champagne tulle beaded Lace overlay. The removable cap-sleeved chemise top was in the Lace left sheer.A cathedral tulle veil edged in the same lace completed the ensemble.

As Anu wanted to celebrate her future husbands Ghanaian heritage, I suggested we used a fabric called Kente-Oke as well as duchesse satin for the bridesmaids dresses. Anu’s husband’s tuxedo jacket was made with Kente-Oke as well.

For the evening party, Anu changed into a fitted sheath gown in salmon Silk charmeuse and beaded lace and her bridesmaids in knee-length fitted dresses in Woodin fabric.

A short video clip of the wedding beautifully captured by Joseph Young can be viewed here

Please leave a comment after viewing the photos below. I’d love to know what you think.

January 16, 2014

Throw Back Thursday – KOSIBAH on BET

Kosibah was honoured by BET (Black Entertainment Television) with a short but concise video clip of images of Kosibah gowns and a voice-over by myself. Sincere gratitude to Lilian Blankson.

The short video clip was

shown at intervals on BET sky channel 191 at intervals during various programs.