A famous Cape Town annual horse-racing event hosts ‘The Most Elegant Couple’ competition every year. I took this opportunity to see how far I could push my paper craft, exploring the wide variety of paper textures and folding styles. I interpreted this year’s theme of ‘A Rare Blend’ in my own special way with the concept ‘Origami Meets Couture’, which resulted in a dress made entirely out of paper as well as accessories. Delighted to say my couple came first in the competition.

Not only was the medium of choice, paper, a challenge to work with, this was also the first piece of clothing I had ever made. The dress took me roughly 3 weeks to make, working on it evenings after work and over weekends.

My love for paper started 3 years ago, when I bought a single paper flower from a craft shop in Kalkbay. Eager to find out how it was made, I took it apart and ended up folding hundreds of the same flower. From that time on I never stopped; I spent countless hours online and started teaching myself more about paper craft and the art of origami. This led to me making paper crafts and flowers for a few friends’ weddings. With an architecture background, my creative side combined with my acute sense for detail and perfection turned out to be a perfect match for my paper hobby, and realising my passion.

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The dress for the horse racing event was made completely of paper

The skirt forms a structured base, with a soft bodice made from strips of paper sewn together

The detail on the paper dress is a mixture of origami flowers and exotic plant leaf paper cutouts

It was embellished with pearls, lace and a touch of denim to match the gentleman’s jacket and waistcoat

I took a different take on the classic bow tie, exploding into an array of exotic plant leaves and a hint of yellow

Photographs by Edó Photography

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