Tamara Ralph returned to Paris Haute Couture Week this season with her debut collection from her new namesake brand, Tamara Ralph.
Tamara Ralph
The Fall-Winter 2023-24 collection, which was presented in Paris on July 23rd 2023, symbolises the journey the designer has been on over the past few years. It represents the place she is at now as a designer and a woman, with strong, empowering femininity at the heart of the designs. Fresh from the show in Paris, we talked to Tamara about this new chapter and her vision for the future of the brand.
Tamara Ralph FW23 – Look 09
Firstly, welcome back! Tell us about the journey you’ve been on over the last couple of years and where you’re at today.
Thank you! It was a journey that taught me a lot in business and my personal life. I had a beautiful daughter, which was a lovely experience. She’s our world. I wanted to take the time to regroup and look at the future, how to do things differently, and how to take my creativity forward.
We saw the reveal of your FW23 Haute Couture collection in Paris yesterday – tell us about the main themes and inspiration behind this collection.
It was really lovely to be back in Paris with my team. It was a great experience, and we loved working on it. The collection drew on many of the experiences I have been through in the last couple of years. My work has always been very feminine, but some of my experiences made me stronger as a person and allowed me to grow as a designer, and I wanted to highlight that with this collection. I wanted to show feminine strength in the collection, a bolder, more mature side. To highlight this, I took very feminine elements and presented them in harder materials. Roses in metal, to create armour-like structures within the dresses, for example, almost shield-like elements, but done in a very elegant, graceful way, with refined detail. Taking metal work and encrusting it with pearls, or taking roses and making it into metal and covering it in stones, really hardening these feminine elements but keeping them very rich.
Tamara Ralph FW23 – Look 06
Tell us about some of the colours used in this collection.
The first part of the collection starts with classic black-and-white looks. I think my designs have always had a very elegant, classic aesthetic, so I wanted to start with the purity of black and white with these classic pieces. It then evolves into a raspberry red which is quite a passionate colour, before moving into feminine gelato shades. We have a beautiful peppermint tone and a soft candy pink. Mixing these soft colours with classics combines the femininity and strength that the collection is about.
What has the feedback been like so far?
We have had incredible feedback from the press and clients alike, so it’s been a very busy but wonderful twenty-four hours.
Tamara Ralph FW23 – Look 11
And we saw you had your daughter with you at the show…
When you become a mother, you gain a different purpose and perspective, and my daughter has been instrumental in giving me strength for my next chapter. She is a huge part of me, so sharing this with her is amazing.
Who is the woman that you’re designing for now?
She’s someone who knows herself and has strength. She’s bold; she knows what she wants; she’s fearless, but at the same time elegant and graceful.
Tamara Ralph FW23 – Look 10
What else is in the pipeline for your brand?
We’ve got some exciting announcements coming next year, including some amazing collaborations we’ve been working on. These will set the foundations of having a lifestyle offering from the brand. Couture is obviously the heart of what we do, but I want to push my creativity outside of that and look at other ideas and categories that sit beautifully within the brand’s story and the luxury sector but give a wider offering outside of fashion. We can’t share too much at the moment, but we are really looking forward to it when it launches next year.
Tamara Ralph FW23 – Look 25
Read the full interview in the upcoming September issue of A&E Magazine.
