Kobus Dippenaar is one of South Africa’s most loved and well-established fashion designers, and he’s been making women beautiful in couture evening and bridal gowns for over 30 years. In the beginning, his sweet spot was the private, bespoke market, but in 2012, he launched the Anna Georgina wedding gown range. This made-to-measure service has been a rocketship ever since. Sweetly enough, the collection was inspired by his mother and grew out of Kobus’ desire to take haute couture fashion and make it accessible to every woman.
Side note, we can’t stop smiling over his origin story. Kobus was born in Paarl (in the Western Cape province of South Africa) in 1968 and surprisingly swept into the fashion world when he began designing high school dance dresses for classmates who couldn’t afford to buy them off the rack - love, love, love.. His mother, a Home Economics teacher, sewed each of the dresses he designed. Total mother/son goals if you ask us! 🙏
And what can brides expect from an Anna Georgina gown? Something that is dually feminine and undeniably sensual. A power play of epic proportions.
The brand’s trademark is the interplay between juxtaposed opposites: masculinity and femininity, structure and fluidity, rich detail and striking minimalism. Deep necklines and backs plunge into bias-cut satin skirts and corseted bodices trail pearl buttons into layered skirts of lace, tulle and bejeweled satin. Illusion lace sleeves, lace tattoo elements, sparkling crystal pieces, hand embroidery, tiny belts and silk petals accent and soften bold lines. Vogue colours include ivory, blush, nude and champagne.
We caught up with the brand on their newest bevy of drop-dead gorgeous dresses in the archetypal Inca Lily collection, and we’re ready to book our flights to New York City and Chicago just to peep a closer look at these beauties in their stateside boutiques. The cache of 12 gowns plus six separate combinations of skirts and tops is full of magnificent details - from architectural guipure laces to dazzling appliqued embroidery details.