Fashion in Ladies Drive No. 66: Inspirational Woman Designers

Fabienne Breederland grew up watching her parents wearing hats to make their outfits complete. She was also incredibly inspired by her uncle who had studied fashion design and given her his sketch book as a gift. With such a background it’s not surprising that Fabienne grew to have a huge passion for beautiful designs and hats in particular. She made her first hat 24 years ago, with her passion for creating beautiful hats only growing over time.

Each hat is unique and only the best materials are used. Even the stones that can be found in some of her hats are especially sourced from the Swiss mountains. Hat creation is however certainly not to be underestimated. Each of Fabienne’s hats takes many hours to finish.

Fabienne is adamant that anyone can wear a hat at any time they feel like it. There are no rules about this. She also custom makes hats according to individual wishes.

Natural Nuance was founded in 2017 by an Austrian-Swedish team of two entrepreneurs with the ambition to create a new brand of precious and sustainable accessories.

Natural Nuance bags are crafted to the highest standards using consciously sourced materials. Circular design principles are applied to ensure longevity and re-use. They are also proud winners of the Green Product Award 2024 Fashion Accessory category.

When I took my first bag home my daughter also instantly fell in love with it and now has it as her mission to also get one. It is the versatile type of bag you fall in love with and simply need as part of your bag collection.

I love that the shoppers come with a pouch already included in the price – perfect for using on its own at night or if you are just going out quickly and need a pouch for keys and phone. You can also wear the same bag cross body or over the shoulder and each bag has both a thick and thin strap.

Conny’s career as a seamstress started with her apprenticeship right after school. Only after finishing this did she decide to follow a career path in another direction. Years later, towards the end of 2019, and whilst on sabbatical in Australia, she realised that fashion needed to become a central part of her life once more. Back in St.Gallen, Switzerland, she then bought a sewing machine and began creating beautiful garments again.

Sustainability is at the heart of her fashion – Conny herself hasn’t bought a single piece of clothing for 4 years now, she proudly told me. Quite rightly so! Almost all garments are made to order by Conny herself. There are a few pieces available on her webshop www.connys-couture.ch. However Conny’s speciality lies in creating wonderful couture pieces of clothing that her clients dream of. Best quality Swiss fabrics are used wherever possible.

Veronica Gonzalez Garcia and her mother Vera are the founders of the pretty Espadrille shoe brand Casa de Vera. A story which began when Vera (they were both living in Venezuela at the time) bought Spanish espadrilles to wear to a cousin’s wedding.

At the time espadrilles weren’t common in Venezuela. After dancing all night and realising just how comfortable the espadrilles were, Veronica and Vera decided it was time to introduce them once again to the Venezuelan women by adding colours and textures. Their aim was to make the Andean espadrille once again an essential piece for Venezuelan women.

As time passed Veronica and Vera realised they would have to emigrate to Spain to make their business work. However old neighbours and friends from Venezuela still help to make the pretty colourful pompoms on the espadrilles available today. The shoes themselves are made in Murcia, Spain, with a small artisan community also in Valencia. At least 50% of each shoe is made using recycled cotton. A percentage of the income from the shoes goes towards other social projects.

Both Veronica and Vera are super proud that their shoes are now available globally.