The Designer
Carolyn Draper was born in New Zealand and raised in Australia. She lived in the US before settling in London 13 years ago. Carolyn has taught history and drama, directed plays and appeared in the odd production herself. She has also built up her own successful management company, which thrives to this day. In search of a fresh creative challenge, Carolyn identified a gap in the market for a shapely new line of women's wear that celebrates curves with style and flair.
Having been every size from 0 to 24 and now happily settled somewhere in the middle, Carolyn has long appreciated the difficulty of finding chic and unique clothing designed with real women's bodies in mind.
It was for this reason and due to her love of textiles, design and detailed clothing that Carolyn gathered a team around her to make the dream of her own label come true. Untrained as far as a formal design school, Carolyn learnt to sew and design at an early age by her mother who is a talented seamstress and dressmaker. From the age of 13 onwards she made her own clothes, plus garments for friends and family who all loved her creative and detailed designs.
Inspiration for Carolyn comes from a myriad of sources including her mother's sewing creativity, which influenced her greatly throughout her childhood, plus Carolyn's deep interest in history and passion for travel. Exploring antique and vintage stores throughout Europe has long been a favourite pastime, and one that has afforded her a cornucopia of stylistic references in starting her own label. It is therefore with great joy that old pieces of lace, ribbon and trims that have been found in vintage fairs, antique shops and market stalls are incorporated into her designs.
Her greatest 'detail' passion however is for buttons. This is obvious in many of her designs as there are double rows of buttons on shirts, clusters of buttons on skirts and wonderful feature buttons on jackets. Such is Carolyn's love for buttons that she even named her adorable, scruffy black dog "Buttons"!
And so with her eye for fabulous fabrics, quirky details, not to mention precise and beautiful inside finishing, Carolyn de la Drapiere clothes are special and truly unique.
"Why should any woman have to sacrifice her individuality just because she's not a size eight?" says Carolyn. "I'm drawn to clothes that reflect my personality and suit my lifestyle, and I know I'm not the only one. Real women have been invisible for long enough."
Find clothes you love and enjoy wearing them.
