About
“The naming of Fermare has its roots in one of my favourite things in this world, …., that is from music”
“I wish for the label to be a gesture, a musical annotation, for us to live a slower life full of intent…….. Fermare is a gesture, it is slow fashion in the best sense; slow fashion where we know and appreciate the true value of a garment, and learn to treasure what we have – as we did when we were children.“
Discover what Fermare means
ABOUT FERMARE BY WARRICK KIN
Fermare is a little online boutique dress and accessories store. We specialize in slow sustainable wear – creating beautiful minimalist dresses, as well as the most unique specialty hair accessories made from the off-cuts of our dressmaking.
The garments find their life in our small Atelier, in the heart of Cape Town. The beauty of the city and all the creativity that permeates its streets, is what breath – this boutique finds its life.
Our Atelier specializes in intricately crafted garments and hair accessories, designed and handmade in-house in our local studio. Dressmaking is our main craft, and bias-cut slips as well as weird and unique scrunchies, our specialty.
“Now through it all, I have finally found it – my Vocation; I truly only hope to do the best I can, to make something beautiful for the world to enjoy.”
What makes bias cut dresses so wonderful?
The bias-cut dress is a very beautiful and unique find; it is a wonderful technique used to transform a boring woven fabric into a flowing work of beauty.
Bias-cut dressmaking found its life in the 1930s, but has since then, steadily become less and less easy to find. This is largely due to mass retailers and fast fashion coming along, and since there are many difficulties and added costs associated with bias-cut dressmaking – this artistry has been largely forgotten.
Good news is you may still be able to find one or two dresses in fast fashion today, but bad news is these are typically not the best quality or variety. Cutting on the bias is a real artform and quite technically demanding. It can often times very easily go wrong, which is why intricate care and study is a necessity….
My story
Hi everyone, my name is Warrick Kin
I am the Couturier and founder of Fermare. For most all my life I have been spending every free hour in the dedication of mastering all forms of the creative arts.
As a child I would spend hours drawing and painting, in my teens I discovered music and how beautiful stringing a few notes together can be, and then when I left school, I pursued my studies in Mechanical Engineering in the footsteps of my hero, da Vinci.
I enjoyed my time of studies, especially the creativity I got to use in mechanical design projects. Out of all my classmates, I was the only one spending hours doing beautiful sketches of all my designs in pencil and paper – most probably because you don’t get any additional marks for doing so haha….but I loved sketching.
After having graduated at the top of my class, I was really overjoyed to have finished, and especially having done so well. The only one regret I had – was that I was not able to spend as much time creating a beautiful painting or playing a beautiful piece of music as I had once had………..
A Fermare dress is simplicity and minimalism.
THE DIFFERENT COLLECTIONS OF FERMARE
GARMENT GALLERY
Fermare is an online boutique store – and similar to a brick and mortar store, we would love for you to explore all our spaces and looks.
The two main sections of the store are the designer Ready-to-Wear Collection and the designer Headwear Collection – the former being a collection of hand crafted garments from the Atelier and the latter our signature line of designer hair accessories all intricately handcrafted in our local studio.
The Ready-to-Wear Collection is where you will be able to find all the most beautiful and intricately crafted seasonal as well as permanent lines.
Then there is The Atelier, if you are looking for the most beautiful bespoke made-to-measure garments. Lastly, don’t forget to check out our secondary Bridge Collection for some fun unique fashion items.
Stop and stay for a little while , have a virtual cup of coffee and enjoy the moment:)
Fermare is about uniqueness and individuality. Stand out.
THE MAKING OF A DRESS.
What makes a Fermare dress so special, it’s the extensive time and intricate workmanship that goes into the making of one. Every detail is carefully thought out and perfected.
A Fermare dress is simplicity and minimalism.
What I have tried to do is reduce a dress to its essence. I have been searching out subtlety, softness and a timeless beauty in my designs. Endeavouring to remove all the weightedness and frivolities; all the complexities and unnecessary elements of a typical garment, to create a simple little garment of light joy.
Study and Mastery.
It may seem counter-intuitive, but reducing a design to simpler and simpler forms, is often times quite difficult – and much more thought and time is required to undertake such a task.
What makes a Fermare dress so special, it’s the amount of time put into the study and mastery of the art of bias-cut dressmaking.
I dedicated a full year of my life in developing the techniques and mastery required for the bias-cut, which you can now see in the Designer Collection of dresses. Even though I was not able to make an income in that year, and eating into my savings, I still could not force myself to start selling yet until I was absolutely happy that the garment was up to my own exacting standards.
What I learnt about myself, is that I am so perfectionistic and meticulous to a fault…..sigh
Pre Fall Collection: Untitled Impromptu (2020)
A Fermare dress is an investment, something to treasure.
“I can make a difference in the world, by bringing back a little bit of joy and wonder into people’s eyes. To give people that childhood feeling, the feeling of excitement and joy we once had as children; when we found the ‘awesomest’ stick branch in the garden, that we used as a sword and magic wand and whatever else we imagined; or the time our parents let us take home that puppy and we could not sleep out of pure excitement; or maybe the time we got a present, a Teddy Bear, which we named Teddy Terumo and loved even until we became old grannies and grandpas.”
Welcome to our Fitting Room.
Bonjour:) So you’ve found an item that you love, and would like to try it on? That’s wonderful. Okie dokes then, welcome to our virtual fitting room!
“By the way, would you like a virtual cup of coffee before we get to the fitting?:)”
………………………………………………
Hope the coffee is to your liking:P
Are you ready? Great^_^.
Now then…….simply get your tape measure in hand.
If you don’t have one, no probs, they go for just a few bucks and are super easy to find. Lots of stores sell em, hmm, you can probably find one at PnP, Crazy Store perhaps, PNA maybe…if all else fails look for the closest Elna or Bernina store, that’s a sure win:)
Voila! C’est magnifique.
“**sip sip, nomnom, mm, slurp,deliceux, nomnomnom, ah**”
To measure your bust, simply bring the tape around your back and right round to the front. Pull it around the apex, fullest point, of your bust. It should be aligned parallel to the floor, remember – straight lines back and front. With your arms down at the sides, get the measurement in (cm) and write it down.
Repeat the same steps for your waist. Your waist is the smallest part of your torso and can be found just underneath your rib cage near your belly button. Make sure the tape is even across the front and back and parallel to the floor.
For the hips, keep in mind that it is not where the top of your hip bone is – it is actually around the largest part of your hip.
Great Job, you can now compare your measurements with the item’s Size Chart:) Different items may have their own size chart depending on whether they are imported or produced in studio, so make sure to view each garment’s individual Chart.
Below is an example of a size chart in cm:)
For more information on how to select a size for better fit, check out our FAQ section.
“When I was young I studied music, and one of my favourite musical notations was the Fermata. A Fermata in music is a pause or a sustaining of a musical note…. The pause is so beautiful, it gives breath to the music…”
“I love the notion that life is like music…as with music life has its rhythms, fast and slow, and loud and soft…but my favourites are the little times of pause, those moments we pause to sit down with ones we love, or the moments just before the sun sets…”
“Live life more slowly and thoughtfully…stop and celebrate and delight in today, in family and in friends.”