Demand for the gowns and accessories has been on the rise since the TLC reality show began to air, drawing an average of 1. The season finale is Sunday. Some reject the term as a slur, preferring to identify by familial descent.
Derderian, 25, started working for Celli in as a college intern and has remained on staff, making dresses, teaching other employees rhinestone-ing techniques, and managing inventory.
In Sondra Celli's world, bling is a lifestyle. A Fashion Institute of Technology graduate—from its first-ever menswear class, no less—Celli honed her craft in New York, Italy, and Hong Kong before returning to her hometown on the Charles River to establish the studio we've come to know through the TLC lens.
Her frothy "crystal couture" concoctions have found a niche among US gypsies as well as a related group, Irish Travellers but over her decades-long career, Celli has bedazzled everything from Greek Orthodox baptism gowns to Bat Mitzvah dresses—even New England Patriots Cheerleader uniforms. Below, she tells us about how she became famous, what happens to her dresses after the weddings, and the craziest things she's ever blinged.
What drew you to design in general? My mother [Yolanda Celluci] owned the biggest bridal store here, so when I was a kid, I was always around clothes. She was sort of a pioneer around Boston; people were not dressing like her. Bling wasn't that prominent in the s, it was more beading. Honestly, I was always the simple one. I liked to bling everybody else. I started in the men's division of a company and I kind of got bored because I'm more of an embellisher. At what point in your career did the gypsies find you?
I went to Italy for awhile and then Hong Kong, doing sweaters and starting to bling them with beading. My stuff was in the department stores. And gypsies got ahold of me. I didn't know what gypsies were. They never told me they were gypsies. Within weeks I had orders going to stores all on the same street in the same town.
I called a friend who was older than me and she said I was shipping to gypsies in a trailer park ; that's why they were all going to the same address. She said, " They like you because you're funky and blingy and you should keep them because they'll buy a lot from you.
Finally hired a girl to work with me. Eventually it grew, I started to do mass market. In the middle-end of the s, as the economy started to fall a bit and I was getting bigger, I had an office on 38th Street [in New York] and decided I had to make a decision: go super couture and high end or go mass market. I couldn't do both. I thought people with money will always have money. If the economy falls, it's Walmart or Saks, and I'm sticking with Saks.
The gypsies just kept buying from me. No one ever knew. I used to say it was beauty pageant work. Did you hide that out of fear it would hurt the rest of the business? At what point did you feel comfortable translating their culture to the mainstream? Of course. Well, when the show approached me I said "Listen, there's a lot of things I know that I'm never going to tell.
They've been unbelievable to me. They're hospitable, if I go down there I'm like a rockstar. I do sell to more Irish than what's shown on TV, but they refuse to go on the show.
It cracks me up though because they put everything on Facebook. Why do you think the gypsies have been so loyal to you? I have a name with them that is considered top of the top. The girls with the money always save up and dream about having a Sondra Celli. It's not to say that there aren't other dressmakers who knock me off, but gypsies are very status oriented.
I also use only Swarovski crystal. If you use Czech stones, they don't sparkle the same way as Austrian crystal and they know that, they can see it. Is there any other material you'd work with if Swarovski didn't exist?
Originally I worked with beads. I also use a lot of liquid fringe, which is bugle beaded. The dress part of the dress is actually the inexpensive thing; it's the crystals that cost money. Sometimes they want to cut price a bit so we'll make a skirt with liquid fringe and build crystal fringe into it. We do use other beading but it's always combined with Swarovski. The show originally started with an English show. The difference between ours and theirs over there is the use of color. Gypsies in the west love color.
Imaginative and unique custom designs. No cookie cutter, mass-produced looks here. Pure artistry in apparel. Toggle navigation. About Sondra Celli. About Sondra Celli Designs. How to Order. Gypsy Inspired Resplendent. Accessories Order custom-embellished accessories by Sondra Celli to highlight that special occasion outfit or select that perfect gift to highlight any memorable celebration. Women Sparkling, stunning, and unique.
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