BYJGK. LUXURY & CRAFT.

our artisanal craft

“A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous.” – Coco

Slow fashion. Luxury. Timeless. Classic.

We’re investing together, not selling and wearing disposable pieces. Our artisans hand-make our garments to adhere to exacting standards which fulfill our mantra. Rest assured: your piece is a hand-made work of art. Here’s why.

What are French seams?

A french seam is a meticulously sewing technique where the garment seam is folded on itself and doubled. This double folding makes the seam much stronger and it tends to last longer than regular seams.

French seams needs to be worked on twice:

  • Once with the “wrong” sides of the fabric (sewing both front sides together)
  • Once again once the first seam is complete, folded, and ironed

This type of seam is very comfortable to wear. With no fraying possible and no stray threads – in fact, no threads or stitching are visible at all.
Note: This technique must be used on woven frabics only (fabrics without stretch), which is why you won’t see it used on The Jersey Collection

Why French seams?

  • Neat finished on the inside of the garment.
  • It’s stronger
  • Looks higher end, clean.
  • More precision on the structure of the garment, making it last longer.

We believe…

Every garment that costs more than €300, and that fits the requirements for this technique to be successful, should have French seams. Period.

Why we don’t see this technique often? 

This technique consumes a lot of time and its expensive to produce. A garment made with french seams take more than twice the time to make than regular seams:

  • Regular seams can be completed around 30 minutes to 3 hours.
  • French seams take about 1 day to a month depending on the style of the garment to be completed.

Living in a fast fashion generation, time is money. In order to make money in production and be sold under an „affordable“ price, it has to be done quickly and it has to be inexpensive enough to make a profit.  That’s the reason why fast fashion cover mass markets (more pieces, more profit)

A rough production quote on regular seams vs. french seams

  • A garment with regular seams can cost to make, depending on style, between €3 (starting price)  to €120 + (complex styles)
  • A garment with french seams can cost depending on style between €120 (starting price) up to €11k + (complex, couture pieces, hand made, etc)

Our advice:

Before buying anything expensive, look at the stitching!!!
Never buy anything made from silk if they don’t have french seams.

Don’t let them fool you:

Just because a garment has a lining, doesn’t mean it’s well made. Touch the garment around, make sure the seams are not simple.

We use french seams because our motto is „classic, luxury, timeless.“ We want to make memories with you, and our garments are not a one-time use piece. We don’t believe in disposable fashion nor fast fashion.

Why Bias Cut?

Bias cut means that the pieces used to make the garments are cut on the diagonal bias of the fabric. In other words, the pattern pieces were not positioned parallel to the straight or cross grains of the fabric, but at a 45 degree angle. Most companies won’t produce with a bias cut, because it increases pattern complexity, is substantially more difficult to work properly and requires the use of substantially more fabric, thus increasing production costs substantially.

The beauty of the bias cut is the increased elasticity and flexibility of the finished garment. Visually it creates superior drape and swoosh. Practically it creates natural stretch, sans the spandex, and an amazing ease of movement.

Bias-cut items create a unique type of structure that elegantly clings to the body with ease and fluidity. It’s not the same effect as spandex or other stretch fabtics, that grabs onto the contour of the body, showcasing lumps and bumps because there is no ease. Bias-cut items create a controlled volume that collapses back onto the body with flouncing grace. The hems of bias cuts flutter in a subtle or exaggerated way that looks soft, pretty, and interesting.

If you choose a bias cut in the right silhouette, chances are high it will flatter your body type because there is tailoring without the cling, or volume with ample structure. Bias cuts mould to the contour of your shape in a magical way. Curvy body types will enjoy how the fit stretches to glide over their curves instead of fighting them like straight cuts do. Conversely, straighter body types will enjoy how the fit contracts to stick to their narrower hips and thighs.

„Dress shabbily and they remember the dress; dress impeccably and they remember the woman.“ – Coco