Model: Sara Waiste 
Model: Cara Brown
Based in North London, Delphi Eva Design creates handmade garments inspired by vintage silhouettes for the modern woman. Founded by Delphi Eva Wright, the brand is a reflection of Delphi’s ethos of sustainable, bespoke fashion made to establish confidence and strength in the wearer. From designing the clothes to collecting the invoices, Delphi single-handedly runs the operations of her eponymous label since its establishment this past April. Combining her love for sewing and desire to create her own label Delphi’s designs are all made to measure ensuring everyone can wear a custom Delphi Eva.
Q: What prompted you to begin designing and enter into fashion?
Since I was little I’ve always loved clothes and I remember one day, when I was about three years old, my Mum was feeling rubbish and I gave her this dress to throw on that she didn’t fit in, in order to make her feel better. She started laughing and I think the feeling of putting on clothes to make you feel better was my key into attaining a degree in Fashion Design and creating my own brand because that’s what I want women to feel like when they wear my clothes. I want them to feel good and really confident.
Q: When did you know you wanted to start creating clothes?
When I was little I remember trying to style or drape different clothes and textures together. I was really obsessed with bright colors made with different textures, so that desire has always been there.
Q: What is the creative process like for you?
I usually pick out a detail from a vintage piece that I really love and alter it and begin draping it on the stand with some additional fabric to recreate a similar silhouette, but with my own modern twist on it. I draw out my designs which has enabled me to further understand how I want the design to look like. After draping and designing I’ll begin making the patterns from scratch and start creating the garment.
Q: What experiences influence your design process?
I am a very visual person, so I’m really inspired by films, music videos, and vintage furniture. I really love 1950’s and 1960’s movies and have always loved vintage styles and silhouettes. When designing I like to listen to a lot of music sung by women who I think are really strong. I take inspiration from their music videos especially if they are a little bit weird and wonderful and try to incorporate that element into my designs. I also find vintage furniture to be inspirational for the color palettes I want to incorporate into my clothing.
Q: What are your favorite materials to work with?
I’ve always been drawn to color and texture which you will really see in the fabrics I chose for my Autumn/Winter collection. I like to pick fabrics that I think would work well with the style and fit that I am looking for.
Q: Where do you source your fabrics?
I tend to get a lot of my fabrics from deadstock rolls. I search for companies around London that no longer want their fabrics and upcycle them. I also purchase a lot of my fabrics from charity shops which result in limited edition pieces due to the finite nature of the fabric. Which I think makes my garments a little more special because it’s made out of a fabric you won’t see again.
Q: Who is Delphi Eva?
Delphi Eva is a strong boss lady. That’s what I want to portray through my brand, I want the people who wear my clothes to be a boss babe and feel confident.
Q: Would you like to collaborate with other designers or artists in some capacity?
I recently collaborated with my friend Hatti Korzett, she is a menswear designer, and we came up with this idea to combine both of our designs together to create corsets, which have historically been used to sexualize women for the wrong reasons and recreate them through our designs that actually empower women. I am also collaborating with this charity called Beyond the Streets where we will be giving 10% of our earnings from the end of September to them. In the future I would like to collaborate with more artists.
Q: What are some current company goals?
I would love to expand my brand into children’s wear. I’ve made a few baby outfits and little girl’s prairie dresses. I really want to push my skills and develop them for children’s wear and make sure all of the children’s styles are vintage but with a modern twist. That is the next thing I would like to see for Delphi Eva Design.
Q: What are your fondest memories dealing with fashion?
Building my business and receiving recognition from people already is a really good feeling, especially when they want to support a brand like my own that is sustainable and emphasizes slow fashion. When I had my first customer and sent off the completed garment it was amazing and the best feeling ever.
Q: Who are some of your style icons?
I love Jane Birkin and Peggy Lipton. I think the way they dress is effortlessly cool and that’s what I am inspired to incorporate into my designs.
Q: What trend do you hope comes back or disappears?
I’ve always been into the style and silhouette of the 70’s. I think that both men and women looked amazing in the style or fashion found in the 60’s and 70’s. I also think you should just go with what you really like to wear and not copy trends or dress based on trends since it’s not sustainable.
Q: What is the best purchase you’ve ever made?
My best purchase would be a few items that I have found at charity shops that I absolutely fell in love with at that moment and went ‘Oh my god, this is amazing’ without knowing when or where I would even wear them.
Q: If you could change anything about the fashion world, what would it be?
To recognize the importance of waste and how we need to stop making clothes for trends or simply for themselves. It’s not a great model and I think people need to appreciate clothing more and actually delve into slow fashion brands who actually show the process of making clothes. Because behind closed doors, no one actually sees how clothing is being made in these sweatshops where workers are being treated so disgustingly. People need to understand the importance of a slow fashion industry.
Photographer: Harvey Wallbanger 
Q: Any advice for someone starting out?
If you have an idea and if you want to do it, just go for it. For many years I always doubted myself even though it was always at the back of my mind to establish my own label. So for anyone that wants to start their own business don’t be scared of doing it and just really go for it. I think a lot of the time we really worry what people would think or what the end result is going to be or how it’s going to look like. It took me the start of this pandemic to realize what I had always wanted to do! I think if you really enjoy what you are doing that’s where the magic happens.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
