He has long been known for his opulent designs, many of which are seen on A-list celebrities. But less is known about what goes into the making of Michael Cinco’s lavish creations: a video posted by the Filipino designer on his Instagram page, featuring seven people transporting a wedding gown for the final fitting, has garnered quite a bit of attention. The caption of the post reads: “It takes a village just to transport a three-metre couture wedding gown from the studio to the client’s final fitting.” The sparkling Swarovski-studded gown features a three-metre train of intricate petal layers. Created by the designer for a “very special client from a very prominent family in Abu Dhabi”, the dress took 1,000 hours to finish, and was handmade by 15 skilled artisans. Although the value of the dress is confidential, the designer disclosed that almost 200,000 Swarovski crystals were used on the gown. “We started from the designs specifications and made some embroidery samples and fittings. After everything had been approved, we started production. The gown has painstakingly intricate crystal embroidery on every petal or layer of the train. Each of these petals had to be attached by hand and the exquisite work on the wedding gown was also all made by skilled hands,” Cinco says. The dress was created for a wedding that took place in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, January 16. The inspiration for the design came from the bride, who showed Cinco a picture of a Dior couture gown from the '50s that she really liked. “The theme is flowers in an enchanted garden. The bride specifically liked the tulip layers of Dior and I was inspired to create something accordingly – but gave it a twist that made the look very M5,” says the designer, referring to his label. It’s an extravagant creation, but Cinco assures us it’s very wearable. “It may look heavy – but it floats,” he says. The celebrity designer is no stranger to working with Swarovski-studded wedding gowns. In 2017, he teamed up with the brand to create the wedding dress for the crystal heiress Victoria Swarovski.
