A jumper you still love but no longer wear may need a small change—or an expensive bespoke redesign. London studio Phini offers dyeing, embroidery and alterations, but the price can exceed the original garment’s cost. In Vogue Business, Bella Webb reports on trying the service: her £365 Herd jumper’s dye and embroidery would have cost £600, though Phini waived her fee for the trial.
That makes the first question less “What could I transform?” and more “What is stopping me from wearing this?” Phini’s customers bring clothes that may still be in good condition but have a color, fit or occasion problem. Previous projects include separating a wedding dress into a top and skirt, turning jeans into a bag, and dyeing or altering family heirlooms.
What the Process—and Price—Involves
Phini began in February 2025 as Loom, an app connecting customers with more than 100 vetted designers. After struggling to make upcycling as accessible on price as planned, it relaunched in August as a luxury redesign studio. It now works with six designers, specializing in bridal while also taking on everyday clothes.
Customers book a virtual appointment or meet the team at the London studio, then share an initial brief. A designer discusses possibilities through sketches, dye samples and other options before sending a bespoke quote. Phini says customers receive updates and can request adjustments during the process.
For Webb’s jumper, the stated costs were £200 for embroidery and £400 for dyeing. Phini founder Daisy Harvey told Vogue Business that bridal redesigns start at £600, while simple alteration projects are closer to £200. She says bespoke dyeing takes time because colors are sampled on similar fabrics and built up through multiple dye baths.
Material limits matter, too. Harvey says some requests cannot be achieved as imagined: Phini would not dye a polyester dress black, for instance, and a fabric cannot be made to move in a way its structure will not support. Customers can bring inspiration images, but the studio says it will not reproduce another designer’s work exactly.
Decide Whether the Garment Is Worth Reimagining
A useful brief begins with the reason you stopped wearing the piece. Is it the color, the fit, or a lack of occasions? Then consider whether a proposed change could address that specific obstacle. Webb found it difficult to choose among the possibilities and relied on the designer’s advice about what the material could support.
Before committing, gather reference images, explain what you hope to change, and ask what the fabric can realistically accommodate. Get the bespoke quote and weigh it against the garment’s personal value and how you expect to wear it afterward.
Phini’s prices put it firmly in the luxury category, and the source describes the service as unsuitable for reducing fashion waste at scale. For someone with a meaningful garment they would otherwise leave unworn, it offers a way to rethink its use. Would you consider a bespoke redesign for a piece you already own?
Source image: Vogue.