STRICTLY DELICIOUS - TESS DALY CO-DESIGNS AND MODELS DRESS CREATED ENTIRELY FROM INGREDIENTS OF NEW CEREAL RECIPE

• Presenter teams up with Lady Gaga designer to create edible, wearable masterpiece
• Dress made out of 4000 stalks of wheat, 1300 almonds and 450 whole apples
• Design took five people 200 hours to construct
• Created to celebrate launch of Tess’s new collaboration with Special K

Tess Daly has unveiled a dress with a difference – a gown completely made out of the ingredients in her new cereal recipe. 

The show-stopping, fashion-forward garment, both co-designed and modelled by Tess, combines wheat, red apples and vanilla pods with almonds, flowers and blossoms to create a custom couture masterpiece worthy of the red carpet.

The dress, which was co-designed and made by Petra Storrs in collaboration with Tess, was created to celebrate the launch of Tess’s very own Special K recipe in her role as the cereal brand’s first ever celebrity ambassador.

The dress includes:

• 4000 stalks of intricately braided wheat which form shoulder pads, bust and corset
• 500 whole almonds, individually drilled and hand sewn together
• 800 flaked almonds, glued together and shaped to form the bodice
• 50 vanilla pods and 50 vanilla flowers
• 100 artfully crafted apple peels curls, preserved red apple peel and apple slices
• Fishtail train of 450 whole red apples

In total, five people worked on the production of Tess’s impressive dress; a process which took over 200 man hours.

Petra, who has designed out-of-this-world creations for stars including Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus and Florence Welch, began the design process by sketching a huge array of different styles. After consultations during which Tess picked out her favourite elements and added personal touches – which include a show-stopping train of real red apples and striking woven wheat shoulders – the final design was arrived at.

A key part of the construction process for the team, led by Petra, was experimenting with the ingredients of the cereal – wheat, almonds, vanilla and red apples - to determine which would look good but also allow Tess the most movement and flexibility.

After vigorous tests to establish the best methodology for each ingredient, during which wheat was soaked before weaving, almonds were individually drilled and threaded and apple slices were preserved, a base dress was designed and printed to act as a “paint by numbers” foundation to the final garment before all the ingredients were painstakingly put together via a combination of methods.

The one off design was created to mark the launch of Tess’s new cereal with Special K. Made up of red apples, almonds and vanilla clusters as well as Special K flakes, the cereal collaboration is a result of Tess’s appointment as the first ever celebrity Special K girl.

Tess Daly said: “I was amazed at the result Petra achieved – I never dreamed she’d create something so uniquely beautiful. To have been allowed a hand in the design process was a great experience – I love fashion, and I love food – what a perfect combination of the two!”

Designer Petra Storrs said: “I’ve created some weird and wonderful things in my time but to make a dress 100% out of the ingredients of a cereal recipe was a huge challenge and involved a lot of hard work. Thankfully Tess and I shared a vision of what we wanted to achieve and it was great working with her to achieve this stunning result.”

Ruth Gresty from Special K said: “Tess was our number one choice to be the first ever Special K ambassador and we were thrilled when she agreed to work with us. This is an exciting new beginning for Special K – we want to encourage women to live a life full of variety, choice and fun and both Tess and the dress embody that spirit perfectly.”