After re-creating a famous dress worn by a Hollywood star, our Someone 2 Know became a viral sensation on TikTok. It's been about two years - and Sarah Hambly’s popularity keeps growing. This summer, the self-taught seamstress was the headline designer for the Reno Fashion Show - and she recently launched her own clothing line.
We met up with Sarah in her Washoe County home where all the magic happens. Here, you will find the backdrop and “set” for her social media posts and the Official Hambly sewing studio.
You can go online and see the post that started it all, and you’ll hear Hambly’s voice, off-camera.
"Day one of making Ariana Grande's Grammy dress."
You can watch the process (albeit the sped-up version)
"The original dress took 200 hours."
It took Sarah Hambly about five days to create her version of the dress in black. She posted the undertaking and the finished design on TikTok.
"It blew up."
Literally, overnight. To the tune of more than 25 million views - for just the first video of the series. Now the spotlight was pointing directly on Sarah. Before that, Hambly had been quietly sewing what she calls wearable art for years.
"Making some people's wedding dresses and stuff - and then being like an internet sensation and Yahoo wants an article and Rolling Stone wants an article."
Sarah, known online as Official Hambly, posts every day and continues to wow fans with glamorous gowns. Her most current project is the bejeweled beauty worn by Taylor Swift at the 2022 VMAs.
Sarah sews every day, and so does her sister - keeping up with new creations.
Business is booming.
"There are people who want to use your platform for advertising, and they want you to make costumes for their film company, and things like that. It's just insane.”
Hambly has always been creative - she studied photography in college, and says fashion didn't interested her - at first.
"I was a total tom boy, I was very much into horseback riding and like, being out in the mud."
Then, when Sarah was just 23 years old - "My dad passed away, like, really suddenly and I was basically told, you need to find a way to cope with this."
Sarah remembered her mom sewing when she was a kid, and gave it a try. Hambly also owns horses - and has found a way to combine all her passions in one place.
"Photography, fantasy photography with these big dresses and obviously horses and that's really where my love - like, melds."
In addition to everything else, Sarah has also launched her own clothing brand called Official Hambly. She says the next release will include casual, daily wear.
"Those things are gonna be exciting to, like, see. People, you know, walking down the street in really nice pants, that I’m, like, 'I made those.'"
As for the Reno Fashion Show, this past July, Sarah was the featured designer. There is a film in the works documenting the entire process. It will soon be available on the Official Hambly channel on You Tube.
