About Elsa Fitzgerald
Elsa Fitzgerald is a couture atelier and resource center dedicated to the preservation of fine dressmaking.
Founded by Indonesian-American designer Stacy Stube, the practice is informed by a global background spanning London’s leading fashion institutions and luxury houses. Stube earned a Master’s in Fashion Entrepreneurship & Innovation from the London College of Fashion and completed the New Creative Ventures program at London Business School. Her professional experience includes work with Alexander McQueen, Burberry, Hugo Boss, Diane von Furstenberg, and Temperley London.
Originally established in Bali in 2013, Elsa Fitzgerald has evolved into a digital research and archival platform focused on couture practice and dressmaking heritage.
The Dressmaking Heritage Society is the core of Elsa Fitzgerald’s work—a digital space for the study and preservation of fine dressmaking. It gathers archival material, visual documentation, and research to make garment knowledge accessible, ensuring that the techniques and traditions of couture can be learned, practiced, and carried forward across generations.
Historic Fashion Archives
The Elsa Fitzgerald Gabrielle dress and Opera Shawl were exhibited alongside garments belonging to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor at the Lord Baltimore Hotel for the "Heirloom to Haute" gala, celebrating local art and history in the iconic Calvert Ballroom.
The Asian blouse that tells a tale of many cultures
The kebaya is a garment that women like Stube's seamstress great-grandmother made in the islands of Indonesia, and one that is also found in Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and southern Thailand. Each region has made the kebaya their own, and each stitch tells a tale of their own history. It is so beloved by these five countries that they have joined together to nominate the kebaya for the Unesco's Intangible Cultural Heritage List in March 2023.