Aim of project:
My aim is to challenge the traditions associated with the white wedding dress and explore the bridal aesthetic through colour and versatility.
Concept: I aim to achieve a commercial bridal wear collection that is a spectrum of colour and Individuality, challenging tradition and advocating for longevity and versatility in the bridal industry. I chose this concept because even though there are still brides who like to stick to tradition with big ball-room dresses, modern and more alternative weddings are becoming increasingly more popular in the market today. Wedding dresses have had to start catching up with the developing and socially accepting society we live in. My Collection “A little less Bridal” offers 4 looks that range in levels of alternativeness in order to accomodate towards any bride who wants to break from tradition and lengthen the life cycle and re-wearability of the garment.
Market Positioning: Over the last few years the bridal industry has introduced many new trends and changes.The most drastic change to the bridal industry has been the casualisation of attire. Wedding dresses have evolved with ready-to-wear fashions and have distanced from heavily couture designs to more sleek and slim silhouettes. to cater towards same sex marriages, informal brides and women who want to express there personality.
My market is aimed towards 21st century brides who want a more relaxed bridal outfit that is more affordable and is more individualized towards themselves. brides are becoming more conscious about the environment and what they spend their money on, so struggle to rationalize spending masses of money on a dress for one occasion-
I believe “A little Less Bridal” will sit very well in the market today. My collection has been created with both “ready to wear” and Bespoke services in mind. Reaching out to a wide range of consumers that sit within the mid end to luxury and custom made level. “A little Less Bridal offers designer bridal wear at an affordable price. My collection showcases itself as bridal wear but it does not limit itself to this specifically, “A little less bridal” also reaches out to mid-high end special occasion and evening wear. My pieces are appropriate for bridesmaids and wedding guests, and suitable for the bride to wear at any stage of her wedding whether it be to the ceremony, as an engagement party outfit, reception dress or all throughout. I position myself in the market as more affordable than Karen walker and Juliette hogan bridal, My collection is more in line with Ruby Boutiques made to measure service of special occasion dresses and separates
Competitors- A local competitor is Karen Walker- who has launched her atelier bridal collection in August this year. In line with my collection- her designs aren’t all considered bridal gowns, they are outnumbered by mini and ankle length dresses and ivory suits. I see my collection reaching towards the same market as Karen Walker - however my point of difference is that my pieces are made in signature colours with very little white present, allowing me to reach an even wider market. My collection also offers a jumpsuit and bridal separates with skirts and tops, alongside dresses and suits.
International Competitors:
The first name that comes to mind when you think of bridal wear is Vera Wang. She is a competitor of mine in terms of using colour in bridal wear, from the beginning she has pushed the idea of bridal from something customary to innovative and creative. However being a couture designer her designs feature a lot more extravagant details than my collection. She likes to put emphasis on hand craft and reintroduce classical elements like corsets and ball gown silhouettes in a less traditional way. Whereas my collection pieces don’t work to resemble these silhouettes.
I looked at two labels when I was undertaking my research proposal to analyse other designers work and how they are currently approaching the subject of non-traditional bridal wear themselves. I wanted to align my collection alongside the same values these labels hold.
Katherine Polk who founded a sustainable, non- traditional bridal brand under the name of Houghton. the objective behind the brand is a great framework for what I aim to achieve. Houghton’s Bridal fall 2017 collection shows a case of looks that could not be considered bridal at all, Her designs are introducing sustainability into the bridal industry as they are made for the wedding, the reception and for days long after the wedding night and this is exactly how I see my designs working.
Another direct competitor is the label House of Ollichon. Their designs are for anyone, the brand is the first “dress-less bridal collection in the world offering brides and bridesmaids a range of luxury bridal jumpsuits and two-pieces” her designs erase the notion of deciding who wears the dress and who wears the suit. What makes my collection different from these non-traditional brands is that I want to converge both of these labels values together, creating both coloured and versatile bridal wear. Both these brands are international so bringing these ideas into a local scene is what I hope to achieve.
Colour- I chose to focus on colour in my bridal collection because I wanted to research the language of colour and why we associate meaning with certain colours, specifically why it is such a dominant image in western world that the bride walks down the aisle in a white dress, embedded with craft and design. I want my collection to help reduce the immediate connection of putting the words white and dress together when we think of a wedding, and allow the wearer to have a broad selection of clothing to present themselves in on their special day. I wanted to introduce colour back into bridalwear,
Colour may be insignificant in traditional bridal wear today, but In the 18th century colour was very dominant in wedding wear. the tradition of wearing white was only popularised in the mid 19th century by Queen Victoria. “Wedding dresses of the 1770s and 1780’s were all are made of silk and the most popular colours were cream, pink, blue and white.” It was actually favoured to wear lighter colour silk dresses, with pastel being a favourite amongst women. This is what informed my colour palette.
Methods and processes: My process of design followed- Design drawing and developments, pattern-making, sampling and then finals- My garments went through some changes throughout- lots of minor changes but some major design changes too. Incorporating digital embroidery into my bridal suit was a big process, I had learnt digital embroidery in semester 1 this year and really enjoyed it. It was a long process because I had already purchased my suit fabric as it was the perfect colour- It is a wool nylon lycra which means it has some stretch in it- this is not good for the embroidery machine so I had to run a few tests to make sure it was going to work. I ended up working my design around areas of the jacket that are block fused- as fusing helps to reduce the stretch in the fabric. I also used a special backing that stays behind the embroidery which stopped the stretch altogether.
What makes my collection Bridal: I have used traditional aspects of bridal wear in my collection but in an unconventional way- Looking at traditional fabrics that are used in bridal gowns like silk, tulle and sheer materials but using ones that incorporate colour. I have also thought about texture and drape, traditionally bridalwear includes bias cut garments and heavily embroidered and embellished elements, and I have incorporated these features into my designs - Cutting my dress on the bias, digitally embroidering my suit jacket and hand beading my bomber jacket.
Costing: Regarding pricing and sizing of my collection- I want to provide both RTW and custom-made services My RTW collection will be available in sample sizes 10, 12 and 14- available straight off the rack. For a more personalised design and fit pieces will need to be custom made.All of my pieces are priced individually not as one full look- this gives the freedom of mix and matching pieces or the option to buy just one single garment. My RTW collection will range in price from $200-$1000- which is a very affordable price for designer bridal wear eg. the digital embroidered suit is priced at $850. And the bodysuit under the jacket is priced at $189 The body suit and overskirt are only available RTW and can not be custom made. However every other piece can be custom made- regarding sizing and fabric colours and embroidery and beading can be customised if you wish. Custom made pieces will be priced by appointment only. I still see my collection as very affordable even when custom made- Sitting a little lower than Karen Walker’s bridal prices From $1000-$2000
Where to from here: From here onwards, I would like to continue in the bridal industry and use all the skills I have gained from uni. I would like to start by gaining experience in the industry by approaching local wedding dress designers and working alongside them in production- which will potentially lead me onto to establishing my own label and stocking my pieces at popular bridal boutiques.
Overall Evaluation of project: I am really happy with the end outcome of my collection. I believe I worked really hard on it and have done the best I could do, I put in as much time and effort as I could coming to uni every day and weekends and staying til late every night to achieve my time plan of a body a week. I had good time management and managed to achieve this and complete my photoshoot at the end of week 10. I am happy with the research behind my project also and I believe my collection portrays my aim and what I set out to achieve in terms of design and details.