Bridal Diary: New York Bridal Fashion Week
The best things I saw at NY Bridal Fashion Week and some family history
My Mom owned a bridal store in the early 2000s. It was a small, suburban bridal shop, but she had big dreams for it. It was a true labor of love, a family-owned and operated small business. My mom ran the shop and appointments, Nonna and Yiayia worked in the back as two of the in-house tailors (both incredible self-taught seamstresses), my aunts would assist at the front desk, and all the ladies in my family were on-call models for editorial style photoshoots in our living room (I promise I’ll follow up with photo proof one day). It was a huge part of our lives during the years it was open, and it definitely initiated my obsession with bridal fashion.
My mom did all the buying for the store. One story I will never forget is her first New York Bridal Fashion Week. Her trip started out with spotting Manolo Blahnik during her travels to NYC. She was eager to carry the big names even though she was just a small shop. The city bridal stories had exclusivity with more well-known designers, so it wasn’t as easy to work with them. She was told “no” many times that week. Determined and maybe a little naive, she set out to get a meeting with the team at Vera Wang. In her heart of hearts, she was hoping for bridal, but knew it wouldn’t be easy to secure with exclusivity and the store being so new. After winning some people over with her charm, she was able to get Vera Wang bridesmaids dresses into her shop and put an order in that day. She always says it’s one of her proudest moments, and I wish I was old enough to have been there to see it.
Since then, I’ve always wanted to go to Bridal Fashion Week. I used make my own bridal dresses with my Yiayia’s sheets and tablecloths and force my sisters to pretend they were on a runway. I also made them take photos of me in my bespoke designs, inspired by Monique Lhuillier’s early 2000’s collections.
My aunt wore Monique Lhuillier to her wedding in 2006. I thought her dress was the most stunning dress on the planet (and still do). She opted for No. 57 from the 2004 Bridal Collection. An absolutely gorgeous lace halter top (that she wore after her wedding on anniversaries- so cool) and magnificent satin skirt with pickups.
When I decided to last minute plan my trip to New York, I knew I needed to live out my Y2K Monique dreams and attend their preview. I pranced around NYC all day with
, founder of The Friend Club and on Substack with .My first stop of the day was the St. Regis to preview the new Monique Lhuillier collection. The campaign imagery felt very 90s in the best way. It was mentioned that the campaign was focused on Monique’s home base of Los Angeles, and captured in-studio for an emphasis on the beautiful dresses. The collection was shot in Los Angeles with the entire LA based team and crew to honor their city and home that has just gone through so much. I really appreciated the sentiment.
Next up was my favorite visit of the trip: LEIN. As soon as I stepped into their beautifully designed, sun-lit studio, I knew I was in for a treat. LEIN’s founder Meredith was meticulously styling a gorgeous model during the preview. You could truly witness her attention to detail on each look. I originally fell in love with a suit I saw when they unveiled the new collection on IG, so I knew I had to try it on. My very favorites from their preview below:
The Cinq show was something out of a fairytale. After Cinq’s last iconic NYBFW show, attendees were eager to see what they would dream up next. I’d love to live inside the brain of the lovely sisters behind the brand, Macye and Madelyn. Here are my favorite moments from the epic and ethereal performance:
I was super excited to attend the Australian-based KYHA Studios show held at the Guggenheim Museum. It was the first bridal runway show I’ve attended and it was incredible to see bridal in this setting.
In between shows, I was itching to pop in Bergdorf’s to try on a couple pairs of potential wedding shoes. I really wanted to find the ones and say I got them during my first bridal fashion week, but the heel height on both of these didn’t work. Obsessed with the styles, but need something in between. I tried on the Carolyne kitten heel and BB 90 mm pumps.
I feel honored to have been invited to all these presentations and shows and so excited to get back to NYC for BFW in the future. It was so, so fun and I feel like it reinvigorated my adoration for bridal fashion. Maybe next time I can bring my mom!
In the next bridal diary, we’ll go over more favorites and saves from designer’s shows and previews I didn’t make it to, but LOVED.
I'm dying! This is so pure. I'm emo.
what sweet memories you share about your moms bridal store xx