Though the nuptial market is a niche one, it needn’t be out of touch. The recent collections, for Spring 2020, suggest that the fairly static bridal industry is finally stirring. It had to: Not only are brides increasingly scouring ready-to-wear collections for aisle-worthy dresses, they refuse to be stereotyped.
Let’s face it, not everyone dreams of channeling a Disney princess on her big day. “I think the bridal and fashion world are more similar than different, inwardly speaking,” observes Alison Miller of Monvieve, a couture bridal-accessory label. “As for the industry, I find the bridal and fashion world share less similarities than one might expect. It is the outward, societal directives/expectations that are the real point of differentiation.”
We’re in a period of great change, where traditions are being set aside or altered to become more inclusive and individual. It follows, then, that the cookie-cutter bride is out. Miller has positioned her brand to bring brides’ “thinking forward with an introduction to things they’ve never seen or tried on before.” Foremost among these are Isabelle Léourier for Monvieve headpieces.
Miller, who has an Ivy League education and a fine-arts background, launched Monvieve in 2010; in the years since the brand has made a small name for itself with its handmade “heirloom” lace veils. With Léourier’s involvement, that name is about to get bigger. Like Miller, Léourier has always been drawn to the arts and is allergic to uniformity. Trained as a milliner and having worked for both Christian Lacroix and Valentino couture, she dreams up “hat-sculptures.” Each of these is made by hand using media as diverse as lace, feathers, horsehair, gold leaf, raffia, paper of wood, and the occasional fine jewel. “My pieces are especially adapted to a state of mind,” Léourier tells Vogue, and they are correspondingly light and ethereal. Though some resemble butterfly wings, there is no sugar-and-spice sweetness about them; Léourier aims to spin “sensual and mysterious tales in which women are heroines and sovereigns.”
Marvels to behold, these magnificent creations are not for everyone. “For the most part a headpiece is the route less traveled,” notes Miller, but “they truly do create distinct fashion moments. The newness conveys a singularity. In the end,” she opines, “true style is found in the unexpected.”