From Bridal Rompers to Disney Princess Dresses, Here Are 5 Standout Moments From Wedding Fashion Week
If you wanted to, you could probably go to fashion weeks year round: there’s the four major capitals, couture, pre-collections, Swim Week in Miami, secondary cities like Berlin, Tokyo, and this week’s ModaLisboa in Portugal. But over this weekend, here in New York, editors bustled around the city to see the latest contortions of tulle, lace and illusion fabric for Bridal Market. And though there were some big omissions from the schedule — one of the headliners of the week, Oscar de la Renta, didn’t do a runway show as the brand recently tapped new creative directors, while Badgley Mishka sent out a last minute note, cancelling their showing — there was still a lot to take in.
Here’s what we saw during the week!
A model wears a Disney princess-inspired bridal gown by Alfred Angelo. Photo: Courtesy of Alfred Angelo.
A Disney-Themed Collection
To kick off bridal week, designer Alfred Angelo gave us a lineup of gowns that were no doubt plucked from the imaginations of schoolgirls: wedding dresses inspired by Disney princesses. Though he used the term slightly loosely (Mulan isn’t technically a princess, though we revere her just as much as the others), Angelo cooked up a collection that built on his existing Disney range. While we definitely could see where the one-shoulder traditional lace dress inspired by Pocahontas got its start, the collection wasn’t your typical frou frou, full skirted, tulle-stuffed princess fare. But it was beautiful all the same.
A model shows off Houghton’s “Hopeless Romantic” jacket, from the brand’s Spring 2017 bridal collection. Photo: Courtesy of Houghton.
Houghton’s Moving Film
The last jolting fashion film we saw was last September when Kerby Jean-Raymond of Pyer Moss screened a documentary featuring police brutality against people of color. Katharine Polk’s “Houghton Girl” film didn’t include violence but embedded in it was a message all the same about self esteem, body image, social media, and societal expectations. It was undoubtedly the most heartfelt and sincere moment of the week.
The film featured nine women — including model Chloe Norgaard, Lulu Frost designer Lisa Salzer, Made MILK co-founder Jenne Lombardo, and brand consultant Kelly Francis — talking about issues as they relate to women. Francis spoke about coming to terms with the effects childbirth had on her body. Salzer got personal, speaking about her own experiences with depression, and how she coped. The accompanying collection featured archival Houghton pieces riffed on by the film collaborators. Standouts included unexpected pieces like the “Fuck Boy” knits, the “Not Your Baby” bomber, and of course, the black leather jacket.
A model walks the runway in a romper/dress from Ines Di Santo’s Spring 2017 collection. Photo: Courtesy of Ines Di Santo.
A Bridal Romper
There’s a lot of wedding-specific pieces these days. Usually they involve taking some ordinary thing, dressing it up in white, adding a bit of reverential design, and voilà! Think bridal coats (YolanCris did two spectacularly embroidered ones this season), bridal chokers (Julie Vino really served those up), and bridal boots (Naeem Khan did an amazing over the knee pair). One thing we didn’t expect to see, however, was a bridal romper.
At Ines Di Santo, the collection was inspired by a beautiful, confection-filled patisserie. As such, the pieces that emerged on the runway were sweet, frothy, and sometimes slightly over the top. The most surprising was a pink icing-colored sleeveless illusion romper that came replete with a lace-embellished high-low train. It was quite the look.
A naked wedding dress at the Berta Spring 2017 Bridal show in NYC. Photo: Courtesy of Berta.
What About The Naked Dress?
So, here’s the thing. After appearing on the backs of countless celebrities, the naked dress trend crept onto bridal runways a few seasons ago. Since then it hasn’t left, and our guess is that it won’t ever leave: the naked dress seems on track to integrate itself as a permanent bridal gown option. This season in particular, Inbal Dror sent out a few stunning options as did Alon Livne. Galia Lahav even had what can best be described as a naked jumpsuit.
But from this there were some other interesting bits. In what seems like an evolution of the naked dress, designers were increasingly sent down dresses that kept the naked component to the upper half, usually with full skirts. Berta showed quite a few options like this.
A model wears a short dress with veil from the reintroduced Viktor&Rolf Mariage line. Photo: Courtesy of Viktor&Rolf Mariage.
Viktor & Rolf Debuted
Last year, it was big news when designers Viktor & Rolf announced they were terminating their ready-to-wear line to focus on their couture line and fragrances. Well, this season they add to that line-up with a bridal range. To be clear, it’s not their first. In 2013, after having done custom bridal orders for seasons, the pair debuted a six-piece capsule bridal range, and in 2006, they collaborated with H&M on wedding dresses and have worked with Kleinfeld.
The new iteration of Viktor&Rolf Mariage debuted at Bridal Market in collaboration with Justin Alexander. The range was as beautiful as you’d expect from two experienced couturiers, and included an open column, tailored tuxedo jumpsuit and a “flower cloud shirt dress” that seems to be a polo-inspired upper with a flower bedecked frothy skirt. The designers brought the drama with a diagonal-cut tulle gown as well as a bow spine gown.
