Editor’s note: This article was Fashion BusinessEditorial Partner, CNN Style.
(CNN) — Just an hour after she got engaged in Venice, Italy, last year, Christine de Quesada began searching the Internet for a white dress to wear for the upcoming wedding-related events: her engagement party, her bachelorette weekend, her civil courthouse ceremony and a big celebration in Mexico City.
But the Miami-based human resources manager was struggling to find a quality outfit that reflected her personality and cost under $1,000.
“It actually drove me a little crazy,” de Quesada says. “I bought like seven outfits and returned them all.” Instead, she decided to look beyond traditional bridalwear brands and retailers. She ended up choosing an ivory two-piece set by Shanghai-based brand Shu Shu Tong (purchased from online retailer Ssense) for her civil ceremony, a “traditional, very princess-like” gown by Vera Wang for her Mexico City wedding, and a custom ivory skirt and corset set by Florida-based bridal designer Gabriela Arango, paired with Gucci shoes, for the reception.
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Collina Strada’s bridal look, shown at New York Fashion Week in September 2022.
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Sandy Liang’s bridal look was presented at New York Fashion Week in February 2023.
Millennial and Gen Z brides like de Quesada are no longer just buying wedding dresses but entire wardrobes for pre- and post-wedding events. Their breadth is driving the global bridalwear market, which is expected to grow 3.5% annually to reach $83.5 billion by 2030, according to the Global Bridalwear Market Industry Report.
But it’s not companies like David’s Bridal (which filed for bankruptcy last year and was sold to Zion Investment Corp.) that are benefiting: A new generation of brides are shopping outside the traditional bridal market, looking for outfits that better reflect their personal style rather than a cookie-cutter look.
“The bridal industry is very much an old boys’ club. They live by the idea of ’if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,’ and are very happy with limited options,” said bridal stylist and designer Caroline Crawford Patterson. “What they don’t realise is that the consumer is becoming more diverse and there’s a huge opportunity to really shake things up.”
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Dua Lipa attended the wedding of Simon Porte Jacquemus and Marco Maestri in Charlesval, France on August 27, 2022, wearing a Jacquemus bridal look.
After the industry came to a near halt in 2020, weddings returned to pre-pandemic levels last year, with couples throwing more than two million parties, according to the Wedding Report. But the post-pandemic bridalwear landscape is markedly different.
Historically, brides were limited to independent boutiques, department stores, or chains like David’s Bridal, but now brides are more comfortable wearing any white dress and have a wider range of dresses to choose from.
It’s an evolution for a space that’s been stagnant for a long time. “Salons have been able to get away with offering dresses that weren’t chic or didn’t suit fashion-forward brides or fit the wrong size, and consumers who’d already spent a lot of money just had to put up with it,” said Crawford Patterson, who got married in 2021.
Anthropologie was one of the first non-bridal retailers to get into the space with its Bhldn line in 2011. (Now called Anthropologie Weddings.) Today, Reformation, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Revolve all offer Wedding Edits on their websites, as does The Real Real. Even fast-fashion brands like ASOS, Forever 21, Lulu’s, and Shein are expanding the number of bridal styles they carry.
It’s not just mass retailers that have an advantage: New York-based designer Jackson Wiederhoft launched his bespoke bridal division in 2020, and now spends up to a year and a half developing a wedding dress for a client, including the initial meeting, fittings, alterations and advice. Despite the investment of time and resources, Wiederhoft says the effort is “worth it” because it allows him to build an intimate relationship with the consumer.
“For many people, it’s not just a dress. of “Wear a dress,” Wiederhoeft says.
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Emerging brands and designers, as well as retailers like Ssense and Asos, are cashing in by offering unexpected wedding attire, like suit dresses and loose trousers. Some are even launching bespoke bridal boutiques alongside their direct-to-consumer businesses. Pictured above: A model walks the runway at the Wiederhoeft show during New York Fashion Week on February 15, 2023.
For budding designers like Wiederhoft, bridal is like a safety net, acting as a “liquid line of credit” for the rest of the business. With bridal, Wiederhoft can collect 100 percent of the cost of a garment up front directly from clients to pay for production, materials, and overhead. Prices for Wiederhoft’s ready-to-wear bridal dresses range from $3,000 to $25,000, with custom-made dresses starting at $25,000. And unlike ready-to-wear, the brand’s bridal division is not subject to discounts.
“Some of the clothes I made in my apartment four years ago are still in our showroom. We still use them as sales samples and the styles are always fresh,” they say. “Ready-to-wear clothes, on the other hand, have the shelf life of an avocado.”
What the modern bride wants and doesn’t want
As millennials and Gen Zers turn 27 this year and approach the altar, their ceremonies may be very different from those of previous generations, including their parents. (According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average age of an American woman at marriage is 28.6 years old, and the average age of an American man is 30.5 years old.)
According to a Pew Research Center survey, young people today are more likely to support same-sex and interracial marriage, to enter into nontraditional relationships like polyamory, or to forego marriage altogether and live with a partner long-term.
“Some of my clients are bucking traditional wedding conventions and focusing on spending on the home,” said Hilary Taymor, founder and creative director of Collina Strada, adding that they want to spend on clothes that can be reused.
Taymor said the modern bride believes “anything can be a wedding outfit.” Her clients are choosing colorful designs and unconventional jewelry, including the brand’s frog rings, which normally retail for $80, which couples have ordered as engagement and wedding bands.
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Designers like Collina Strada’s Hillary Taymor (pictured with a model in a bridal look at New York Fashion Week in February 2018) are hoping to cater to this generation, and are moving beyond just weddings to creating outfits for all kinds of commitment ceremonies.
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A model shows off a dramatic wedding dress at the Andrew Kwon Bridal Collection presentation on April 12, 2023 in New York City.
Offering a wider bridalwear selection would also be beneficial for a company that has historically focused on that area, said Andrew Kwon, founder and creative director of his eponymous brand, who is also launching an eveningwear line alongside bridalwear in 2022.
“One of the big challenges in the bridal industry is the lack of repeat customers,” Kwon says. “By expanding into evening wear and colored dresses, we’ve been able to attract non-traditional brides, bridesmaids and even mothers.”
Retailers hoping to capture this new, forward-thinking bridal consumer are updating their assortments to reflect changing attitudes about weddings: Last month, e-commerce retailer Ssense launched its second “anti-bridal” capsule collection, featuring unconventional gowns, flower girl dresses and accessories.
“We’re speaking to a customer base that’s very open-minded and fluid,” says Brigitte Chartrand, vice president of women’s clothing buying and beyond at Ssense. “The pieces we’ve ordered don’t necessarily have a classic feel, but they bring a bridal differentiation.”
This article is Fashion BusinessCNN Style editorial partner. Read more articles from The Business of Fashion here.