Stella McCartney on Designing the Modern Wedding Dress
Why did you start the Made with Love Bridal Collection?
Having been a bride myself, and being honored to have been asked many times to do wedding gowns for some of my dear, close friends; it’s something that I feel very passionately about. I see it as one of the biggest privileges as a female designer to know that women come into our stores and they even take existing pieces and buy them in white and wear them for the most important day of their lives.
How is the Made with Love Bridal Collection different from what’s out there?
I think that in this day and age, the wedding day is something very different to how it’s traditionally perceived, and I think that the house of Stella McCartney represents something a little more effortless, and that’s incredibly reflecting of the bride and her personality and what she wants to wear even outside of that important day.
Tell us about the pieces in the collection.
When I designed this collection I took some of the classic Stella McCartney pieces and re-looked at them and re-energized them with the spirit that is now in the future of wedding; the modern bride’s approach to her dress. The collection itself has elements of sustainability, environmental issues that are really important to us. It’s also important to have a delicacy attached to it too, and a level of romance. That’s is not only seen in the materials that we’ve used in some of the laces; even the sequin slip dress is probably for a more kind of bold client.
Why did you name the collection “Made with Love”?
When it came to designing “Made with Love” I not only wanted to give it a name that just felt more personal and more loving, and reflecting of that feeling and the experience of that special day. And also really designing pieces that would be comfortable and special and have such an emotional attachment, but wouldn’t really make you feel like you weren’t yourself. There’s a personal message within the garment that would stay with you forever; there’s something blue and there’s something new.
Who is the collection for?
The collection also really reflects different ages and I think at Stella McCartney so many different women come to us of so many different ages I really wanted to have that in the collection as well, that you can be any kind of bride if you come to the Stella McCartney wedding collection; it is truly made with love.
How was it to dress the Duchess of Sussex for her wedding day?
I am so proud and honoured to have been chosen by the Duchess of Sussex to make her evening gown and represent British design. It has truly been one of the most humbling moments of my career. I've made a lot of wedding dresses for a lot of high-profile people, none as high-profile as that this one obviously but I've always felt very protective over that moment and to be entrusted with that moment it means a lot to me.
This story first appeared in the February 2019 issue of L'Officiel Singapore.
