NW  How did WED Studio, your bridalwear company, begin?

AT  About eight years ago, I got engaged and started looking for a dress, but nothing matched my personality in the way that I wanted it to. So I approached Evan with the idea that we could make a dress, just as a fun personal project. We went to the pub and started talking about it, and about what was missing in the industry. Then we thought, why don’t we do something here?

EP  It’s changed so much now, but back then, it felt insane how huge the wedding industry was, while the majority of the people we knew wouldn’t buy this stuff. 

NW What is it that characterised the industry that meant you couldn’t connect to it at that point?

AT  It was either traditional or all “contemporary”, which Vera Wang was leading, and perhaps there was room for something more challenging in a different sense. 

EP  The process of buying a wedding dress felt very old-fashioned. But it’s funny – six years down the line, we understand far better the necessity of every single one of those processes. The question instead becomes, how do you create a dress which is both modern and approachable? One part of the bridal experience that we try to avoid is the hard sell from a salesperson. It’s us, the designers, who are fitting people in the dresses. We wanted to change the culture of bridalwear. At the time, every model looked the same and the industry was so homogenised, but not everyone who gets married is tall, skinny, white, blonde and straight. It’s not just the dresses – it’s opening up the industry to a different kind of consumer. A bride, perhaps, who never really thought about their wedding, or never really thought they would get married. 

Read more on Tank Magazine by Nell Whittaker HERE