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story by Seth Friedermann
photos by Ned & Aya Rosen
Bridal fashion is unique in almost every conceivable way. From the demands of the fabric to the demands of the clients it’s an elite fashion form favored by just a handful of designers. This demanding and restrictive art form creates challenges for a fashion designer that most avoid, yet a select few embrace and then thrive. One of those that has succeed in the long term is the Canadian designer Ines Di Santo.
Mrs. Di Santo and her daughter Veronica seem to have a deep understanding of what a woman wants to say about herself on her wedding day. A casual examination of the gowns available to brides only reveals an endless sea of expected white and a limited number of shapes and structures, but look more closely at the top designers in bridal like Ines Di Santo and a deeper communication is revealed.
In bridal gowns traditional techniques and known shapes are still vastly preferred over any sort of radical looks. Their exists a strong desire to stay connected to the core feeling of the wedding ceremony and so since tradition and ritual connect us to ideals and to our collective past that’s what most brides desire. For her 2012 Couture Spring Summer Bridal Collection, she worked beautifully inside of this constraining culture, creating a collection that was filled with antique romanticism, complex ornamentation, and great play with the contrast between voluminous skirts and body conscious tops. The gowns were finished with a wide variety of shimmering fabrics, embroidery, and adornments which created transfixing flashes as the models breezed down the runway. The lightness and construction of the high volume bottoms recalled clouds drifting through a summer sky while the lace gauntlets of roses and puffs added a warm romantic touch that added to the loveliness of the gowns. Another terrific display of talent from the fabulous family of Di Santo.
