How you say I do is personal. What you wear, even more so. Are you a classic bride in white? Or is it non-traditional nuptials that represent you best? Whatever your big day looks like, when you walk down that aisle or garden path or courthouse steps, the most important thing is to feel like you're showing up as yourself. In fact, love demands it. Which is why we're making the case for a wedding dress created by an Australian designer. There's something stripped back about Australian design, which is a broad stroke to paint, but nonetheless true. There's no artifice, it's relaxed yet intentional, and has us wondering why we ever looked overseas when there's beauty in our own backyard? From opulence to minimalism, Alex Perry to ESSE Studios, below we're bringing you a list of 25 Australian designers to consider for your wedding dress.
1. Prea James Bridal
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Located: Paddington, NSW
Best known for: There's a lot of talk about quiet luxury lately and as far as bridal goes, Prea James sits in this space. The designer's eponymous label draws its philosophy from the idea that simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, and is known for attracting a laid-back yet modern and fashion-forward bride. Having opened Prea James Bridal in 2017 after years of offering a made-to-measure service, as well as studying at Ultimo TAFE, you're in safe hands here. The main flagship may be on Oxford St in Paddington, but Prea James is stocked at over 30 retailers across the globe, making that special moment all the more accessible.
2. Christie Nicole Bridal
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Located: Online
Best known for: Back in 2016, Christie Trowbridge was asked by a close friend to design her wedding dress. Up to this point, Trowbridge had been creating lingerie but after one wedding gown, came a call for many more. Now, with the help of a small team, Christie Nicole Bridal operates out of a studio in Surry Hills, dreaming up made-to-order gowns for stylish brides. Lace plays an important role in her designs, harking back to those early days hand-crafting lingerie, but the silhouettes dance between voluminous and romantic to minimalist and low-key.
3. Lola Varma
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Located: Melbourne, Perth
Best known for: As a fashion and wedding photographer first, Courtney Illfield took note of the gaping disconnect between the women she was capturing and the weight of traditional wedding conventions, beginning with the dress. Fortified by this discovery, Illfield founded her own bridal label with the goal to create quietly confident and edgy designs that honour the desires of the modern bride. Designed and made in Melbourne, in the world of Lola Varma less equals more, the gowns are light and fluid, and the female form is something to celebrate not hide.
4. Grace Loves Lace
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Located: Gold Coast, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney
Best known for: Jaded with the bridal industry as it was and the same-same gowns churned out, Megan Ziems founded Grace Loves Lace in 2011 and hasn't looked back. Through her label, Ziems hoped to challenge two of the biggest compromises brides had to juggle: price versus quality, style versus comfort. As the name suggests, many of the collections revolve around lace, with form-fitting shapes that cascade out into mermaid-adjacent trains.
5. Steven Khalil
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Located: Paddington, NSW
Best known for: If there's one name that prospective Australian brides are familiar with, it's Steven Khalil. Based in Sydney and established in 2003, Steven Khalil looks to old world European glamour for his designs. His gowns are intricately beaded with strict attention paid to the fall and drape of fabric. Clients have the option of selecting a House couture gown, designed by the Steven Khalil team, or a Custom couture gown where the designer will work closely with the bride on their vision. Appointments should be booked a year out from your wedding, to accommodate around 3 to 5 fittings.
6. L’eto Bridal
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Located: Newport, NSW
Best known for: From funds to fit, there can be a ton of pressure surrounding your wedding dress. Designer Anya Ostapenko is here to cradle you every step of the way. Every person that enters the Northern Beaches studio can expect to feel listened to and have their ideas nurtured. L'eto Bridal endeavours to use the highest grade silks and the designs sit outside the box of what we can expect from bridalwear with 1930s and 40s inspired shapes and vintage accents. This is a brand for a bride with a point of view.
7. Alex Perry
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Located: Online
Best known for: Alex Perry debuted his namesake label in the 90s, successfully establishing himself as a powerhouse of Australian and international fashion. His label is noteworthy for its beautifully constructed gowns and corsets, precision tailoring, decadent evening wear, strong silhouettes, luxurious fabrications and sparkle moments, which is why it's only natural that the designer would deliver a strong offering of bridal moments too.
8. Lillian Khallouf
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Located: Leichhardt, NSW
Best known for: Parramatta Road is known for its bridal store windows, but there's one that stands out from the rest: Lillian Khallouf. The designer debuted her first bridal collection through her namesake label in 2016, establishing an audience of fierce, independent and open-minded women. Bridal is not all she does, although she does it well, and Lillian Khallouf ready-to-wear is imbued with the same luxury you'll find in the white gowns. For a less ostentatious moment, the Marina dress in ivory could be called on in a courthouse wedding do.
9. Toni Maticevski
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Located: Online
Best known for: Fashion as wearable art. For nearly two decades, Melbourne-based Macedonian designer Toni Maticevski has dressed the female form with his unique approach to design and craft. With a signature manipulation of cloth as sculpture, along with artful and luxurious silhouettes, Maticevski designs those special occasion pieces for the modern wardrobe that many dream of wearing. Architectural and directional, if a structural gown is part of your nuptial vision, look no further.
10. Pallas Couture
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Located: Paddington, NSW
Best known for: Joy Morris is a titan in Australia's bridal scene. Founded in 2001, each gown is handcrafted in-store at her Paddington-based boutique. Using European textiles, including French laces, soft silks and Italian embroideries and appliqués, Morris dreams up wedding gowns that riff on old world glamour but are ultimately imbued with a sultry, seductive whimsy.
11. J.Andreatta
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Located: Surry Hills, NSW
Best known for: Raised by a mother who taught fashion at Whitehouse Institute of Design and worked in the industry for many years, the interest clearly rubbed off on Jessica Andreatta who in her own way represents the new guard of Australian bridal and red carpet luxury. From her boutique in Surry Hills, Andreatta works with clients to realise their bridal dreams, whether that is understated elegance or densely beaded corsetry.
12. Common Hours
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Located: Online
Best known for: Founded by Amber Symond, Common Hours began with intricate, luxurious robes and gradually progressed into evening wear evoking a sense of power and strength. The brand commonly employs French lurex, Italian silks and organic cotton in the construction process of garments, and while not strictly a bridal label, gowns like the Flower Slip in Ivory have unconventional bride written all over them.
13. Honeymoon Studios
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Located: Carlton North, VIC
Best known for: When Andria Kiefer approached her own nuptials, she felt increasingly disillusioned by the tone of choice available. Honeymoon Studios was created as an alternative to the traditional bridal experience. With a decade worth of experience in the fashion industry, Kiefer sought to create a home for wedding attire that was relaxed, contemporary and down-to-earth. Each garment is handmade with a six week lead time in Melbourne, using recycled fabrics and sitting at a truly affordable price point.
14. Jordan Dalah
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Located: Woollahra, NSW
Best known for: Few would dare to call Jordan Dalah a bridal label, least of all Dalah himself, but for the experimental and unconventional bride, the Sydney-based designer poses a world of opportunity. His marriage of the sublime with the mundane is modern and thrilling. Some will call it mock Tudor and it will be clear to all that Rei Kawakubo is his dream woman, but the power of Dalah is that he is charting a new way forward for Australian fashion, one less concerned with sunseeker lifestyles instead the open horizon possibility. Plus, Georgia Fowler donned a custom Jordan Dalah mini at her own wedding, in case you need proof that it's works.
15. ESSE Studios
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Located: Online
Best known for: Helmed by Charlotte Hicks, ESSE debuted at AAFW 2022 to much applause. In a world where designers preach sustainability but don't always follow up with their practices, an eyeful of the designs are a refreshing sorbet. Once again, ESSE Studios is not strictly a bridal label, but there are long, minimal garments in the brand's collections that could definitely be interpreted so, especially for brides who are fond of the clean lines of The Row.
16. Anna Quan
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Located: Online
Best known for: Designer Anna Huong has created an aesthetic that is both peaceful and calming, which is just what the doctor ordered on your wedding day. Refined tailoring and minimal silhouettes complete timeless and ultra-wearable pieces. When it comes to soft bridal pieces, this translates to a tranquil and utilitarian bride. Pieces like the Heidi Dress or Catalina Dress would be rightly at home in a garden wedding.
17. Beare Park
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Located: Online
Best known for: Having launched at Afterpay Australian Fashion Week in 2021, Beare Park has since built a reputation for its bold, timeless silhouettes and considered approach to design. Quality fabrics are sourced from the finest mills in Italy and Japan, which means its pantsuits and soft gold lurex minis are primed for the nonconformist brides.
18. Christopher Esber
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Located: Online
Best known for: Christopher Esber has been radiating a quiet confidence season after season since launching his eponymous brand in 2010. For over a decade, Esber has designed sensual and sophisticated pieces to wear forever and ever – including artful gowns that would make a statement at any wedding. With daringly low 90s hemlines and exposed torsos, the Esber girl does pared back sexiness perfectly and would never desert it for the sake of some nuptials.
19. Nevenka
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Located: South Bank, VIC
Best known for: A patternmaker by trade, Rosemary Masic opened Nevenka in the shadow of grief after mother, Nevenka's, death. Named in tribute of her mother, Nevenka draws on Masic's Eastern European heritage and incorporates these folksy accents into the unique design language. Sourcing fabrics from her homeland in Croatia and other Balkan countries, along with Italy, France and Turkey, Masic creates one of a kind dresses designed to be worn during life's greatest milestones, including your wedding.
20. Rachel Gilbert
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Located: Paddington, The Strand (NSW); Armadale, Emporium (VIC)
Best known for: The gravitational pull of Rachel Gilbert at the mere hint of a wedding cannot be understated. Catering to both bride and wedding guest, there are many options to explore depending your speed. Ready-to-wear gowns can be sourced with ease and bridal options can be discussed over 45-60 minute appointments at Rachel Gilbert boutiques.
21. Romance Was Born
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Located: Online
Best known for: Since weddings are a celebration, I can think of few Australian designers who could inject more joy into a wedding dress than Romance Was Born. The love child of Anna Plunkett and Luke Sales, both designers founded the label in 2005 providing us with the glittering, extravagant and theatrical collections that have become synonymous with the brand. From incredible statement pieces, covetable prints, magnificent colour, intricate beading and heavily detailed sequinned elements, it’s the perfect fusion between fashion, art and creative dreaming. Which is all the fashion-forward, daring and truly modern bride can ask for. Icons only.
22. Kyha Studios
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Located: Melbourne, Sydney, New York
Best known for: A lot of people talk about modern, elegant silhouettes when it comes to bridal but the proof is in the pudding at Kyha Studios. The form-fitting silhouettes run seamlessly down the body and are guaranteed to elicit that covetable tear-jerking moment. Paired with the right setting, the gowns from Kyha Studios offer an old world romanticism weddings are too often bereft of. Plus, the brands offers complimentary virtual consultations and a global gown concierge service that allows potential clients to try on a selection of gowns before you make your big decision.
23. Michael Lo Sordo
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Located: Online
Best known for: From cult celebrities to even iconic Bond girls, the Michael lo Sordo woman is one that is always event ready. Signature slinky silhouettes, party dresses, sensual skin moments and added sparkle, there’s an elevated piece for every special occasion, including your wedding thanks to its dedicated bridal edit.
24. E Nolan
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Located: Fitzroy, VIC
Best known for: Shopping for you wedding outfit is difficult at the best of times, even more so when it's not a dress you're after. For a custom made-to-measure suit that feels and looks luxurious, look no further than Melbourne's beloved tailor E Nolan. There's a three fitting process and the option to choose from fabrics including wool, cotton, linen, tweed, boucle and velvet hailing from the UK, Italy and Japan.
25. Mariam Seddiq
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Located: Sydney
Best known for: Australian-Afghan designer Mariam Seddiq prides herself on strong tailoring, bold silhouettes and fabric manipulation to create a bridal moment that is experimental and against the grain. Based in Sydney, clients can opt for ready made designs or work closely with Seddiq to produce a custom gown to say yes to forever in.
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