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Need a breakdown on the best wedding dress designers? There’s a lot to go through: for example, bridal boutique behemoth Kleinfeld’s—of Say Yes to the Dress fame—carries over 70 brands and 1,500 dresses for brides-to-be. Amid all of that, it can be hard for someone to derive a shortlist of what designers feel, well, distinctly them.
Here at Vogue, we want to help. Every day, our team of editors review dozens of weddings featuring couples from all over the world in consideration for coverage on our website. The ones we end up publishing feature a diverse and dazzling array of fashion—from custom Schiaparelli to dresses found for $200 at a thrift shop. But we’ve noticed a few select bridal designers catching our eye again and again. Some of them are classics (one can never go wrong with Oscar de la Renta) while others are pushing the boundary of the definition of bridal style (more Wiederhoeft brides, please!). So we thought—why not share them with our audience?
It’s in no way a definitive list: a wedding day and its corresponding fashion is a deeply personal choice. A bride should wear whatever makes them feel their best self—labels be damned. But for those who want a fashionable starting point? Look no further. Below, the wedding dress designers recently and repeatedly featured on real Vogue brides.
Oscar de la Renta
For those seeking a classic wedding dress, Oscar de la Renta is the gold standard. Many gowns come complete with full tulle skirts and statement trains, giving the “princess” look that so many brides seek on their wedding day. They’re also known for their floral appliques and delicate lacework, which lends a feminine air to every dress they make. Some of our favorite Oscar de la Renta brides? Amal Clooney, who wore an ivory beaded-tulle dress with Chantilly-lace appliqué to her wedding to George Clooney, as well as Allie Michler, who wore a bridal dress by current creative directors Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia to her Nantucket nuptials.
Elie Saab
There’s something effortlessly romantic about Lebanese designer Elie Saab, who has said he aims to design gowns with “feminine elegance, not extravagance.” His designs often involve lace, mousseline, and intricate beadwork—and nearly all have a cinched waist, voluminous skirts, and an overall statement silhouette. One of our favorite weddings of 2024—Anna Pops’s marriage to Luke Stopford Sackville at Drayton House—saw the bride wearing an utterly ethereal semi-custom Elie Saab gown.
Vera Wang
When Vera Wang launched her own bridal salon on Madison Avenue in 1990, her designs were instantly embraced by the New York City it-crowd for their unconventional, fashion-forward nature. “It just had not evolved,” she said of the bridal industry at the time. “I realized that I could make an impression in terms of changing and readdressing the whole industry of bridal.” While many bridal offerings can feel traditional or conservative, Vera’s boasts daring hemlines, modern silhouettes (her fall 2020 bridal collection saw a number of high low gowns, for example), and even the occasional splash of color. We’re still thinking about the sleek lace gown—complete with matching gloves–that Quinn Jackson wore to her wedding in Southampton.
Danielle Frankel
The bridal designer of the moment is Danielle Frankel, a Vera Wang alum who started her own line in 2018. Although let’s not pigeonhole her: you are just as likely to see Frankel’s designs on a red carpet as you are walking down the aisle. “Danielle Frankel describes her namesake brand as ‘a fashion label’ whose ‘medium is bridal,’ a minor yet important distinction that indeed manages to capture her creative output,” Vogue’s Laia Garcia-Furtado wrote in her review of the designer’s fall 2024 collection. Frankel known for her highly emotional designs—recently, she’s taken to handpainting a number of her dresses in a style inspired by the Impressionists—as well as her intricate pleating and drapery. We’ve lost count of the number of weddings we’ve published where the bride has worn Frankel—but take a look at Alex Cooper, Gabby Novogratz, Brooke Sansone, and Anna-Sophia Robb.
Emilia Wickstead
Just like her ready-to-wear, Emila Wickstead’s bridal designs are known for their minimalist silhouettes and expert tailoring. “It exudes a reserved romanticism, forgoing sequins and tulle for subdued laces and embroidered Italian jacquards. Then there are the silhouettes, which feel almost architectural with their square necklines, rectangular trains, and streamlined bodices that would be visually at peace within a stately Georgian home,” Vogue wrote in our coverage of her debut bridal collection in 2024. With an Emilia Wickstead dress, you’ll wear the bridal gown rather than the bridal gown wearing you. Recently, Vogue editor Willow Lindley wore a column dress by Wickstead to her Brooklyn waterfront wedding.
Vivienne Westwood
A Vivienne Westwood gown usually features two things: impeccable drapery and a corset. A little bit punk and a little bit romantic, it’s the perfect choice for the bride who wants an edge on her wedding day while still feeling timeless. (Easier said than done.) “It was so delicate and it felt just right,” interior designer Christie Ward told Vogue of the Vivienne Westwood dress she wore to elope in Ischia, whereas New York City bride Katherine Mendenhall said that the moment she tried on a Westwood dress “there was no question it was the dress. The fit was impeccable."
Hermione de Paula
Stylish English brides have been flocking to Hermione de Paula—a custom dressmaker in London—since 2018, seeking highly personalized creations that feel like they can only be worn by one person: them. “Each dress is designed around the bride to create a one-of-a-kind piece that she can treasure forever,” de Paula previously told Vogue. That’s not to say the bride doesn’t have guidance: they start by picking a silhouette from de Paula’s collection, and then move on to things like custom embroidery, embellishments, and illustrations. Recently her creations have caught on stateside, with a number of American brides seeking the personal touches only de Paula can provide. “After trying on just about every dress in New York, I reached out to Hermione de Paula’s studio in London,” recent Vogue Weddings bride Alexandria van Starrenburg said. “I had seen some of her couture work and was always enamored by the customization of her embroidery work and use of color.”
Paula Nadal
Paula Nadal is for the unique: the brides we’ve seen wear her custom creations have deep, original visions—often rooted in historical references—that steer away from the traditional bridal mode. Take Zoé Chrissos, who wore a corset gown with pearl embroidery inspired by the Art Nouveau illustrations of her grandfather, who was a watch-maker for Cartier. Or the dress worn by Shawn Lakin, which was partially inspired by Elle Fanning’s 18th-century costumes in The Great. (She paired it with a patchwork veil, also by Nadal.) If you want a bridal gown that doesn’t just look like it could be vintage, but really feels like it too, Paula Nadal is worth a look.
Tanner Fletcher
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In a previous interview with Tanner Fletcher’s Tanner Richie and Fletcher Kasell, they admitted their brand’s bridal offerings are “unconventional.” It’s partly due to the vintage nature of it all—a dress in their most recent collection, for example, was inspired by a 1930s bridal gown Richie discovered in a Midwest thrift shop. But it is also because of the gender-neutrality of it all: there are white dresses, sure, but also baby blue velvet blazers, dramatic feather robes, and pussy-bow blouses that could be worn by brides, grooms, or those who don’t feel like describing themselves in those terms at all. “We’re really trying to tap into the customer who wants something a little bit unconventional—but also still feels: it’s for your wedding,” Richie has said.
Wiederhoeft
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Jackson Wiederhoeft’s bridal collections have reached cool girl status thanks to their theatrical corsetry and metal accents: for one Vogue bride, Wiederhoeft designed a 3-1 dress that shape-shifted from the ceremony, to the reception, to the after-party. His latest collection shows an avant-garde embrace of bubble hems—to wear Wiederhoeft is to be on the cutting edge of the trend.
One/Of
Patricia Voto’s One/Of is known for making custom and made-to-measure creations for their clients out of deadstock fabric, making it a sustainable fashion house. Although not limited to bridal, her work has caught on with the bridal community, with many Vogue brides choosing her to design looks for the auxiliary events around their wedding. (Take Laura Jackson’s preppy gingham set for her welcome party in Maine.) However, more and more, we’re seeing Patricia Voto’s work being worn for the main event, like this wedding at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum or Alexandre and Solange Assouline’s nuptials in Paris.
Simone Rocha
Simone Rocha is a fashion designer first and bridal designer second—but her signature frou-frou dresses have graced a number of Vogue brides, especially after she did a bridal capsule collection for Ssense. Rocha is for the bride who wants to wear something so hyper-feminine that it almost borders on frivolity. “I am known for wearing dresses, so I felt I needed something more dramatic,” Simone Rocha bride Rachel Bakewell says of choosing the designer for her wedding in Tuscany. “I have always loved ballet and romance and felt this dress was a twist on the ballerina aesthetic.
