How Dua Lipa and Vogue are making bridal fashion fun: weddings don’t need to be dull affairs – Jacquemus, La DoubleJ, Viktor & Rolf and Simone Rocha are loosening up marriage style

Jun 8 , 2024

What it’s all about: today’s designers are shaking up bridal fashion with fresh silhouettes, playful colours and textures, and a focus on individuality and – above all – fun

Dua Lipa’s see-through outfit at Simon Porte Jacquemus’ wedding helped shake up ceremony style, reminding us that weddings should be fun for all – especially the bride who, heaven forbid, might even want to dance

UK designers Molly Goddard, Olivia von Halle and Jessica McCormack are all bringing a laid-back approach to bridal styles, while New York jeweller Agmes add accessories than do more than shine

If you’ve ever spent time trawling Vogue’s weddings section, or had even a passing interest in bridal content on social media, you might have noticed weddings have changed. Less meringue dress and a cold hotel buffet; more individual, made to order. Even grooms are getting a makeover, but brides especially are showing off their style, leading by example, perhaps in Simone Rocha or a silk slip or – in the case of fashion designer Simon Porte Jacquemus – the guests might all be in dreamy diaphanous dresses.

Dua Lipa dancing to 80s French pop in an entirely see-through outfit was the cherry on top.

“We found everything to be airy, vaporous and light. It also seems that people could not believe their eyes when seeing Dua Lipa dancing to ‘Les Démons de Minuit’ [by the band Images] or ‘Voyage, Voyage’ by Desireless. Yes, Dua Lipa really does like French songs!” Jacquemus told Vogue of dressing his guests for the ultimate fashion wedding day.

“Anyway, it’s a wedding, not an after-party, and weddings are about hits!” he continued. “Our aunts and grandmothers were present. We needed to kiss, dance and sing together. You can’t be a snob at a wedding.”

So true! Weddings should be fun!

Jacquemus is one of a slew of fashion designers changing the bridal industry. His recently launched collection, Le Mariage, which also features outfits for wedding guests, is brimming with colour, femininity and – of course – quite enormous floppy sun hats.

He joins La DoubleJ, JJ Martin’s joy-inflected Milan-based label, which in March launched a wedding hub. Putting a marital spin on its “high vibration” clothes, it included a selection of its bestselling maxi dress silhouettes – such as the Visconti, the Footloose and the Long Sleeve Swing – in embroidered white lace; curated gift ideas that definitely won’t be exchanged; and perfect bridesmaid dresses.

Meanwhile two UK designers – cult jeweller Jessica McCormack, and opulent nightwear and loungewear brand Olivia von Halle – have just collaborated on a super-luxe collection of ivory silk pyjamas. The PJs feature McCormack’s signature embroidery – with one very special pair made to order with ruby and diamond buttons, handcrafted in the designer’s workshop. For von Halle, it was a meeting of minds – and aesthetics.