Vanessa Traina

If there’s one designer that leads the bridalwear game today, then it’s definitely Danielle Frankel and her New York-based studio. However Danielle isn’t limiting her designs to weddings only; she describes her namesake brand as “a fashion label” whose “medium is bridal,” a minor yet important distinction that indeed manages to capture her stunning creative output. The latest collection, starring Italian beauty Mariacarla Boscono and styled by Vanessa Traina, is an in-depth study of texture, unique fabrications, and gesturally arranged flowers lead to a sort of accidental Impressionism. The brand’s signature interplay of hard and soft and its relaxed refinement join pointedly feminine details that are naturally mussed at the edges. Oil-on-canvas landscapes are interpreted by hand-painted petit-fleurs, watercolor prints, and sculpted blooms. Painterly brushstrokes adorn featherweight organza juxtaposed by castings of metal and clay blossoms created by artisans in Ukraine and South Africa. The introduction of silk jersey brings a goddess-like liquidity to the range, while the addition of Lyon lace elevates an exploration of sheerness and structure. Silk woven with metal fibers creates beautiful wrinkles that are meant to last rather than be pressed away; a sort of “perfect imperfection“. In a continued exploration of color for the aisle, alabaster is joined by patinaed rust, hibiscus, citrus, pale chrysanthemum (Frankel’s favorite) and various shades of ivory. Degradé-dyed and pearl-tipped organza fringes mimic grasses in the hand-brushed expanses that inspired them. This really isn’t your average bride-to-be wardrobe.