Sleek, sustainable, minimalist bridalwear from The OWN Studio: ones to watch
There’s not much we need to say here, other than The OWN Studio are ones to watch. Their exciting, fresh take on bridalwear, designed as a capsule collection to see you through the whole wedding weekend and inspired by iconic 90s silhouettes, is one thing, but their entire MO is to build a sustainable model for bridalwear. Instead of it being a piece you wear once and never again, co-founders Jess and Rosie have created a brand which you’ll wear til you’re blue in the face - and, on top of that, they do some divine modern bridesmaids outfits too. Over to Jess:
Sleek, minimalist pieces designed to be worn long after your wedding day; we are The OWN Studio and we are on a mission to redefine bridalwear.
We thought we would use this opportunity to introduce ourselves and tell you a bit more about what makes us tick. My business partner Rosie and I both love simple, effortless fashion and wanted to bring the same aesthetic to bridal wear. We design for the contemporary, style conscious woman who happens to be a bride.
Our latest collection ‘EDITION 002’ is designed to be the capsule wedding wardrobe, with an outfit for every element of the wedding weekend. Hyper-clean jumpsuits for Friday night welcome drinks, a fabulous bias cut silk satin ‘dancing dress’ for the night of the wedding, an increasingly popular ‘second day dress’, which we have imagined in clouds of frothy georgette, as well as a fabulous range of bridesmaid pieces.
Strong yet feminine silhouettes run through the entire collection. Inspired by Helmut Newton’s iconic interpretation of Le Smoking, the star of the collection (and one of our favourite pieces) is a white tuxedo with a heavy satin lapel and matching wide-leg trousers - all crafted in the softest, supple crepe.
We’re obsessed with the transformative power of the simple slip dress, and spent hundreds of hours hunting for fabrics with the right amount of weight and drape that would flatter all shapes and sizes. The result is a range of made-to-measure bias-cut slip dresses for brides crafted from buttery crepe and liquid silk satin. For bridesmaids, chic crepe-backed-satin midi and full-length slips are available in a rainbow of colours, with matching scrunchies.
It must be said that we are something of obsessive perfectionists (a winning combination - ha!) and fabric, fit and finish is a mutual obsession. I think the main reason behind this is our shared belief that bridalwear is one of the biggest culprits of fast fashion; particularly when it comes to bridesmaid outfits. Often the fabrics, fit and finish is poor which means dresses are banished to the back of the wardrobe, never to be seen again.
Currently, over 5% of the UK’s total annual carbon and water footprints result from clothing consumption*. It is estimated that in the UK alone, 9,000 garments are thrown away every 5 minutes. The average piece of clothing has a lifetime of around 2 years, but if clothes stayed in active use for nine months longer (extending their average life to around three years), this would reduce their carbon, water and waste footprints by 20-30%.
When you think about this in the context of bridal wear, where the average lifetime of a garment is less than 24 hours, it’s not an understatement to say that your wedding outfit is one of the most unsustainable items of clothing you will ever purchase.
We believe this is a major issue and want to break that cycle. It’s something we are passionate about addressing - we call it our commitment to being 'sartorially sustainable’.
So what do we mean by that?
1 // We create designs with versatility - every single piece across both the bridal and bridesmaid ranges has been designed to become a much-loved luxury wardrobe staple after the wedding - and they are delivered along with tips on how to re-style after the big day. Take our white Tux for example. Here we’ve styled it with GRLFRND high-rise jeans and chunky Missoma hoops.
Or our rose pink bridesmaid midi slip styled with an oversized Ganni knit:
Jumper £185 Ganni; Scrunchie £25 theownstudio; Necklace, Alighieri; Satin midi slip £180 theownstudio; Gold hoops £98 Missoma; Nike Air Force £95 Net-A-Porter; Bag $325 Staud
2 // Everything we make is either made-to-order or made-to-measure which means there is minimal fabric wastage during production. From the fabric offcuts we create matching scrunchies for bridesmaids as well as other accessories such as sashes, belts, pocket squares and hair ribbons.
3 // All garments are made in London (where we are based) and fabric is sourced from Europe, to keep the supply chain and transportation emissions as small as possible.
4 // All orders are beautifully wrapped and delivered to customers in recyclable and compostable packaging.
So for us, it’s not just about being consciously eco-conscious - in fact, sustainability also makes good sense.
Hope that gives you some insight into who we are - we are so looking forward to meeting you all at the fair! We’ll be giving Most Curious brides £50 off when they spent over £250 with us on bridesmaids and selected bridal styles. See you soon!
*WRAP Love your Clothes campaign
SEE! We told you they were incredible! To see them in real life, head to the tickets section and book yours right now - 7th-9th February 2020, The Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane.