Supplier Spotlight: Reworked Vintage Wedding Dresses By Mercier Stockholm Bridal

At Magpie Wedding, we are huge advocates for how to be more eco. Our ECO Wedding Shows and ECO Wedding Collective were set up to work with suppliers who are just as passionate as we are about creating change within the industry and we love to share suppliers who are making a difference too! Mercier Stockholm Bridal are as passionate as we are and founder Natalie creates the most beautiful dresses with a beautiful ethical attitude. We welcome her with open arms to chat about her fabulous collections, company and finding the perfect sustainable wedding dress…

 

Reworked Vintage Wedding Dresses (1960s) Photographer @Brollop_Stockholm

 

“The best vintage wedding dresses were made with high-end fabrics and skilled craftsmanship, but the silhouettes are no longer relevant or flattering. Mercier Stockholm Bridal offers a modern alternative for a nostalgic and sustainably conscious bride. By using vintage wedding dress fabric and details together with locally sourced fabrics from high-quality European factories, a contemporary yet sustainable wedding dress is made. A new design for a modern bride with all the best parts of your grandma’s wedding dress.​

 

My design style comes from a mix of cultures. My British upbringing, my French heritage, and a design career based in Sweden influence me every day. Each country with its own unique design language, provides me with a wealth of inspiration to create. I’m also influenced by the vintage dress I’m transforming. Every wedding dress has a beautiful detail or fabric worth saving and this impacts the new design. It’s all about showcasing the best from the past but bringing it into this decade. I love re-making a family heirloom! The more “outdated” the better – finding the beauty in extreme 70’s bridal wear and tailoring it to modern-day trends is a lot of fun.”

 

 

“My brides are nostalgic and sustainably conscious. Everyone knows wearing vintage is better than new. A lot of wedding dresses these days are mass-produced polyester. But it goes further than that. Any bride looking for a wedding dress with a story behind it or a personal connection to their own family’s history comes to me. What’s more emotive than wearing your mother’s re-made wedding dress? Let’s find the beauty even in an extreme 80s wedding dress. What a great story to tell your guests! My own grandparents had a long and happy marriage of 60 years and I love the idea you can pass on this good fortune through a dress.”

 

 

Reworked Vintage Wedding Dresses (1970s and 1990s), Photographer @Brollop_Stockholm 

 

SUSTAINABILITY

“After 10 years as a fashion designer, from high-end to high-street, I have seen the waste in fashion first hand. I wanted to take better responsibility and address this issue in my own way. I wanted to take something as notably single-use as a wedding dress – traditionally intended to only be worn once – and breathe new life into it in a way that provides longevity to both the wearer, as well as the wider bridal industry. Re-making a vintage wedding dress saves approximately 7,000kg of CO2 per tonne of textile waste. That’s the equivalent of driving a car for 1.5 years! But most of all: vintage wedding dresses are beautiful, so why wouldn’t you want to save them? Formally never mass-produced and always with a detail significant of a certain decade they are a playground to be explored and a story to be shared on your wedding day. My dresses intend to meet the desire of brides who wish to make both meaningful and more sustainable purchases for their wedding day.”

 

Reworked Reworked Vintage Wedding Dresses (1960s)  Photographer @Brollop_Stockholm

 

WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF?

“I’m proud of daring to start my own company abroad. I don’t have quite the same safety net here as in the UK, but if I hadn’t tried I would have always wondered. I went to evening classes on starting your own company- which is easier said than done in a foreign language and once I found the right atelier I just went for it. I also took no loans: just a small start-up gift from my mother! My family and boyfriend have always been 100% behind me and continuously supported me through this entrepreneurial time in my life! I’m frequently proud. Every time a bride wears one of my designs on arguably one of the biggest days of her life I’m gleaming with pride! So happy to be a small part of it! I’m also proud when I show a bride the potential of her vintage dress. Some brides come in with an old dress they are convinced cannot be used, but with some quick sketches and inspirational images, they see what the dress can become.”

 

Before and after – Photographer @Brollop_Stockholm 

WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOUR COMPANY?

“Right now I’m planning Collection 4. It’s always exciting to start a season. I start with a base collection of vintage wedding dresses and after seeing what I want to save I start to draw what they will become. This summer I will collaborate with Konstsim Kreativ. A synchronised swimming group who want a collection of dresses inspired by their sport for an underwater shoot. Every designer loves the challenge of an unusual opportunity like this! Bring on the sequins!”

 

Reworked 1970s dress, Photographer @Brollop_Stockholm 

 

FINDING THE PERFECT SUSTAINABLE WEDDING DRESS

“Finding the perfect, and sustainable, wedding dress begins at home. The first step is to ask both your spouse’s and your own relatives about their wedding dresses. Grandma Joyce or Aunty Mary will no doubt be flattered you want to re-make and re-wear their wedding dress. They will happily share important memories before you make new ones. You will have a deeper personal connection to your dress and it makes for a great story – everyone wants to know the ‘journey’ of finding The Dress. If there are no good options within your own family find a vintage wedding dress elsewhere. Whenever I travel I make time to visit vintage shops and antique markets no matter how small the place is. Thrifting and vintage shopping is a key part of leading a more sustainable fashion life. Find a dress with a fabric you like or details you love even if the dress is too small for you…vintage bridal often is rather small. You can re-make it along with some quality modern fabric, made in Europe is best. If you’re able to find a good tailor in your local area and show some images of what you want, they’ll be able to help you with this process. Alternatively, send me a message or pay me a visit in Stockholm! There are a few famous names who have used a re-made or re-worn vintage wedding dress. Margot Robbie re-made her mother’s lace wedding dress. Princess Beatrice re-wore a dress from Queen Elizabeth. Priyanka Chopra’s veil was made from her fiance’s mother’s wedding dress.”