FEATURE
Melange de Blanc bridal market , Florida Christina Wettstein and Kimberly Marcaux , co-founders
Inside Retail : Tell me about the new reimagined Melange de Blanc market concept and how you came up with it . Honestly , we just do our best to listen to what our stores want and need and try our best to give it to them . I used to live in Los Angeles and would constantly be told by West Coast stores they wished there was a market there . They either didn ’ t want to travel to the NYC bridal market because they couldn ’ t afford it or couldn ’ t be away from their stores that long , so it was always in the back of our minds . Plus , we have always done a big virtual push so with Covid-19 , it just felt like the right time to do it .
Once we started putting our heads together , the rest is history . We joke that we are in no way market planners , but it really is satisfying to bring industry people from all over the world together and be able to help them all while building strong relationships where we can !
IR : Tell me about the virtual event you ran previously and what that experience was like for buyers and guests . We did virtual markets for all our designers that either couldn ’ t come to the States due to Covid-19 , only show one collection a year or launched a collection mid-season and had no way to get in front of the stores . We did have a good number of stores who I am sure thought this was distasteful , as the world was obviously turned upside down , but as much as we are here for the stores , we are here for our designers as well . They put their heart and soul ( not to mention a lot of money ) into building and designing these new collections , so we wanted to give them a platform to show them off . And we are still so glad we did !
We opened up so many new accounts who still to this day thank us because if we didn ’ t invite them to our virtual market , they wouldn ’ t have new stock in their stores now that they are opened back up since Covid-19 . We also do quarterly training and weekly trunk show training to go over the new
collections that they just received in their stores . Knowledge is power and the more comfortable and confident a store is with your collection , the more they ’ re going to sell it , so we just try to be the best partners we can be . And thankfully all three of these virtual platforms have proven to be very successful .
IR : Since Covid-19 , how would you describe the current bridal retail landscape ? This has been an interesting topic as we have really seen such different situations depending on territories . Some stores never closed and some unfortunately still aren ’ t really open . Some had no choice but to do FaceTime and virtual calls throughout and then there are the stores that really started to push the at home and bridal-in-abox experience . It has also been helpful for stores to limit the number of people allowed in the appointments , so brides can really focus on the gown instead of all their friends ' and family ' s options . I think moving forward , many retailers will continue with these options for brides , so it will be fun to see how they pan out . After all , it ’ s all about making that bride happy , right ?
IR : What are some of the interesting retail trends that you ’ re seeing in the bridal market right now ? I ’ d say changing their gown into lingerie after the big day or reusing their bridal gowns for different events . We have one designer , Charlie Brear , who has caught the eye of a lot of stores because she ’ s not the traditional wedding gown designer , she ’ s a stylist . You essentially buy a clean crepe gown and really style it to many surrounding events , which , given Covid-19 , has been very helpful ( and cost-effective ). So many brides had to cancel their weddings or postpone , so now she can still get married in her backyard with a more simple and clean look , but then still wear and accessorise the same gown months down the line . They even have a jumpsuit that I have seen a bride wear to her rehearsal dinner , to her ceremony , and then again for another event , all while looking like three completely different outfits . �
24 | www . insideretail . com . au May 2021