Christian Siriano Is Ready To Dress A New Kind Of Bride

Christian Siriano’s return to bridal is everything you’d imagine. Tulle, suiting, draping, organza, cascading gowns—with post-pandemic wedding planning in full swing, the designer is here to help every bride, of every style and size. Available for purchase now, Siriano’s 2021/2022 bridal collection is his first after a brief hiatus beginning in 2017. From ball gown skirts to tailored silhouettes, the intention is clear: After 15 months of lockdown, we all just need to have a little more fun.

“We’ve all been stuck at home for so long, how can we emerge from our day and be our best selves?” he tells TZR. “We’re getting requests for black dresses; We’re getting requests for suiting; We have men coming in for wedding gowns; We have it all. But that’s what’s been so fun about it. I love that people are taking risks, trying new things, and having fun with fashion again.”

When designing the collection, Siriano drew inspiration from classic wedding photos, touching on their fluidity and movement, recreating the feeling for a more modern clientele.

“I’m really inspired by the capturing of those beautiful moments, whether you’re dancing or running up the stairs,” he explains. “I always love those wedding photos, so that really inspired a lot of the tulle skirts and two-piece looks as well. They’re not totally constricted in this big corseted dress. I didn’t really want that; I wanted it to feel lighter and softer.”

And while well-known for his show-stopping gowns — of which there are many in the collection — offering a diversity of style was crucial to Siriano, whose personal favorite pieces include tuxedo-gown combinations. Throwing away the labels of masculine and feminine, Siriano is pushing to redefine the bridal fantasy that has for too long been driven by an often-outdated industry.

“Sometimes in the bridal world, I feel like a lot of rules have been made for some reason,” says Siriano. “But that’s such a dated way to approach a wedding nowadays. We’re seeing so many different types of couples; It’s every type of couple. A wedding can be whatever you want it to be, because it’s literally just a celebration of love and being together.”

Another core principle: Size-inclusivity. As is always true for the designer, the collection ranges in sizes 0 through 28 — he notes that larger sizes can be made if requested — giving true, capital “F” fashion to women who have otherwise been led to believe they have no place in wedding couture.

Siriano is adamant that creating an extended size range is not the most challenging part here. Rather, the hurdle is perception.

“It’s not necessarily that the construction is so much more difficult,” he says. “It’s obviously different because every body is very different. But my biggest takeaway is how comfortable the bride is. If they want to be in a lace halter top with a big tulle skirt, then you wear what you want to wear. Just because you’re a size 28 doesn’t mean you can’t wear something. I think it’s very important for everyone to change the perception of what’s ‘flattering’ and ‘isn’t flattering.’ I think confidence is what’s flattering, and as a designer, it’s our job to make sure all the right things celebrate what the brides want to celebrate.”

To culminate the release, Siriano partnered with Beautyrest to create a wedding-themed mattress that was used in Siriano’s Fall 2021 Ready-to-Wear collection runway, which opened with selected models starting their days off in bed before transforming into fashion goddesses.

“It’s the same with a wedding dress,” Siriano said of the collaboration. “This is the one special purchase for your ultimate date, a thing you’ll remember forever, so it kind of all went together that way.”

Siriano's bridal collection is available to purchase at ChristianSiriano.com, with prices starting at $2,000 to $10,000.