London label Wed Studio is embracing ‘oddness’ when it comes to bridal dressing

Amy Trinh and Evan Phillips, the duo behind London’s favourite alternative bridalwear brand Wed Studio, appear on my screen side by side from their studio in Tottenham. ‘The aesthetic of bridal has been consistent over so many years that what’s out there can feel quite… standard,’ says Trinh, flashing a smile at Phillips. ‘Our brides come to us looking for a little bit of oddness.’

Wed Studio’s pieces are not for the mainstream bride. Favoured by creatives and women with headstrong personal style, their design language centres on exquisitely beautiful shapes offset by the unexpected, whether it's the drama of lustrously draped satin cascading from a waist-cinching corset or a surprise keyhole detail at the hip of a liquid silk gown. Six years and countless weddings later, it’s a formula that has seen the pair – who first met at Central Saint Martins in 2011 – grow Wed Studio from ready-to-wear beginnings in 2019 into the coveted bridal atelier it is today.

Over this time, the brand’s cult status has rippled beyond London’s creative circles, attracting fashion-discerning brides from around the world, with many flying thousands of miles to ensure they get married in a Wed Studio gown. ‘I think our bride is just very confident in their choice, they know what they want,’ says Phillips. ‘They travel from all over the world, they come here alone, they try on a piece and they’re like, “Yeah.” To me that kind of epitomises our modern bride. Some of them don't even need to try on more than one dress.’

In keeping with its niche offering, the duo have developed a unique working ethos over the past few years too. Wed only releases one collection a year, a seasonless series of designs which, once released, are available to order indefinitely. ‘Unless we feel like the style has evolved in another style, we don’t discontinue looks,’ says Phillips. ‘We actually still sell styles from our first collection and they're very popular. It makes sense because brides look for a dress for such a long time, often years. We're also more on the niche side of bridal, so it can take time for someone to grow the confidence to feel like they could wear it.

Released with a dreamlike series of campaign images shot by Agnes Lloyd-Platt, their 2026 collection is, the pair say, their most creatively ambitious yet. Taking inspiration from the spiralling forms of English-German sculptor Tony Cragg and the fuzzy nostalgia of a wedding photo discovered in Trinh’s family photo album, the collection explores the idea that materials are able to hold emotions. ‘Last season, we established commercially what Wed was about,’ Phillips says. ‘This season, we asked ourselves, how do we emphasise our creative handwriting? How do we really put ourselves as designers into these dresses?’

Tuning into how they were feeling in the studio every day, a spectrum of the designers’ emotions began to appear in the gowns themselves. Their personal handwriting quite literally became a motif, with pensively scribbled notes inspiring graphic lines wrapped around the body, while the flutter of a veil played with during a fitting led to a delicate handkerchief tulle dress trimmed with French floral lace. One of the most impressive pieces, a collage of crinoline bows zig-zagged across a flattering asymmetrical gown, was born from a heated flash of frustration. ‘We were kind of pissed off that day,’ says Trinh. ‘We had all these little motifs we’d made, and this corset that was cut to pieces. We just built on it in five minutes and were like, “Oh, wow, this is the dress”.’

While the pair have never wavered from their off-kilter perspective, this collection feels like a particularly defining statement, a reflection of how far they’ve come and where they want to take Wed Studio next. That focus is perhaps most visible in a exquisitely-crafted sheer gowns that play with the idea of turning garments inside out, revealing the delicate inner workings usually seen only by the bride, such as the boning of a corset or the meticulously hand-tacked stitch of a lining. Beautiful and exposing, both for the wearer and the designers, these pieces reveal the immense craft behind Wed Studio’s work. ‘You also can't hide because everything is shown,’ says Trinh. ‘Before, only the bride got to see those special elements inside a dress,’ Phillips adds. ‘We liked the idea that the guests could see it too. The work becomes almost like an embellishment.’

This collection, the pair say, was an act of balancing the shapes and codes they know their women will love – and that will sell – and allowing themselves the freedom to explore new ideas. Happily, the more avant-garde pieces they have gambled on have been received well. Pointing their laptop camera towards a sculptural showpiece standing in the studio, their proudest effort this season is the ‘Reba’ dress, a gown bursting with flower-like crinoline hemlines. ‘That dress is special because everyone in the studio has a part in making it,’ says Trinh. ‘I think it kind of takes us into this realm where we're wanting to head, which is more experimental, mature designs,’ adds Phillips. ‘Each year we almost gingerly tread towards it, but actually the response to this dress has been really positive. People expect us to experiment, which is a nice position to be in.’

While most designers make clothes people wear everyday, others for special occasions, Wed Studio exclusively deals in the most important day of many people’s lives. It lends their work both a gratifying sense of purpose and pressure, with the preparation, decisions and toil behind each gown seeing the designers get to know their customer far more intimately than other fashion brands would be able to. ‘It is pressure, but I love seeing the pictures afterwards, the moment when they're with their family,’ says Trinh. ‘When they message us and they say they had the best time and they felt great. That’s really nice, because when you're working in ready to wear, someone buys the thing and you never really get feedback.’

Pushing the boundaries of bridalwear a bit further each year, Wed Studio continues to carve out a completely unique space – not only for themselves as designers, but for a growing community of women who have trusted them to bring out their most expressive, authentic selves on the day they tie the knot. They are aware of exactly how special a thing that is. ‘It’s so rewarding that now, we can be more creative than we've ever been,’ Trinh says. ‘Being able to make what we want is a privilege.’

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