Style on Wednesday
Pippa’s wedding dress The 8 contenders
On Saturday morning, at around 11.30am – depending on whether she exercises her prerogative to be late – Pippa Middleton will arrive at St Mark’s Church in the idyllic village of Englefield, and the mystery that has occupied the fashion world for months will finally be solved. Will Middleton be wearing a classically elegant wedding dress, following in the footsteps of her big sister, the Duchess of Cambridge? Will she play on the bucolic setting and opt for a romantically bohemian style? Or will she use this as a chance to set modern wedding dress trends again, as she inadvertently did when she wore that slinky Alexander Mcqueen design at the royal wedding in 2011?
Ever since Middleton’s engagement to millionaire hedge-fund manager James Matthews was announced last July, speculation about the identity of the designer has abounded.
Last November, British couturier Giles Deacon – renowned for his dramatic, beautiful couture designs – was seen visiting Middleton at home, carrying an armful of dress bags. While he still seems to be the current favourite, the bride is reported to have held meetings with many other designers, and yet more were asked to submit sketches of their ideas.
Deacon would be an inspired but unexpected choice. In 2011, he was the mastermind behind the nonroyal wedding dress of the year – the strapless, tiered skirt creation worn by model and TV presenter Abbey Clancy at her marriage to footballer Peter Crouch. That aside, Deacon is best known in fashion circles for his opulent red-carpet gowns, which are often inspired by dark fairy tales and worn by the likes of Cate Blanchett, Sarah Jessica Parker and Deacon’s girlfriend, the Game of Thrones actress Gwendoline Christie.
Last year, Deacon moved away from showing at London Fashion Week to concentrate on his couture business, meaning he would have the time and skillset to dedicate to the Middleton project. And it sounds as if he’s a fan. “I think they’ve both got divine style,” Deacon told Hello! of Kate and Pippa last year. “They’re thoroughly modern girls promoting British brands and looking fantastic.”
No matter who Middleton has picked to create her wedding dress, there are certain unique demands that the designer will have to contend with. “A large amount of publicity around a wedding adds even more pressure on a dress to be absolutely perfect,” says Phillipa Lepley, creator of wedding dresses for Geri Halliwell and Jacqui Ainsley, the model wife of director Guy Ritchie. “One constant, though, is that brides tend to choose something more traditional in the end, even if they liked the idea of going down a different route at the start of their search,” she adds. Pippa, with her preference for a relatively
“safe” style in her everyday life, could plausibly follow this path.
“‘Nice’ girls tend to play it safe when going down the aisle,” confirms Sophia Money-coutts, features director at Tatler. “The Kate Middleton look – lace sleeves, nipped-in waist – is still hugely popular with posh girls. But Pippa will want it to be different, so we don’t all go, ‘How boring, she’s copied her sister.’ ”
Still, there is a long list of British couturiers who could cater to the traditional brief. Besides Lepley herself, Suzannah (designed by Suzannah Crabb and worn frequently by Pippa) or Jenny Packham (a favourite of the Duchess of Cambridge) would be elegant choices. Middleton is also believed to have visited Theresa May’s favourite designer, Amanda Wakeley, who has a bridal collection encompassing everything from sleek, bias-cut styles to grand, church-worthy looks, all combining classic sophistication with a soupçon of modernity. Another contender in the safe-but-lovely category is Eponine London, a small bespoke label that the Duchess of Cambridge has worn three times in the past 14 months. Founded by 56-year-old Jet Shenkman from the basement of her Kensington home, the brand specialises in bespoke, British-made pieces that cleverly tread the line between unique and classic.
Of course, whoever has won the commission will gain global fame and an unprecedented boost to their business, which is why many fashion insiders are rooting for Emilia Wickstead or Erdem. Both designers have established themselves as favourites at London Fashion Week with their modern but feminine and wearable designs. Wickstead – who designed the strikingly simple, elegant gown that Lady Charlotte Wellesley wore to marry Argentinian Alejandro Santo Domingo in Spain last summer – has rather savvily just debuted a ready-to-wear bridal collection, comprising looks that cater for all manner of modern weddings, from a low-key jumpsuit to cathedral-worthy dresses. “They are made to be worn and then looked at 35 years down the line and still make you think, ‘That was beautiful,’” says Wickstead.
One thing is certain: come Saturday afternoon, designers and retailers the world over will be scurrying to run up designs in the style of Pippa Middleton’s wedding dress. After Kate’s wedding, Chinese wedding dress factories took just 15-20 days to produce a version of her dress. Hamish Shephard, founder of Bridebook. co.uk, expects Pippa-inspired dresses to be coming to an aisle near you in time for the 2018 wedding season. By which point, the rumour mill may well have turned its attention to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry.