ABOUT THE BRAND
alyson nicole
TELL US ALL ABOUT YOUR BRAND…
Alyson Nicole started out as a small line of bridal veils and avant-garde head pieces. Shortly after attending a bridal fair in Pennsylvania, Alyson started working closely with clients and bridal boutiques creating custom veils and bridesmaids hair accessories. Along with brides and private customers, she also worked closely with colleges to create one-of-a-kind millinery pieces to complement students’ designs during their annual fashion show.
Three years later, after getting situated in Brooklyn, NY, Alyson decided to relaunch her brand to include an array of accessories that catered to a more non-traditional bold bride, along with bespoke services for accessories and wedding gowns.
Alyson takes pride in hand crafting each product in her Brooklyn studio. She loves to create components and products from scratch to make them truly unique.
From the hand beaded embellishments, to the hand curled feathers, all the way to the fabric logo tags; Alyson’s hand made products are done so with care and passion. Materials are hand selected based on quality and aesthetics to build a line of accessories that mix natural elements with industrial aspects, creating a beautiful juxtaposition for unconventional brides.
THREE WORDS THAT BEST DESCRIBE YOUR BRAND
Bold, Versatile, Boho
What inspired you to start your business?
My family. My grandmother is the main reason I went into Fashion Design. She taught me how to sew at a very young age and I just loved it. I redesigned ALL of my clothes, made costumes, jewelry, school occasion dresses, and so on. It only grew from there. When I was in college is when my love for bridal began. It started small with just veils and avant garde hair adornments but when I moved to NYC after graduation it grew to include jewelry, sashes, capes, leather bags, and more.
What would you consider the most unique aspect about your brand?
In my experience, bridal accessories are always the afterthought. It is always about the dress or attire first, and then they are like “Oh! I should probably style some accessories to match”. By then their budget is limited.Â
I like to keep this in mind when I design my collections. By doing so it helps me to create a versitile collection of accessories that can be worn before, during, and after the wedding that is affordable.
tell us WHO’s BEHIND YOUR BRAND
Currently it is just me! I do everything from design to sales, to marketing to webdesign. It is definitely hard juggling everything, especially as a SAHM with a toddler, but this brand is my passion!
However, I am hoping to add some help somewhere down the road so that I can concentrate more on the design/creation side.Â
Spill the details about your design process?
It starts with inspiration. Once an inspirational theme is set, then I list the components/materials I want to use and break it down into categories. After that, I material shop for laces, trims, components, etc and make my selections. From there, the sketches begin OR I go straight into creation. Sometimes I like to start a design by playing with the components and seeing where it leads where other times I stick to my sketches. I guess it really depends on my mood!
How and where are your collections produced?
Everything is designed and created by myself in my Brooklyn based studio!Â
I love to make whatever I can by hand BUT if I cannot make a component myself, I source from my suppliers. This goes for my product packaging as well. The branded dustbags, accessory cards, fabric labels, and even the labels for the product boxes- I make by myself. As an independent designer buying in bulk is a rather large expense and if I do it myself as needed it helps keep the cost down and it helps with space!Â
What is your best seller to date?Â
What is the inspiration behind your newest collection?
My Wanderlust Collection is inspired by all the places I wanted to travel to or have been to in the past. Since I had a lot of time to daydream about places I’d rather be during the covid quarantine, I thought this was appropriate. I took inspiration from fashion, nature, and architecture and combined them with my signature elements to create a line that I personally love.
What kind of materials should we expect to see in this new collection?
Handmade cold porcelain and polymer clay, genuine crystal quartz and stones, pearls, glass crystal pendants, and of course some industrial metal components.
What do you love most about what you do?
I LOVE seeing my creations in stores and better yet on brides and customers! It is such an amazing feeling to see all that hard work be loved by someone else.Â
What is your favorite memory/experience you’ve had involving your brand?
There’s so many to choose from! I think my current favorite experience is the time I showed during NYBM for the first time. I made so many amazing connections with boutique owners and designers that it just made me more excited to be apart of the bridal community.
What is something you wish you knew when you started your line?
A big one that I still struggle with is that more is not always better. I always start with a huge collection of sketches and end up stressing about how many I didn’t complete. When in reality, a big collection gets lost. Over the years I’ve let go of that stress by picking what I think is the best and concentrating on those.
ALYSON NICOLE is also the founder behind Horizon Bridal.
Horizon Bridal was launched because after showing at different collectives myself, I felt there was such a disconnect at NY Bridal Market. Between all the various locations buyers had to go to and the cost of market being more of a profit for the events than for the brands, I felt there needed to be a middle ground that brought everyone together to make NYBM less stressful and more successful.Â
location
62 18th Street
Suite #11, First Floor- TAS
Brooklyn, NY 11232