Truvelle first launched on Etsy in 2013, during which time Gaby was growing the brand largely on her own from her live-work studio apartment. But as the demand climbed, so did the brand’s growth, until it was no longer sustainable without additional hands. She rented out another building unit for production and took on a small team, some of whom are still with the company today! In the fall of 2015, we opened the doors of our first flagship boutique: The Truvelle Flagship.

While Truvelle had always gravitated to a more classic A-line shape, we knew that fitted silhouettes were growing in popularity. An abrupt and drastic change in Truvelle’s trusted style wasn’t in the cards, so in 2016 we introduced LAUDAE, an entirely new bridal line, to satisfy the growing demand for fitted gowns. Aesling and Halseene were both developed from similar demand: for sleek + minimalist styles and styles intended for curvy brides, respectively.

With the addition of these new bridal lines, ongoing change was particularly noticeable in regards to our Vancouver store. At first, the Truvelle Flagship housed only its namesake line, but with the addition of LAUDAE, Aesling, and Halseene, we recently realized that our little shop had outgrown its name. We opened Lovenote Bride in Calgary first (we’ve always had quite a fan base there, with many brides driving across the border to visit us in Vancouver!), and the Truvelle Flagship was rebranded shortly thereafter. Oremony is simply the name of our parent company, under which all the brands fall: Truvelle, LAUDAE, Aesling, Halseene, and Lovenote Bride.
Oremony Team

We’ve come a long way from my living room couch!
Founder Gaby Bayona

Our two biggest values this year in particular are diversity/representation and choice. This is highlighted in our e-commerce marketing, where we shot all styles on a size 2 and a size 20 model so that brides of all shapes and sizes could picture themselves in our designs.

For all three brands, we are thrilled to step up our commitment to size inclusivity. So many bridal designers offer extended sizing, but few incorporate it into their marketing. We wanted curve brides to truly be able to see themselves in our gowns.
Oremony

I love the longevity around bridal gowns — they aren’t disposable like most other items in the fashion industry & have the potential to become heirloom items that you cherish and pass down from generation to generation. I also love how I’m creating an item that marks a major milestone in a person’s life.

I’ve been in the wedding industry for my entire life, through my mother who has worked for decades as a bridal gown seamstress. When I graduated high school in 2010, she and I co-ran a custom dress shop that specialized in bridal & prom dresses. In 2013, I decided that I wanted to move away from personally making the dresses & instead design a collection that could be produced on a larger scale. In the fall of 2013, I launched my first brand, Truvelle, in my apartment. Gaby Bayona

Size inclusivity has always been a priority for me! When I was custom making wedding gowns, I worked with many slender & curvy brides who were unable to find a wedding dress in their size. I took this knowledge with me to my lines, and am proud to say that we have never turned away a bride due to size. If measurements fell outside of our standard size chart, I would personally adjust the patterns to accommodate.

That being said, our marketing efforts didn’t match the size inclusivity efforts we have been doing internally. So this year, we decided to shoot our content in multiple sizes. We are so proud to finally take this initiative, and look forward to creating more and more size-inclusive content. Gaby Bayona

After a year of lockdowns, people are looking to be more focused on personal style. Brides are considering what they want regardless of what tradition points to, and want to best express themselves! My favourite bridal trends are dramatic sleeves, minimalist crepe & satin dresses, and textured fabrics. Gaby Bayona

Stranger Agency was formed in part because I was struggling with casting models in Vancouver. Since I shoot bridal, I need models who are older, more filled out, and I’ve always believed in the importance of racial diversity. Back in the day, the answer to this was shooting around the world and hiring models in bigger markets such as London, NYC, LA, Barcelona, and Cape Town. But as I started the other brands (and content became more disposable) it became apparent that I needed to figure out a solution in Vancouver. I ended up resorting to shooting friends, street casting, and finding people on social media. After a year of this, I realized that I couldn’t be the only business that struggled with casting. And so, Stranger Agency was formed with the goal of being Canada’s most diverse modeling agency. Gaby Bayona

We are stocked in over seventy boutiques around the world, yet our production is kept local with everything from first pattern sketches to final stitch happening within the same four walls of our East Hastings garment studio in Vancouver, BC. To keep the process as mindful as possible, we operate entirely on a made-to-order basis, meaning a gown is not made until we receive a purchase order for it. To even further avoid waste production, we are conscious of the use of our fabrics throughout the design, pattern making, and cutting processes. Any offcuts created during production are reused or donated whenever possible. Recently, we began using scraps to create masks (brides still want to play it safe at their wedding!) and the cutest scrunchies. Despite Oremony’s ever-growing output level, we have not sacrificed our handcrafted and thoughtful production process.
Oremony

Right now, I’m putting a lot of emphasis on building my team so that we have a solid foundation. I’m also focusing on recouping from a year of lockdowns — the pandemic was not kind to the wedding industry! Down the line, though, the plan is always to grow. I have a few ideas floating around — from opening more Lovenote Bride locations, to starting another brand, to expanding Stranger Agency to another market in Canada.
Gaby Bayona

While we do not position ourselves as a custom dressmaker, we are open about our generous options for customizations within the scope of our existing patterns & fabrics—this allows brides to feel like they have a bigger say in the details of their dress and gives them the opportunity to combine elements that they love from different styles to create their dream gown. Outside of custom dressmakers, where gowns are made to match a bride’s exact vision, few to no brands are doing this for their brides to the extent we are. Oremony

It’s refreshing to see a company and designer (Canadian at that!) that seeks to push the boundaries of what is “standard” and what is “beautiful” in the bridal industry.

We have started to see, in some sectors of the fashion industry, a shift towards realness, inclusivity, and diversity – where lookbooks and marketing campaigns feature women at different sizes and ages, with different skin colours and body shapes, and without photoshopping away their stretch marks and imperfections – and I would like to see more of that in the bridal industry as well. Seeing women who look like you (and who maybe have similar imperfections to you) helps to support the idea – really the reality – that women aren’t supposed to be “perfect” but that our imperfections are what make us unique, they are what make us women, they are what make us beautiful.

Here at Brontë Bride we are committed to including, showcasing and celebrating diversity and inclusivity, and all types of people, and all types of love. My dream is to build a brand where everyone sees themselves represented here – whether that be in our features, real weddings, Brontë Bride editorials, or in our vendor community.

So I love seeing brands like Laudae, Truvelle, and Aesling – and Stranger Agency as well – help to push the industry forward by taking steps to tangibly demonstrate diversity and inclusivity. I hope we will see more and more companies taking a second look at their model selection and size offerings, and even the overall values they are portraying in their campaigns. Rebekah Brontë