How much did you love the bridal gown we used for our winter styled shoot? The flowing skirt, the gold ribbon detail, it was absolutely perfect and we couldn’t be more in love with a dress. We sat down with the designer of this stunning piece, Lindee Daniel and got the insider info on her brand, the inspiration behind the dress we used in our shoot, and her vision for conscious eco-friendly bridal fashion.
The Newport Bride: Our readers fell in love with your gown from our winter styled shoot. Tell us about your bridal line!
Lindee: It’s all about art, sustainability and philanthropy. My vision of conscious fashion started long ago and bridal was an “ahh ha!” moment leading to my first collection debut in the Fall of 2010. I believe in what is called a quadruple bottom line, where purpose, people, planet and profit are all essential elements to doing business. My gowns are made from ethically sourced, and cruelty-free materials, which are organic, eco-friendly, eco-conscious, fair trade and socially responsible (and we like to give back!). All the magic, as people like to call it, happens in my production studio in LA.
The Newport Bride: Your vision is one of conscious fashion where people care not just about what they’re wearing but about how what they’re wearing was created. Tell me a little about why sustainable living is important to you.
Lindee: At 13 I became a vegetarian, which was odd, because I grew up in a small cattle town where everyone ate meat and I didn’t even know that there was a name for people who didn’t eat meat. I felt such compassion for animals, I couldn’t image eating them. My interest in health from a food perspective was from my mother’s influence. She was once very holistic, heath and fitness conscious. Her ways rubbed off on me and it has affected my whole life for the better. I became particular with what I ate, choosing mostly organic and non-processed food. That desire to live naturally moved into where my body products came from. I started researching my lotions, shampoo, and makeup really trying to live a toxin-free life as much as possible. I even gave up nail polish and haven’t worn it in ten years. That naturally led to similar questions about clothing: how is being made, who’s making it, from what materials, etc. Knowing that I’m living in a way that affects positive change on the world is the best feeling ever.
The Newport Bride: Conservation of goods and sustainable living aren’t often things associated with the bridal industry. What prompted you to bring these things together?
Lindee: A wedding is such a huge, sentimental moment in a bride’s life and the dress is such a big part of that whole experience. I wanted to create dresses that were nothing but positive for everyone involved from the silk worms, the people at the fiber and fabric level, and the seamstress, to the final dress for the bride who walks down the aisle. Mahatma Gandhi said “There is no beauty in the finest cloth if it makes hunger and unhappiness.” How much more special is a beautiful dress that brides know was created in a beautiful, positive way. Bridal and conscious fashion aren’t often thought of as going together, but I think they’re a perfect match!
The Newport Bride: Can you tell me a little about how you created the dress we used in our Silver and Gold Christmas by the Sea photo shoot?
Lindee: You had the original sample of “The Grace” dress for your shoot. The vision behind the design was the beauty of Grace Kelly with a twist of edgy elegance. The full A-line silhouette, with the traditional sweetheart fitted bodice gives it a classic, elegant look, and the stark contrast of the bold, naturally colored ribbon detail and design is very modern. That ribbon as you see it on the dress is 100% natural, from rare wild silk. It’s not dyed! We make the ribbons ourselves through a cutting process of the larger fabric and add texture to them by hand. You see, conventional silk boils the silk worm cocoons killing the larva still inside and then extract the silk filament. To create peace silk (and for wild silk), you wait until the silk moth has emerged from the cocoon leaving the animal unharmed. This creates a different texture and color in the silk but it’s still silk and is still beautiful!
The challenge of working with peace silks and other fabrics that are specific to a certain region is that is something happens to that area (forest destruction) your materials will disappear. Unfortunately that is happening now with the original ribbon gold fabric for the Grace dress, but thankfully, we’ve been able to replace it with a more champagne color wild silk. We’ve found that this actually appeals to more brides so has ended up being a good change.
The Newport Bride: Can you give us a hit at what’s to come for your brand?
Lindee: Let’s just say, it’s another huge project, an entire other company, and can’t wait to share it with the world!
The Newport Bride: Well we can’t wait to see the big reveal! Thanks for sharing your brand with us, Lindee!
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Scroll down for pics of some of her gorgeous creations worn by real brides!
Isn’t the Aubrey dress gorgeous?! This is one of Lindee’s signature pieces, designed & named after her late father and photographed by Brian Tropiano Photography.
See the “Laya” gown as shot by Rebecca Arthurs and seen on Style Me Pretty.
The original “Grace” gown was worn in our winter shoot. Here are some pictures of the latest version as shot by Maria Palermo.
Here’s a custom dress as shot by Michael Radford and seen on Style Me Pretty.
Look at the gorgeous “Lauren” gown by Lindee Daniel shot by Lane Dittoe as seen on Bridal Musings.
We hope you loved Lindee’s gowns! We love everything she stands for and can’t wait to see more of her beautiful creations! See more of her gorgeous gowns on our Pinterest board.
(Header: Brian Tropiano Photography)