& FOR LOVE CELEBRATES 10 YEARS AND NEW COOL BRIDE STYLE ERA
By Alison McGill
A decade ago, the very first & For Love Collection launched heralding a bold new age in bridal style. This is a brand that didn’t play it safe. The goal was to be innovators. To bring drama, high fashion and the unexpected to the wedding space.
“Back then nothing was cool or laid back,” says Angel Spendlove, creative director & For Love. “I had a vision for something new and figured I had nothing to lose by bringing it to life. I designed what I wanted.”
Dresses with a modern, easy, and glamourous vibe was what felt right for Angel. Her designs hit perfectly at that moment with women looking to wear something different, alluring and fashion-forward on their wedding day. Today, we’re into a next generation of cool brides and a new age of & For Love.
For the milestone moment of & For Love’s 10th anniversary collection the mood is sexy, warm, and joyful. Surfrider introduces 10 new dresses to our lineup which are inspired by Angel’s obsession with glamourous surfer girls and the sun, sand, scents, water, and waves of Hawaii. “Surfrider has a sun-soaked, tropical vibe and everything feels very celebratory,” Angels says. “I was really into scents like passionfruit, sea salt and coconut as a creative point of inspiration. I brought my family to Oahu to personally shoot the 2024 campaign. It was beyond incredible and totally brought the gowns and my vision to life. The name of the collection is twofold, inspired by my love of surfers—I grew up in Australia—and the hotel in Waikiki we shot at.”
Angel spent months pouring over images of surfer girls in Hawaii with no makeup, salty hair, eating pineapple and drinking fresh coconuts with a goal of channeling this idyllic, romantic, and relaxed energy into the collection. “I paired these concepts together with an assortment of ideas from my days as a ballerina; within the collection you will find references to my past life.”
The Surfrider collection features playful lineup of dresses destined to become new & For Love icons. Fabrics are luxe. Silhouettes are elegant and effortless. Details are delicate and divine, with one extra-special gown bringing some fantastical drama thanks to unique oval-shaped micro sequins that glimmer like a mystical mermaid tail. The Pacific dress is an all-star of the collection, which is a love child of their bestselling St. Barts and Ada gowns. There’s shimmer, there’s voluminous sleeves and there’s the signature deep plunge v-neckline. This one is made for a ball room…or the beach. Pearl is the simplest satin slip dress that’s giving the most beautiful ‘90s aesthetic. A mini version of the perennial favourite Auldyn gown because the sweet shortie dress is a wedding fashion classic set to endure. Cloud delivers a bold style punch thanks to its dramatic high neckline, billowy sleeves, and oversize bow tie in back. Fun fact: Cloud is Co-Owner and Sales Director Lisa’s favourite.
Angel details a few other highlights from the collection. “The Kendra and Kaia dresses both have incredible draped sleeves inspired by the ballet Giselle, and a youthful, fresh energy—Kaia is named after Kaia Gerber who is my favourite model of the moment,” Angel says. “High Tide is a strapless dress with an incredible Watteau train inspired by the period costumes I used to wear dancing at Opera Atelier in France. Pairing this dramatic train with a simple silhouette makes it feel very fresh. I never want our gowns to feel like a costume. I am all about stripping down the theatrics and creating designs and details that feel like us.”
A typical & For Love collection has nine dresses, but for this one the brand needed a bonus look to toast their fashionable anniversary. New for 2024 is the special edition Brooklyn gown. For this riff on one of the most legendary styles, Angel took things a level up. “This silk and sequin gown is so special. It took me a year to source the iridescent oval sequins which are hand sewn by a small mill in the United Kingdom. The whole gown is so, so luxe.”
On bringing this collection to life in Oahu as the creative director, the designer and—for the first time—the photographer, Angel says it was truly a dream and a natural creative evolution.
“For the shoot, we kept hair and makeup so simple, it was totally undone. My love of accessories is very well known, but on this set we had very few. Almost no shoes, simple jewellery, an amazing Loewe belt which I’m obsessed with and looks amazing with so many of the dresses. Taking on the challenge of personally photographing the collection felt like a perfect next step in & For Love’s 10-year journey. It allowed me to showcase the gowns through my own lens, and bring my past life into my present one, always keeping it cool, laid back, and first and foremost, FASHION.”