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Tell us the company’s history, how you started and how the brand has developed.

The Crum family’s journey began with a fabric store called the Bridal Collection, which eventually transformed into a renowned bridal salon in Tennessee. However, their passion for creating bridal gowns led them to venture into manufacturing. Under the leadership of CEO Kelly Crum, the family’s fabric store flourished and became a successful wholesale bridal collection, known for its exquisite and well-crafted dresses. This success paved the way for the birth of Allure Bridals, which expanded into the menswear and occasionwear markets. Over the course of 20 years, Allure Bridals has continued to grow and thrive, offering a wide range of bridal and formalwear collections. At the heart of Allure Bridals is the value of family, as it remains a family-owned and operated company. Kelly Crum and his son, James "Ridge" Crum, now oversee the operations of Allure Bridals, carrying on the Crum family legacy. In fact, the Madison James collection, one of Allure Bridals’ esteemed lines, is named after Kelly’s daughter, Madison.

What sets your bridal designs apart from others in the industry?

Allure Bridals, having started as a small family business over 20 years ago, now boasts eight bridal brands, including our core brands – Allure Bridals, Allure Couture and Allure Romance; our concept brands – Madison James, Wilderly and Abella; and our collaborations with Disney Fairy Tale Weddings and Netflix and Shondaland’s Bridgerton. 

While we not only offer diversity in design across each of our brands, ensuring there is an Allure dress for almost every bride, we also strongly believe in providing designs that offer an amazing fit and are manufactured by skilled workers who use quality fabrics and materials. A wedding dress is the single most self-expressive garment brides are ever going to wear, and we believe that unique design, quality, and ethical manufacturing are integral in making these garments.

Proudest achievement?

Our gowns are made in a clean, positive work environment using ethically sourced materials, by people who are passionate about the celebration of beauty and love. Unsurprisingly, many of these people are women, and some of them are Mothers so we support them to carry out the more time intensive and intricate processes at home, eliminating the need for childcare and permitting them to spend more time with their families. This working Mothers initiative is one particularly close to our hearts and easily one of our proudest achievements as a company.

Can you share any sustainable practices or initiatives you incorporate into your designs?

As a company and as individuals we are always looking for environmentally friendly initiatives that will ultimately contribute to the reduction of our collective footprint however, we seek to control that which is immediately within our means and to do what others in our industry increasingly do not. We continue to invest in long-established manufacturing relationships based in regions of the world that have long been subjected to regulation (both environmental and ethical). While it would be arguably more cost-effective to explore emerging markets, we are loyal to our production partners not only because we trust the quality of their work but because we have visibility over the conditions under which they produce. We listen when our retailers and brides speak of sustainability and for this reason, we conscientiously ensure that any unsold product is discontinued or moved on to the outlet locations of our retail partners while it is still valuable and in keeping with recent (if not current) bridal trends. Our focus, however, remains, the human aspect of what we do and we urge our partners and peers to carefully consider a lack of regulation in this respect as indicative of a lack of principle when it comes to other relevant issues including, but not limited to sustainability.

What three words would best describe your latest collection?

Colour, clean and extravagant.

Can you describe the creative process, from initial concept through to final product?

All of our collections are the product of a very collaborative process starting in the stores of our retail partners. Our brand representatives spend time in these stores either talking to the retailers or the brides themselves about which specific elements they hope to find in their dream dress. The information is then relayed to our Global Brand Manager who liaises with our Creative Director, but the process doesn’t end there; it culminates in a twice annual meeting where we all set the line for the coming season so the inspiration is as varied as what inspires each individual, but that’s how we achieve such diversity and the range of style that has become synonymous with Allure Bridals and its brands.

Is there a single piece which embodies the vision of the whole collection? Can you tell us more about it?

With such a diverse range of brands and, therefore, designs, picking a single piece to embody the whole collection is nearly impossible, but we do have some favourite lace, so much so that we used it on two styles for the FA23 collection and will feature it again in the coming SP24 collection. 

Styles C700 from Allure Couture and A1153 from Allure Bridals feature the most gorgeous cherry-blossom lace, hand beaded and expertly placed. By using this lace in two styles, C700 featuring all-over lace and A1153 featuring a soft A-line skirt with lace centralized on the bodice, brides have options for both the amount of lace and price-point. With both of these styles being in our top-booking styles for FA23, we knew we needed to offer this lace for our budget-savvy brides in the Allure Romance brand, so look for this same lace in a softer silhouette and application in the coming season.

Why is Bridal Week so important to you?

For readers unaware of the history of Bridal Week Harrogate, it is long and prestigious. It is our privilege to participate, and we think it is important to support this constant in the ever-changing bridal world. Needless to say, we are thrilled that we will reconvene in the beautiful town of Harrogate again in March of 2024, but for now, very much look forward to seeing our industry friends and partners in September. Being accessible to our retail partners in general is very important to us and the show gives an additional opportunity to meet with new retailers in particular. Our retail partners know they are welcome to visit us any time in our beautiful Manchester showroom and we do, of course, visit stores on request and in conjunction with brand events.

We will once again be exhibiting in The Carriage Suite at The Majestic Hotel. We absolutely love this space and the opportunity it gives us to create a respite for our retailers, a space where they can relax and focus on the important decisions to be made over these few crucial days. 

This year, we will also be featuring our collaborations – Disney Fairy Tale Weddings & Netflix’s Bridgerton – in the Billiard Room... 

We are always open to new retail partners, and we encourage current and prospective retail partners to contact us to book in for our fashion shows or for one-on-one appointments with our sales team.

FIND ALLURE BRIDALS IN THE MAJESTIC HOTEL AT BRIDAL WEEK HARROGATE.

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