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

Dress 2 Party was launched 14 years ago by childhood friends Samantha and Vanessa. What started as a tiny boutique in north London selling only short prom dresses has grown and we now have 5 shops across the UK including our flagship store in central London directly behind Selfridges. We were a multi brand business stocking American prom labels. 
We had wanted to launch our own label for a long time but every year prom season would hit and we would be too busy to pursue this as we have always worked on the shop floor of all our stores. When Covid hit and we were forced to close we used this time to launch our own label Dress 2 Party London. We designed every dress ourselves using our extensive sales experience of what customers look for in a dress. We are not trained designers but we know what our customers want in terms of fit, quality and colours. We set up a development team and started manufacturing our label for own stores and it has been so successful that we have moved over to selling 90% our own label in our stores.

During Covid we also launched our own bridesmaids label Sisterhood Bridesmaids. Sisterhood bridesmaids has a separate central London store and is carried in all our locations. We set out to create modern styles in a colour palette that appealed to all. All dresses come in all colours so that the whole party can wear the style that they love the most but all match . The dresses are all made to the same high standard as the Dress 2 Party London label and the idea is that the maids love their dresses and will wear them again for other occasions. The label is proving really successful with amazing feedback.

We are now bringing both brands to Harrogate to wholesale. The collections are strong on quality, design and price. We know what sells !

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

We are not a traditional bridal brand but we have always been the go to for brides seeking something different. We have dressed brides in ballgowns in colours from pastels and metallics through to red or black. We dress brides for "change into "dresses when they want something that is stand out and sexy dressing them in slinky or mermaid silhouettes with sequins, bling or feathers. With the rise in popularity of destination weddings we are dressing more brides then ever before.

Can you share with us any sustainable practises or initiatives you incorporate into your designs?

We have moved from air freight and now ship all our dresses to save on world resources. We are incorporating recyclable packaging. We are looking at new sustainable fabrics to use in our collections. 
We gift each customer a fabric garment bag so that they don’t use plastic to wrap their dresses. 
Our ethos is that our dresses are not one wear purchases. We encourage all our customers on both brands to re wear their dresses. Each has been designed so that it can be easily altered.
Traditionally bridesmaids haven’t liked their dresses but all our dresses has been designed with the paramount thought "what does the customer want" so we can give bridesmaids dresses that they love and want to wear again.

What inspired the latest collection?

We seek inspiration from everything. We love meeting our customers and hearing what they want and are always striving to add new shapes and colours to our collections. 
We ask our staff what they want to see and having 5 daughters between us helps (Samantha has 2 and Vanessa 3) as they always give their opinions. We read magazines and attend exhibitions always seeking new ideas.

What’s next on the horizon?

Wholesaling our brands is a completely new venture for us. We are going from buying other peoples dresses to selling our own. This is a really exciting time for Dress 2 Party and our brands Dress 2 Party London and Sisterhood Bridesmaids.

We have so much planned! We have new packaging and marketing, lots of photo shoots and are already working on our 2025 collections.

Why is Bridal Week Harrogate so important to you?

Bridal Week Harrogate is giving us the opportunity to show our collections for the first time for wholesale. We have worked so hard for this and are excited. We can’t wait to meet other stores and show them why our collections are selling so well.

FIND DRESS2PARTY ON STANDS B23/24 AT BRIDAL WEEK HARROGATE.

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