Fashion — Bridal

A New Light by Shona Joy Bridal

A masterful balance of effortless ease & lightness with fluid, liquid-like draping, knotted details & silken fabrics in the Australian designer’s second bridal collection.

There is something so unabashedly and uniquely Australian about Shona Joy… a sense of effortless ease, lightness, and natural beauty to their designs, stripping back unnecessary adornment to the bare essentials. Uncomplicated and understated. Simplistic and carefree. It’s an approach at odds with a bridal industry that is so often smothered by excess and formalities, yet is intuitively in sync with the woman of today.

An organic evolution from the first La Lune bridal capsule collection we embraced at the dawn of the new decade, ‘A New Light’ is an awakening to the woman’s shifting values. Silhouettes we know and love from the mainline, now recut and reinvigorated into bridal looks fit for an understated wedded soiree, and beyond. Soft draping hem fluid, liquid-like skirts, knotted details stem open backs and waistlines, silken fabric ruched, gathered and pleated in all the right places… each gown a masterful balance of restraint and precision for a collection that transcends seasons and simply just ‘bridal’.

“Our passion is to design for real women & create dresses for celebrating life in. We don’t believe in disposable fashion & kept this front of mind when designing bridal.”

Tell us about the moment you realised you wanted to design a bridal capsule? What sparked the idea?

The idea really came as a natural extension of our brand. Our passion is to design for real women and create dresses for celebrating life in. We don’t believe in disposable fashion and kept this front of mind when designing bridal. We wanted to move away from conventional expectations for bridal and our mission is to design dresses that will be treasured as part of your wardrobe forever, and that includes your wedding dress.

We loved the refined simplicity of your first bridal capsule, but what inspired your second collection, ‘A New Light’? How have the styles evolved from the last?

We love paired-back simplicity, no fuss, classic pieces that you feel yourself in when you wear them.

We often refer to our mainline collection and reimagine them for the bridal space. We also design for real women so it’s important to us to ensure we have great fitting dresses that work across all body types and separates that can work for women who want a chic and modern wedding look as alternate option to wearing a gown.

The ‘A New Light’ collection is an awakening, drawing inspiration from nature and the Australian coast. We wanted to bring this close to home and design a range that feels perfectly Australian, carefree, authentic and natural.

We had such an amazing response and feedback on our first collection, it was important to us to evolve this next chapter of our Bridal collection to be free spirited and true to our brand DNA – undone and relaxed.

Your playlist, or songs on repeat while designing this collection?

Nina Simone – ‘Feeling Good’

Mazzy Star – ‘Fade Into You’

Black Pumas – ‘Colors’

Michael Kiwanuka – ‘Cold Little Heart’

What are your tips to styling your pieces for a summer wedding?

Stay true to your personal style – feeling confident and comfortable on your big day is the most important thing. Our dresses are a blank canvas, be authentic to your own personal style and if in doubt keep it simple – layer with a statement earring, an amazing veil, or just bare feet.

Describe the kind of wedding you envision for brides wearing your pieces?

We are most inspired by nature, so whether it’s a coastal wedding or rural setting, formal isn’t our thing.

At the same time, our designs are eternally classic and can be worn anywhere, by anyone. Above all we want our brides to be true and authentic to who she is and it’s important she feels comfortable, confident and carefree on her wedding day.

“The ‘A New Light’ collection is an awakening, drawing inspiration from nature & the Australian coast. We wanted to bring this close to home & design a range that feels perfectly Australian – carefree, authentic & natural.”

Something you learned in 2020 that you’re taking into your business / brand in 2021?

Throughout 2020 we’ve had the time and space to take a step back and understand what was most important to us and our sustainability journey was highlighted as a key focus.

Our first step was to identify the fabric that we used most – which is viscose – and transition this into an eco-conscious version.

We’re so proud to say we’ve taken the first steps in this journey and our La Lune collection is now being manufactured using an eco-conscious fabric by Lenzing™.

We’ll have fully transitioned the entire La Lune range of bridal and bridesmaid dresses by mid 2021.