Will Brides Really Buy a Fast-Fashion Wedding Dress?

ASOS just announced that it will launch a line of bridal gowns in March, just in time for spring weddings. The 18-piece collection has something for almost any style bride — and, praise be, there’s not a single meringue dress in the lot. It’s a fashion-forward collection that features Victorian-inspired embroidered gowns, minimalist satin slip dresses, a boho bell-sleeve jumpsuit, and a pretty beaded crop top with matching skirt. Prices on the collection will range from about $90 to $380, making these some of the most affordable bridal gowns on the market anywhere (save for a really lucky find at Kleinfelds).

The last few years have been a huge boon to brides on a budget (which is to say: almost all of them), with the rise of several mall brands’ affordable bridal lines. There’s J.Crew’s clean-lined gowns starting at $500, and Anthropologie offshoot BHLDN’s vintage-inspired gowns, mostly in the $1,000—$2,000 range. More recently, sexy-hipster brand du jour Reformation got into the game, with its “Wedding/Parties” collection of dresses starting around $300 — although any white dress is automatically double that, a rather nefarious pricing strategy that any bride-to-be will recognize.

Price-wise, ASOS’ forthcoming line will undercut all those brands by a significant margin. And aside from Topshop’s one-off bridal collaboration with Richard Nicoll a few years back, this is the first time we’ve seen a true fast fashion brand like ASOS get into the bridal game. With existing relationships with hundreds of labels, and the ability to manufacture its own pieces in-house in just weeks, this could be the beginning of a whole new era in bridal-wear, where wedding dresses are as trend-responsive as the Dries knock-offs at H&M.

The only question is, will brides really want to buy their wedding dress at the same place they buy their cheapie A-line skirts and going-out heels?  We think plenty of brides will welcome the chance to spend on their caterers and honeymoons what they save on a dress. Or, that they’ll splurge on a designer dress for the ceremony, then dance the night away in one of ASOS’ dresses. And in some ways, it actually makes more sense to buy fast fashion for your wedding than for every day life — after all, unlike those heels, you don’t really need the dress to last more than one wear.

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