Emerging Bridal Label Cinq to Debut at NYBFW
While studying fashion design at Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2017, Macye Wysner went wedding dress shopping at Ceremony Boston with her future sister-in-law and ended up tailoring her schooling around bridal design from the experience.
“I walked in and thought, “this is amazing.” I worked at the store throughout my time in school — I was able to learn about styling while being on the floor and hearing what brides had to say. You can’t put a price tag on that experience,” Wysner told WWD. Fast forward to 2020, the designer was living and working in the Los Angeles fast-fashion industry, but missed the emotional connection she felt working with brides. So, she whipped up her debut bridal label, Cinq, which coincidentally launched when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
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“Luckily, I had a dear friend who’s a bridal influencer that got her start on TikTok and told me to put the collection on there. I thought, ‘I’m not going to do that, my bride isn’t there and I don’t want to dampen the brand,’ but I did it and it blew up. It’s hard your first few years putting yourself out there, so I feel very fortunate I was able to lock-in at that specific timing,” Wysner said, adding she believes the Cinq bride is someone who’s seeking out alternative, artful designs that meld modernity with heirloom and historical influences.
“Each collection has five styles — it’s not in our DNA to overdesign. We’re keeping it intimate and purposeful. All the gowns are made in Los Angeles and a lot of our mills are in Italy. We use a lot of silk tulle — not necessarily as silk styles, but layered as ‘ghostly’ and ‘liquid-y’ intricate options. I always describe our brand as ‘ghost brides’ — having pieces that are more catered to theater and art, but modernized and wearable,” Wysner said. “In reference to time periods, I’ve taken different aspects like the drop-waist or empire-waist and Rocco period influences and blended them together.”
Since launching Cinq, Wysner has continued to grow her label organically with trunkshows and a select number of stockists while building out new styles and focusing on their internal structures and corsetry elevation. For instance, Cinq’s new collection three-in-one duchess satin and silk tulle petticoat corset gown, which will debut as part of Collection 03 during the brand’s New York Bridal Fashion Week debut on Thursday.
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