Princess Eugenie arrived to her wedding at Windsor Castle in one of the most innovative and sophisticated royal bridal designs in history–by a British designer you wouldn’t expect. While speculation mounted leading up to the wedding that Erdem, Vivienne Westwood, or Stella McCartney would design Princess Eugenie’s gown, the royal bride opted for a collaboration with Peter Pilotto and Christopher De Vos for her walk down the aisle.
The two British designers founded the label Peter Pilotto in 2007. Per the Palace, “the brand is known for its innovative textile design, paired with a modern feminine silhouette.” The Princess of York met the two designers when she was co-hosting an event for female artists, and she has been wearing designs by the brand ever since. Per Eugenie’s pre-wedding remarks, her dress was made by a “British-based design house,” but like Meghan Markle, the designers are not British. Pilotto holds Austrian and Italian citizenship, while De Vos is Belgian and Peruvian.
Per the official statement on Eugenie’s wedding fashion, the bride worked with Pilotto and De Vos closely on the design of her wedding gown, and “the designers undertook archive research into previous dresses worn by Members of the Royal Family and identified a silhouette.” The research, it seems, paid off in spades.
Per Business of Fashion, who placed De Vos and Pilotto on their BOF 500, the brand first came on the scene in 2007, focusing on digital printing and color play. The label immediately caught the attention of retailers, and is now sold in stores like Net-a-Porter, Dover Street Market, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Liberty.
Initially founded by Peter Pilotto, De Vos joined the brand in its early years, and the two now work together out of their East London studio. The designers met while studying at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, and received the Swarovski Emerging Talent Award in 2010.
The designers used their fabric development skills to craft a custom silk jacquard for Princess Eugenie’s gown, using an intricate weaving technique. Per the Palace statement about the details of Eugenie’s wedding dress, the fabric included subtle symbols of the “Thistle for Scotland, acknowledging the couple’s fondness for Balmoral, a Shamrock for Ireland as a nod to the Bride’s Ferguson family, the York Rose and ivy representing the couple’s home.” The symbols were designed in a garland of rope-like motifs, and woven into a jacquard of silk, cotton and viscose blend, and then translated into a jacquard weave in the Como region of Italy.
While eveningwear, grand gowns, custom bridal, and royal dressing don’t immediately come to mind when thinking of Peter Pilotto and Christopher De Vos, that is surely about to change.
