The Cult of Clio Peppiatt: How an Independent London Designer Took the Bridal World by Storm

Even if you haven't heard of Clio Peppiatt, you've almost certainly seen her dresses. They've been worn by everyone from Taylor Swift, Ashley Graham and Julia Fox to Blackpink's Jisoo over the years, and are instantly recognisable by their heavy hand-beading, intricate embroidery, mini hemlines and flirty front slit. In short: exactly what you'd want to wear for a fabulous party. Which is precisely what led to the Paris-born, London-based designer to dip her toe into bridalwear—that, in turn, changed her brand forever.

Founded a decade ago from her bedroom in Lewisham, Clio Peppiatt's eponymous label was based around the idea of preserving traditional crafts, but reimagining them for a contemporary audience. "A love of art and craft goes back generations in my family," she explains. "My parents both work in the art world, my great-grandmother was a lace-maker specialising in women's gloves, and my grandmother taught me how to embroider and sew. It was something I loved doing with her and my mum when I was little—I spent a lot of time making little outfits for my dolls."

A few years, fashion degrees and internships later—including one in the embroidery and print department at McQueen—Peppiatt decided to apply her skills to her own line of eveningwear. "It was still quite a stiff stiff and formal world back then," she says. "I wanted to make pieces that were fun, joyful, celebratory, and also a bit sexy."

Evidently, that's what women wanted from their eveningwear too, because her signature party dress designs were soon selling like hotcakes and being worn by international tastemakers and celebrities alike. But it wasn't until a good few years later that bridal even entered her mind.

"Clio Peppiatt Bridal was really born from customer demand," she explains. "I was noticing that through our bespoke service, we were getting a lot of requests for bridal after-party dresses with personalised touches, like initials, special dates and even cats. There wasn't really a go-to option for bridal after-party looks, and I was seeing increasingly that my friends were getting changed about five times at their weddings, so it felt like there was a real gap in the market."

So, she decided to "try and do a small collection", re-imagining her brand's best-selling styles through a bridal lens—and the rest, as they say, is history. Clio Peppiatt's first bridal capsule launched exclusively on Net-A-Porter in 2022, and immediately became its best-selling bridal collection ever. No mean feat given the bridal fashion world is notoriously exclusive and difficult to crack—not to mention the fact that this is a "small, independent brand that's never had investment and is still pretty much a start-up," as the designer herself so modestly puts it.

But therein lies the secret to Peppiatt's success: even as her brand has grown immeasurably, she has never veered from her initial dedication to craft and quality. "From the beginning, everything was made-to-order in limited quantities, out of necessity," she says. "Still now, all our pieces are hand-beaded, so they literally can't be mass produced. We offer a pre-order basis on the website, and keep really close to demand."

Not only does this lessen waste and guarantee the market is never over-saturated, but it also makes Peppiatt's pieces feel all the more special. "What you choose to wear on your wedding day is so unique and personal, and having something beautifully handcrafted that's made for you adds to that sense of occasion," says the designer. "Our pieces are made to last for generations and still feel really valuable."

Little wonder Clio's intricately crafted dresses have become the stylish bride's go-to for all manner of wedding-related events—including actor Amy Jackson, who celebrated her engagement in the brand's now-signature crystal dress design. "The Bridal Crystal Dress is definitely still the front-runner in terms of popularity," Peppiatt tells me. "That's why we're only doing our second bridal collection now after more than two years, because none of our designs feel tied to one season. They have a long lifespan."

That said, it did feel time for Clio Peppiatt to expand her bridal offering somewhat—and, much to the delight of brides-to-be the world over, that's precisely what she has done. The just-dropped Bridal 2025 collection is made up of 21 distinctive looks, including fresh takes on beloved classics as well as silhouettes and styles that are entirely new.

"Because we're able to have bridal fittings in person, we really do lean in to what our customers tell us they want from the brand," says the designer. So, by popular demand, Peppiatt has introduced a number of separates, as well as corsetry, more long dresses, and accessories—the latter being the element she is most excited about.

"The accessories development feels like a big moment, because we've never really pushed that much in that department," she explains. "We have these very sweet, heart-shaped bags which are inspired by vintage wedding cakes. They're frilly, feminine, fun, inscribed with cute phrases, and are just real maximalist pieces."

The new collection also has a particularly personal element to it. Not only does it feature a pair of gloves directly inspired by Peppiatt's great-grandmother, but pieces she wore for her own wedding last year, too.

"Designing a bridal collection whilst being a bride has a completely different level of insight to it," she tells me. "Going through the process myself was actually really helpful, because I know from personal experience what brides are looking for."

That, and the fact that she found herself bombarded with DMs about the bespoke dresses she had designed for herself. "The Paloma Mini Dress is directly inspired by the party dress I wore for my wedding," she explains. "There's also a meadow-embroidery corset and skirt set that I designed for someone on my team as a wedding gift last year—she had so many people messaging to ask if they could buy it, so we included it in the collection and named it after her."

Evidently, Peppiatt's willingness to take cues from her community has served only to bolster the cult surrounding the brand—and her designs uniquely resonate with how the stylish bride wants to look and feel today.

"The Clio Peppiatt bride is someone who wants to get married in her own way," she explains. "She's not necessarily the most traditional—she wants to do things on her own terms and she's not afraid to stand out. But above all, she wants to stay true to herself. The conversation I have with brides a lot is that they don't want to feel like they're putting on a costume—they want something they would love wearing regardless of if it's their wedding or not. At the end of the day, they just want to have fun, have a party, and look great doing it."

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