HAND IN HAND LVR BRIDAL

The new guard of bridal cool.

LVR Bridal has never been interested in playing by the traditional rules of bridal. Founded by friends Jacque Shaw and Lauren Kay Hooper, the brand occupies its own space where weddings, fashion and culture collide. The dresses are only part of the story. There’s jewellery, merch, styling, attitude and a very particular LVR point of view running through it all.

Now, a new drop of corsets, skirts and veils joins the Hand in Hand Bridal Collection, and for us, it’s some of their best work yet.

The new pieces slot seamlessly into the existing collection of gowns and separates, building on an aesthetic that feels feminine without being overly romantic, and fashion-forward without trying too hard. There is structure, softness and just enough edge. Corsets sit alongside fluid skirts and veils, creating a wardrobe that can be pulled apart, layered and styled in different ways depending on the bride wearing it.

This mix-and-match approach feels particularly relevant now. Wedding wardrobes have expanded, and so has the way brides think about what they buy. A corset doesn’t necessarily need to belong exclusively to the ceremony. Wear it with a skirt on the wedding day, switch things up for the party, then pull it out months later with a great pair of jeans. We love that these pieces can have a life well beyond the wedding.

That idea of dressing the person rather than prescribing what a bride should look like has always been central to LVR. Jacque and Lauren describe their approach as designing for brides who value “individuality, style and substance in equal measure”, and their collections are created with the belief that getting married shouldn’t require leaving your personal style at the door.

That’s why this latest Hand in Hand drop feels exciting. Nothing has been added simply for the sake of adding more. The corsets, skirts and veils expand the possibilities of the collection while staying completely within the LVR language. They are feminine, flattering and beautifully considered, but there is always something slightly tougher underneath.

“We are drawn to the romance of wedding dresses, but we believe you should never lose your sense of self in the process,” they explain. “Our designs are about confidence, simplicity and personal style, allowing you to feel like yourself, just elevated, on your wedding day.”

Once again, the brand has used Tia Harris in their campaign, LVR dream girl and regular muse who personifies the brand so well. She brings exactly the right tension to the clothes: feminine energy with an innate fashion coolness. This latest campaign was photographed by Hope Patterson, one of the industry’s exciting emerging photographers and a creative who is really beginning to hit her stride. Hope moves between weddings and fashion with an editorial eye, and Together Journal has featured her wedding work both online and in print. Her fashion portfolio is increasingly being noticed and celebrated too, and it’s easy to see why here. There is confidence, instinct and a sense of movement to these images that feels completely in step with LVR.

LVR feels international in its outlook and refreshingly difficult to categorise. It’s bridal, but it’s also fashion, styling, jewellery, objects and culture. More importantly, it represents a version of weddings that feels current: personal, expressive and not particularly interested in doing things the way they have always been done.

Over time, Jacque and Lauren have built a broader creative world around the label. Their merch has the energy of something you might pick up from a cult fashion brand rather than a bridal boutique: graphic tees, silver Zippo lighters and pieces you want because they’re cool, not because they have the word ‘wedding’ attached to them.

Their collaborations follow the same thinking. Death Till Us Part, a fine jewellery capsule created with Meadowlark, takes the symbolism of love and commitment somewhere darker and less expected. The jewellery collection is available through Meadowlark, and this year LVR is also hosting a limited number of bridal fittings in residence at the Meadowlark Showroom.

Then there’s LVR Event Styling, which feels like an obvious extension of Jacque and Lauren’s eye. They style weddings, parties and everything around them, approaching a space with the same fashion-directed sensibility they bring to the clothes. Minimal or maximal, romantic or edgy, it is less about following a wedding formula and more about creating a mood. Their description, “major vibe curation, editorially styled with intention”, pretty much nails it.

Together Journal and LVR go back a long way. Jacque and Lauren are longtime friends of the TJ family, and we have featured many of their LVR brides and fashion shoots over the years. We have also called on their LVR styling eye for TJ events. We know what they can do with a space, a look or an idea, and we have watched LVR continue to become more confident and more distinctly itself.

LVR continues to push bridal somewhere more interesting, and we can’t wait to see where Jacque and Lauren take it next.

LVR Forever.