Every Bride a Queen: Couture Bridal Gowns by Chelsea Liu

English translated by Megan Wang

In New York City, a bespoke wedding dress designer is overseeing the final pearls being hand-stitched onto a gown fit for royalty. Chelsea Liu established her couture label in 2014 and has been making dreams come true for brides around the world with her legendary, detail-filled creations.

Among the thank-you letters and photos sent to Liu by her clients, many are beyond grateful: “I would say the most common thread in all the letters is that they ‘looked and felt like a star’ on their wedding day,” says Liz Sellassie, the owner of Designer Loft Bridal in New York City. “[Liu’s] gowns are for the bride that wants an interesting, unique gown with a very feminine but also very powerful charm. Her gowns, even the most demure ones, say ‘I am a queen on this day.’ “ Indeed, Liu’s gowns seem to possess the magic to transform each bride into the most confident and beautiful version of herself, leaving a truly unforgettable mark on her big day.

Turning Regrets Into Blessings

Born and raised in Chang Chun, China, Liu studied film in South Korea in her undergraduate years. Fatefully, “it was the first step toward my fashion design career,” Liu remarks. As an international student, finding an internship befitting her major was not easy. The next stroke of destiny came when Liu started working in a modeling agency as an interpreter for the foreign models. Through this brush with the fashion industry, she uncovered her hidden passion for fashion design.

In her youth, Liu placed sole focus on academics and paid little attention to dressing to look pretty like the other girls her age. Recalling those days, she wished she had partaken in the festive school events where girls were transformed into “little princesses” in stunning sparkly gowns. To make up for this regret, Liu started designing children’s clothing. Her natural artistic talent became apparent, and the skills she honed while sketching storyboards for films came in especially handy. Liu achieved early success designing children’s apparel, which soon led to a passion for wedding gowns. She had begun designing as a remedy for her childhood regrets, but now she was designing to send blessings to others. This was the start of her lifelong aspiration.

As one bride after another began entering the gates of matrimony in her glamorous custom-made gowns, Liu was forced to take an exit from her own marriage. In 2018, she found herself reeling from the loss of a small fortune after one of her collections fell flat. She felt completely lost, ambivalent about whether to follow the market trends or adhere to her own design principles. Just then, her husband decided to file for a divorce. Liu found herself with a frozen credit card and $14 in her hand, while her 18-month-old son waited to be fed. Refusing to be trapped at rock bottom, Liu invited the head of Designer Loft Bridal, one of New York City’s most popular bridal shops, to take a look at her prized collection of dress samples.

Serendipity

During her darkest hour, meeting Sellassie of Designer Loft Bridal was like a beam of light suddenly shining onto Liu’s life. Her persistence in her dream and her designs were finally paying off. Sellassie still vividly recalls how amazed she was when she saw Liu’s designs: “We had not seen such intricate, stunning ball gowns.” Liu’s dresses now take pride of place in front of other labels in Designer Loft Bridal.

Liu’s design philosophy is unique and reflects her personality. “I am quite afraid of change,” she says. So she sticks to the same clothing brands, same city, and even the same phone year after year. In the world of ever-renewing technology in the name of comfort and convenience, reading can be done with the mere swipe of a finger. But Liu continues to read physical copies, be they newspapers or books. The texture and temperature of each page has no substitute, she feels. Liu lives and adores a rather old-fashioned lifestyle, and disregards the social pressure to adapt to new technologies. This is part of what leads her to design timelessly spectacular gowns.

Though she once considered letting the market trends dictate her designs, Liu has become confident in her vision of grand, classy dresses. She realizes the only way to be remembered is to adhere to her personal design principles and not waver in the face of changing trends. “I hope that when people think of a magnificent wedding, ‘Chelsea Liu’ is the first designer that comes to mind,” Liu says. Through her years in the industry, she understands that fashion trends come and go, yet traditions revered as classics remain standing.

In stark contrast with the light, simple-looking wedding dresses in vogue today, Liu’s layered ball gowns are majestic. They draw the attention of entire crowds. Entirely hand-stitched, the gowns boast exceptionally exquisite beadwork on the bodice and embroidery that extends through the skirt and down the train. They accentuate the elegance and grace of each bride to the utmost extent. Timelessly beautiful, Chelsea Liu’s gowns have stood out in the wedding gown market and have attracted a loyal fan base.

Ageless Beauty, Eternal Blessings

Today, Liu is the go-to designer for Jewish brides all over New York. Jewish bridal gowns are among the most challenging, as the dress must cover much of the skin. With much more fabric, the design details must be more meticulous than average wedding gowns. Liu hand-sketches each detail, pouring her all into every fine part of the dress in the most traditional way. “Every stitch in the wedding dress has to bear the temperature of a worker’s finger to be able to deliver the best prayer,” Liu says. Because she insists on hand-stitching every gown, Liu does not compromise a single detail. Together with her team of more than 10 people, they pour over 300 hours into each gown, truly holding every nuance to the highest standard of fashion craftsmanship in order to deliver the most sincere blessings to the newlyweds.

Liu shared her insight into the symbol of the wedding dress in light of her personal encounter with marriage: “I think wedding dresses are sacred.” No matter the ups and downs of marriage, the wedding day is always good. The moment you walk down the aisle in a wedding dress is truly unforgettable, whether or not you are able to spend a lifetime with the person. Each wedding dress is profound—a lifelong promise and a symbol of a new stage of life. Liu knows this well and always tries her best to fulfill the bride’s longing, to make her the most beautiful fairytale heroine on that day. Just like Liu’s favorite romantic movie, the characters’ romance breaks through all struggles and comes true. Though Liu is no longer in the film industry, she is still a storyteller. She uses elements like tulle, satin, and lace to embody the love of couples and tells of their happiness with every impeccable detail.

Credit for all wedding dress shoots
Photographer: Ronald Ji
Model: Liliya Kalkamanova
Makeup: Kevin Cheah
Hair: Tomoaki Sato
Jewelry courtesy of Anna Lin Jewelry

Profile photo by Benny Zhang