Fashion

Wildly Romantic Bridalwear by Lainee Hermsen Bridal

We just adore this campaign shoot of the latest wildly romantic bridal collection by Lainee Hermsen. Named for one of the wildflowers of New Zealand meadows, “Queen Annes Lace” is a collection inspired by nature, freedom, light and happiness. Photographer Ana Galloway captured the gowns beautifully in these lookbook images, set at sunset in a rambling wildflower field. A dreamy bouquet by Jessamy Randall of Wild With Lace and jewellery by Samantha Wills bridal perfectly completed the lookbook vibe. A beautiful set of indoor images were also shot by Ana against a minimal and light backdrop, with hand-made bridal accessories and headpieces by the talented Anna Marguerite Couture.

We chat to Lainee about her inspiration behind this latest collection and what’s coming next for Lainee Hermsen Bridal.

“We love because it is the only true adventure.”

Tell us about yourself, what you’re passionate about and where Lainee Hermsen Bridal began?

I’m a Kiwi girl with Dutch roots. I’m all about love, family, children and enjoying the simplicities in life.
I have a huge passion for weddings and everything involved. I love being the creator of what I feel is the most important feature, the centrepiece of the whole day – the bride and her gown.
In my 12 years creating couture experiences for brides, many of who have become my friends, my greatest joy is seeing women overwhelmingly relieved with a happy sparkle in their eye when they try on my gowns.

Tell us a bit about your new collection?

The Queen Anne’s Lace collection was created with my beautiful first-born child in my arms. Anneke turned one on the exact date of the launch.

Becoming a mother has been a transcendent journey of nostalgic riffs, bringing back many beautiful memories of my own childhood. Flashes of laughter and play in fields of wild flowers. Tall grass filtering the sun as I lay on my back looking up at the clouds. I’m inspired by nature, by freedom, by light and happiness.

My design style draws on my inspirations and focuses on the bride, on her figure, and on the fulfilment of her desire in a wedding dress.

I want every woman to look and feel stunning, comfortable, and confident on her wedding day. For me, this means putting shape, quality and structure before trend.

Experience gained in New Zealand, and European fashion styling, has allowed me to develop an aesthetic that speaks to women of all backgrounds. With an innate understanding of a woman’s form and the ability to look past trends and capture shapes that are timeless, my latest collection will feature ‘the perfect gown’ for any woman’s alluring shape and for any ceremony setting.

Following the well-loved and successful Haarlem In Bloom, comes Lainee’s second collection – the first available nationally – Queen Anne’s Lace.

We love this new look campaign that Ana Galloway shot. What was your inspiration for the campaign?

One of the wild flowers of New Zealand meadows is named Queen Anne’s Lace; there is legend of the flower being named after Queen Anne of Denmark, who pricked her finger whilst sewing lace, and the red spot in the centre of each flower resembles a drop of her blood.

Queen Anne, Queen Anne, has washed her lace, She chose a summer’s day And hung it in a grassy place, To whiten, if it may. Queen Anne, Queen Anne, has left it there, And slept the dewy night; Then waked, to find the sunshine fair, And all the meadows white.

– Mary Leslie Newton

I was adamant that we were to find a field of Queen Anne’s Lace for our shoot, and so we did! Ana and I went for several evening drives in the weeks prior to the shoot, knocking on farmer’s doors and asking to ‘borrow’ their land so that we could find the perfect spot.

You will notice each gown is named after a flower and has a descriptive meaning which related to the gown itself. So the gown themselves also provided the inspiration.

We also shot some images indoors on a rainy day which were on location of our lookbook shoot, we love these as well.

Tell us a bit about behind the scenes, and the vendors you had involved?

We were ever so lucky to have the incredible Samantha Will’s Bridal Jewellery for our outdoor campaign. When the pieces arrived in the mail from Australia, I was beside myself with excitement and awe – what stunning creations!!! They really finished the whole look I was after.

For the indoor shoot we were honoured to feature the amazingly talented Anna Marguerite Couture’s hand made bridal accessories; floral headpieces, crowns and earrings. Honestly such an amazingly talented and lovely woman.

Asher Gibbons from Asher Artistry, and Elena Pullen from Ellie May Studios, both did fantastic work on the makeup. Asher worked the three models for the indoor shoot, and Ellie on the model for the outdoor setting.

–Asher is a ‘MAC fiend’ and a layering/blending/contouring extraordinaire. Her ability to instantly feel and know what it was I was after, without me having to say a lot (makeup lingo is definitely not my strength) is a huge asset to her.

–Elena did such a beautiful job at creating the warm, glowing, sunset look I was after. She was able to fit in with us at very short notice, I literally called her the night before the shoot, as we needed to get it done before a huge cyclone was on it’s way.

A huge thanks to Ana, who is an amazing beautiful person and has all the talent in the world – we have been working together for three years now and she has gone from strength to strength.

Jessamy is an incredible Florist, a dedicated super-mum who puts her heart and soul into her creations. We had so much fun creating these bouquets together – hunting at night for flowers and spray painting gold fauna etc. So much fun!!!

Whats next for Lainee Hermsen Bridal?

We have some very special and exciting new partnerships and changes developing at Lainee Hermsen Bridal. A new partnership- Lainee Hermsen’s flagship store will now be located at ‘Got It Covered’, Nelson’s wedding and events hire and planning, who have a brand new purpose built show room. The warehouse sized industrial styled space features polished wooden floors, and a mezzanine level with a glass-walled boutique space dedicated for Lainee Hermsen’s collection. This is a fun and exciting new adventure which will allow brides to view the collection with Got It Covered staff during all business hours – and bookings will be taken by them for a private consultation with Lainee.

Going National- my success with Haarlem In Bloom – my first full collection since I began designing bespoke wedding gowns in 2006 – saw brides from across New Zealand and Australia fly into Nelson for my gowns. The addition of dedicated operations and marketing staff and national recognition of the Lainee Hermsen Bridal brand will now allow me to offer accessibility to the new collection for more brides in New Zealand.

I have hand-selected bridal boutiques and stores to feature my gowns exclusively in areas and regions across New Zealand. This will allow brides the opportunity to discover their perfect wedding gown close to home. New locations will be released in late April 2018.

| CREDITS |

Outdoor shoot:

Gowns and creative direction: Lainee Hermsen @laineehermsenbridal
Photography: Ana Galloway @anagalloway
Jewellery: Samantha Wills @samanthawillsbridal
Menswear: Sidecar Menswear @sidecarmenswear
Styling: Monique Satherley @martinandmenz
Flowers: Jessamy Randall @wildwithlace.nelson
MUA: Elena Pullen @elliemaystudios
Hair: Tania Burns @tania_burns_hairdressing
Female Model: Connie Carter @conni3carter
Male Model: Maksym Kowal, @giveityourmaks
Modelling agency: High Low Models @highlowmodels