Francesca Miranda | Melange de Blanc Bridal Market Week Series
Francesca Miranda is a Latin American designer based in Barranquilla, Colombia. Drawing inspiration from authentic craft, compelling ethnical legacies, and current design, Francesca creates collections with a captivating sense of style and inimitable creativity. The DNA of the brand is based on an interpretation of Francesca’s Latin American and Caribbean influence, an effortless approach to femininity, and an intimate understanding of contemporary art and culture.
Ever imagined the story behind those dreamy bridal gowns that become an unforgettable part of the most memorable day of your life? This episode uncovers just that, as we host the distinguished bridal designer, Francesca Miranda. Born in Columbia, Francesca shines a spotlight on her rich journey into the world of wedding design. The passion and thought that goes into each of her magnificent creations are truly inspiring. Francesca chats about how she tailors a unique world within each of her gowns, in line with the bride's personal vision.
Our discussion unravels the delicate differences between lace and embroidery (such great insight for a bride!).
LACE lovers rejoice, because, wthout a doubt, a gorgeous lacey gown is Francesca Miranda’s superpower!
-
Speaker 1: 0:10
Hello and welcome to this versus that making wedding decisions with Kelly McWilliams. This podcast is for you if you're making a wedding decision and want to know what to consider before saying I do to all the things that will make your wedding experience a great one. I'm your host, kelly McWilliams, and I'm so glad to be a part of your wedding planning journey. In each episode, you can count on me and my expert wedding co-hosts to give you everything it takes to make the best decisions for the wedding that you're dreaming of. Welcome back to the coded agency podcast studio in the middle of Melange de Blanc.
Speaker 2: 0:50
New York.
Speaker 1: 0:50
City 2023, New York Bridal Market Fashion Week. That's, on a way, more professional than everything else I've been saying through this mini series, didn't it? I'm practicing being on the radio at this point. These interviews have just been so special to me and I hope they are to you, getting this insight. I just didn't know all of this, but Bridal Gowns and I have such a different respect Now. This designer is Francesca Miranda and, again, the passion for everything is just, oh my gosh. It changes everything about all of these dresses. So I hope that, as you hear them and you hear their voices and you hear them talk about their brains and why they do what they do, or how they construct their dresses or where they came from, that that brings you into wanting to explore more and to go find them on the internet and Instagram and all of those things, because I know I am and I wish I could go to all of their shows while I was here in New York, because they're just, if you, oh my gosh, you have to go look because they're all. All these gowns are just so beautiful. Okay, let's get into this interview with Francesca. It's just oh so good. Francesca, I am so glad that you're here with me today.
Speaker 2: 2:19
Oh, I'm glad to to meet you.
Speaker 1: 2:21
Very nice Thank you, so we just talked about Naples which is a great place for both of us. You, you went on vacation. Was it vacation you?
Speaker 2: 2:29
were there for yeah vacation a week.
Speaker 1: 2:30
Yeah, we had La Playa, which is somewhere I do weddings all the time as well Beautiful, beautiful beaches. And here we are in New York City now, and you came here from Columbia, Columbia. Yes, yes right. So we're still here at Melange de Blanc and we're in the Coded PR media room inside of like the press space, which is cool and fun that they set this all up for us. But you've had a busy, busy week and you've got your new line out. Yes, we just did it this morning. You launched this new line this morning.
Speaker 2: 3:03
Yeah, oh my gosh First thing in the morning First show.
Speaker 1: 3:06
Oh gosh, you must be so tired. Thank you for coming and sitting with me, so before we get like too far, until I just talking about your gowns for this season, tell everyone your story about how your brand came to be and how you end up in fashion.
Speaker 2: 3:22
Okay, first I did. I'm ready to wear and fashion and once I was here in New York I saw in my dresses and a couple came to see my dresses and they say they're beautiful. If you can put this into bright, it will be. Wow, you will be a great bridal design. So they asked me if I want to do that.
Speaker 1: 3:48
So someone inspired someone walked in the door and said you should do this.
Speaker 2: 3:52
They came to say your clothes is beautiful, a lot of details. It's amazing. You have a very fashion forward. If you do that for bridal and they ask me you would like to do it and say why not, and that they give me the punch to get into the bridal and I love it, I really love it.
Speaker 1: 4:14
So is that where your heart is right now? My?
Speaker 2: 4:16
heart. It's, it is part of my heart, but I have a heart for a lot of things.
Speaker 1: 4:22
And okay. So I'm glad that you said that, I'm glad that you didn't didn't deny that, because I think that is so great, because it means that you're willing to go outside of the box of what is just always done, and I think that probably shows through all of your designs. So how long have you had your bridal line now? Has it been many years?
Speaker 2: 4:43
It had been almost 12 years, almost 12 years oh my gosh.
Speaker 1: 4:49
So how many wedding dresses have you created?
Speaker 2: 4:52
Oh, a lot Maybe. I don't know how many but twice a year I come here in April and October. I always have my collections.
Speaker 1: 5:01
So do most of your brides. Do they usually pick ones that you've already have in your collection, or do you have quite a few that you build for them?
Speaker 2: 5:11
I have both. I have the from the collection that I sell here and I sell other countries, and then I have the bride goes to Francesca Miranda and design just to transfer them, oh okay, and is your store here? No, I have my atelier in Colombia, in Colombia, in Colombia, and they fly all the way to Colombia. Do you have a lot of Americans that come down there? A couple I have. I just had a girl from Louisiana, oh okay, and she got to Colombia and she loved her dress.
Speaker 1: 5:44
I'm so scared.
Speaker 2: 5:46
She didn't even have to wait for the second try the dress.
Speaker 1: 5:49
Oh really, yeah, that is so cool.
Speaker 2: 5:52
I think it was an excellent experience.
Speaker 1: 5:54
If you had to describe your collection for right now, can you like pinpoint? Was there a certain feeling for this this season's line that you that brought you to Okay?
Speaker 2: 6:05
For me, the feeling for a bride is a different each each time. The bride has different feelings. No-transcript. A special moment for every bride. Every bride wants to be the most beautiful woman in the world, so what I like to do is get into the word of that person and try to design. Like each dress of my dresses is a whole world, so each one next one will be completely different from them before you see. So that way you can have like different designs, Not like, if you hold the line, no, all they're going to be playing. No, I like to play with the fabric and make each dress like a war or like a different world.
Speaker 1: 7:01
So they're all very individual, very individual. Okay, love that.
Speaker 2: 7:06
So people come in and there's options for them Options and options and fabrics and a lot of things.
Speaker 1: 7:13
So, of like all of the trends that are out there right now, is there one that you are so happy it is trending, or are there any that you're like oh gosh, please stop. No, no, no.
Speaker 2: 7:25
I follow whatever. I feel that it's really romantic, feminine with a spicy of sexiness. Oh yes, you have to have some spice of just look pretty and print us, but you have to be a little bit more than that because you want your, your brides, to feel like it's something special, especially, yeah, and do you do your gowns?
Speaker 1: 7:52
Do they have? Would you say they're very structured or that they're more like drapey or flowy?
Speaker 2: 7:59
I like them to be structured, but in an easy way. Okay, I don't like those heavy dresses, I do it because I like to feel light. Yeah, but it's a structure, but they move, they move. Whatever you move, the dress will move with you.
Speaker 1: 8:19
Do you have many dresses that you think are great for destination weddings? I do, yeah, I do.
Speaker 2: 8:25
And I also have like very romantic, like I like right now with with the embroidery lace. I love it Very. High neck, high neck, high neck. I think that's beautiful, and then you can pull off the little neck and the jacket and how you have separates. Yeah, you can do separate.
Speaker 1: 8:45
Yes, oh, that's amazing. It's amazing. I'm so glad that things like sleeves and high necks came back, like they're embracing it again. It's been so long, hasn't it?
Speaker 2: 8:58
And always in this market in New York. They say no, we love long sleeve and high neck, like you say. Until now they're using it.
Speaker 1: 9:07
Yeah.
Speaker 2: 9:08
Until now, people at the price are using those necks. Have you dressed any celebrities? I have dressed a lot of celebrities from Columbia. Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: 9:19
If you could dress any celebrity, who would you do?
Speaker 2: 9:25
That's a hard question. It is a very hard question. Hard question Any ideas, any ideas? No, well, who do you love so many that I love? I know that's a thing.
Speaker 1: 9:41
I mean someone is, I'm not wearing this.
Speaker 2: 9:43
And how? Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: 9:46
I mean that's, she's, she's. I just saw her, was it on Jimmy Fallon? She was just on, or something recently. Yeah, she, I mean, first of all, she's got that gorgeous smile, you know, in great hair, because she's just got such a feminine body, don't you find I?
Speaker 2: 10:01
Find her that every time I see it, I see her more beautiful and I love she's more fashioned right now. Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 1: 10:09
So you love a bride who loves fashion.
Speaker 2: 10:13
I like to have like a that twist of the fashion like you have, you can. You can choose any dress anywhere. So I have to be special, has to be have something different. I have to be filled your love.
Speaker 1: 10:27
Oh, I love that. Okay, so I have a couple of very specific questions and I wanted to ask you oh, silhouettes, this is a big question. Okay, do you think there's specific silhouettes that are like people are really like leaning into, or that you have designed that you feel Like a really hot right now.
Speaker 2: 10:45
Okay, I feel that people More they like, they like to choose they look like full, full, full. Okay, they always try this silhouette like Very yeah, and then when they see a ball gown, Mm-hmm. They love it.
Speaker 1: 11:06
It comes to life, okay, well because you never get to wear that, and I think that's why that's why I think that's why it's like there's only so. There's so few times in our lives Are you going to wear. You get to do that, yes, like wearing a veil. This is your one opportunity. I, I love me listen, I love bells. I feel like it's just like, even if it's a refined, even if you just do it for pictures, right, it's just they're. They're so beautiful and you'll get one chance in your life.
Speaker 2: 11:35
You know it, that's complete your outfit.
Speaker 1: 11:38
The bail Give you a different atmosphere when you put it, and I love that you said earlier there's so many of your dresses have different pieces that you can take off and add on throughout and then let's see. If you had to choose, I'm gonna make you choose one of these not choose celebrity, but even though we do love it in half way if you had to choose between lace embroidery, sequin or beading lace lace place okay, me too Okay, you know why?
Speaker 2: 12:11
because I Buy the lace, and in France, oh. And I get to know how they construct the lace. The lace has been running more than a hundred years, so I know the history of the ladies, all the mist the late has.
Speaker 1: 12:28
It's a beautiful fabric do Explain to me about lace like is. Is it because I really don't know? Okay, when you go to find the laces for your dress, do you go to like a lace maker? How does that work?
Speaker 2: 12:44
Yeah, I know a couple.
Speaker 1: 12:53
Oh, so the very well established.
Speaker 2: 12:55
They go where they have the whole history. That you cannot believe. And it's a beautiful fabric. All depends how you work with the fabric. Oh, some people think when they think about lace, like all looking know you can make beautiful and modern with the lace and love lace.
Speaker 1: 13:13
Yeah, I do. One of my favorites, I do too.
Speaker 2: 13:16
And I do, and I'm ready to wear, and I do and everything I do. I have lace.
Speaker 1: 13:22
Is lace made from different materials or is it always the same like kind of textile? It's a structure.
Speaker 2: 13:28
It's a structure that with the gold making the flower and the machinery. It's not a fabric, it's a thread they're making.
Speaker 1: 13:39
Okay, but is it always the same kind of thread Like is it always silk?
Speaker 2: 13:43
No, they have so many that you have caught on. You have silk, you have blends. It's amazing work that you can find.
Speaker 1: 13:50
So when you do your collections, do you are all of your lace? No, okay, no, no. So when you do your lace dresses, do you? Will you do like use the same lace on more than one style, or do you usually have a couple different?
Speaker 2: 14:06
No, I have a couple of different, but I have a favorite lace that I've been using for a long time that I love, and not even me. Many of the very good designers, big names, use the same lace, because laces is like, how do you say, like a good wine?
Speaker 1: 14:23
Okay, like a good one Got it. When you find a good one, you find a good one.
Speaker 2: 14:28
Yes, but I use a lot of fabrics. They make me some fabrics that for me very embroidery fabrics, beautiful fabric, different fabrics. I love fabrics.
Speaker 1: 14:39
What's the difference between like a lace and you know how? Sometimes on dresses it looks like it's sitting on top of the lace.
Speaker 2: 14:49
Okay, maybe embroidery tool.
Speaker 1: 14:53
Okay, so that's like embroidery, some people some people confuse embroidery tool with lace.
Speaker 2: 15:02
Okay, so yeah, what's the difference there? What's the difference? Because the tool is a fabric and they embroider it after the tool. They're attaching the no, they embroider it over the tool.
Speaker 1: 15:14
Oh, okay, and the?
Speaker 2: 15:15
lace. They make the fabric with the threads a machine.
Speaker 1: 15:21
Got it.
Speaker 2: 15:22
They put the design like a flower or a tree and the machine is doing the tree.
Speaker 1: 15:29
So it's a pattern the whole way.
Speaker 2: 15:32
Yes.
Speaker 1: 15:33
So if you're with an embroidery, it could be set in different places.
Speaker 2: 15:37
Yes, different places.
Speaker 1: 15:38
Got it, got it. Do you use a lot of embroidery in your dresses? I do too.
Speaker 2: 15:43
You do this too, but you love the lace, I love the lace, I love lace.
Speaker 1: 15:47
Yes, I appreciate so much that you came on the show today with me and thank you for like teaching me some new things that I clearly did not know about, but I love the passion it means it's so clear that you love fashion and I love that. I imagine that the people that come into your store are looking for exactly that. They want high fashion, they want to feel beautiful in their dresses, and I love that you said that you know, put on the big one. Yes.
Speaker 2: 16:18
Put on the veil, yeah, the veil. I always say to them.
Speaker 1: 16:22
Do you have veils as well?
Speaker 2: 16:23
Yeah, beautiful, I complete the style of the dress with the veil. Oh, you do.
Speaker 1: 16:29
And when I meet the bride.
Speaker 2: 16:32
I say to them let me do it, you will love it. And they feel like, wow, you were right.
Speaker 1: 16:38
Oh, don't you love when that happens. Yeah, it is lovely. It's the same for me when I design a wedding, so I get it Okay.
Speaker 2: 16:44
I get it. So you have to go to Colombia.
Speaker 1: 16:46
Yeah, oh, I would love to come to Colombia. It's one of the few places that I haven't. Well, no, there's a lot of places I haven't been but, it's on the list.
Speaker 2: 16:53
Okay, places to go.
Speaker 1: 16:55
So where can people find you online? And you can find me on Instagram, and so Francesca Miranda on Instagram and the website.
Speaker 2: 17:06
Yeah, the website, and we have for the ready to wear and we have for the bride. Okay, no-transcript.
Speaker 1: 17:13
Oh, so you have two Instagrams? Two Instagrams, okay, we'll make sure we put them both in the show notes so that it's all there. Okay, I'm so glad you guys came in today. Thank you, thank you, thank you, okay, bye. I'm so glad to be able to share my wedding experiences and expertise with you, and that my co-hosts are so giving it theirs. We truly do want you to have the best time at your wedding, and our hope is that this podcast is helping you to make your engagement time while planning your wedding that much easier. May I ask a favorite of you? If this is the case, would you just take a moment to leave a review of this podcast on your listening platform? It helps people just like you to find the podcast and to also find out their answer so they can make decisions. I would also absolutely love for you to give this Versus that podcast a shout out on your social media. You can find us at this Versus that wedding podcast on Instagram, and if you would like me to help you with a specific question, a wedding decision, please by all means ask, send me a DM. I would love to hear from you and maybe, just maybe, even have you as a wedding guest on a future episode. How fun. Here's to another great wedding.
