Lein (Q5006)
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Lein is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Lein |
Lein is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
When Meredith Stoecklein launched her bridal collection, Lein, in 2016, she swore she would never make a tulle gown. So stuffy, so traditional! Instead, Lein has been premised on filling the gap between bridal and “real fashion” with modern interpretations of wedding attire, from soft ivory suits to charming minidresses. They’re for the girl who would rather not buy a ball gown at Kleinfeld, and who wants to look like herself on her wedding day, not a gussied-up, unrecognizable version.Things change, though, and lo and behold, there was a tulle gown in Stoecklein’s Fall 2020 lineup. It was about as simple as a tulle gown can get, though: strapless with an empire waist, with no crinoline, no covered buttons, no excessive train, and no built-in corset. In layers of beige and cream tulle, it was light and airy with a low-key, ethereal sense of glamour. “I wanted to challenge myself and figure out what a Lein gown might look like,” Stoecklein said.The gown’s strapless, straight-across bodice reappeared elsewhere in the collection, from a simple ivory dress trimmed with cashmere lace to the opening number: a fancier column with sparkly hand-embellishments and a beaded lace skirt. What stood out in nearly every look was the uniformly narrow, waistless silhouettes; a few dresses were cinched with a fringed belt, but looked fresher unbelted. They were serendipitously in step with what we just saw on the Spring 2020 runways: At Erdem, Prada, Victoria Beckham, and more, nipped-in waists and rigid corsets of seasons past were replaced with easier, more generous volumes. It’s a happily-comfortable trend you can count on seeing in the collections to come, both in ready-to-wear and bridal. But on your wedding day of all days, why wouldn’t you want to feel relaxed and at ease?
9 October 2019
The biggest talking point of the Spring 2020 bridal season wasn’t a new gown silhouette or a sudden interest in tiaras. It was the turnaround time required to create a dress—arguably one of the more mundane details of the process. But it’s changing the way many designers work. Not only are brides shopping for their gowns just a few months before their weddings, but they’re also looking for rehearsal dinner looks, minis to wear to the reception, and maybe a morning-after outfit, too. For most brides, those purchases tend to be a bit more experimental and spontaneous, and they don’t expect them to be made-to-measure nine months in advance; they want to take them home the same day (or receive them within 48 hours, if you’re ordering online). It’s creating a new opportunity for designers like Meredith Stoecklein, who takes private clients in her Chinatown studio and produces her entire bridal collection in the Garment District (including dresses from prior seasons), so you can get a custom dress in as little as a month. Compared to the six-to-12-month lead time you need to consider at larger couture brands, that’s a blip.Of course, Stoecklein isn’t dealing with major gowns covered in hand-embroideries. Her top sellers are spaghetti-strap columns and slip dresses trimmed with flowery ribbons, and while they’ve been worn down the aisle by plenty of brides, she’s quickly becoming a resource for the “second dress” and ivory looks for the surrounding events. In France, Lein is particularly popular with brides shopping for easy dresses and suits to wear to their civil ceremonies at themairie(a necessary step that takes place before the wedding).For Spring 2020, she designed a few looks with those low-key events in mind, like a satin jumpsuit with a hidden cinch at the waist; a relaxed satin pantsuit; and a champagne pencil dress, all appropriately styled with velcro sandals. At the same time, she debuted her first “real” gowns: a minimalist floor-skimming slip and an empire-waist column with two gigantic sashes you can knot in the back. Somewhere in between were the pretty puff-sleeved dresses in a weightless, flocked-velvet tulle; in shades of ivory and camel, each had a single flounce at the hem and hit right at the ankle, the ideal cut for the bride who wants to wear some sparkly, statement-making flats.
19 April 2019
In 2016, Meredith Stoecklein launched Lein with a collection of low-key, nicely priced wedding dresses and jumpsuits you could re-wear after the ceremony. It was a clever concept that resonated with brides in New York and Los Angeles, many of whom bought a trio of Lein frocks to wear to their rehearsal dinners and morning-after brunches, too. Fast-forward two years, and Stoecklein’s Spring 2019 collection only featured one proper “wedding gown”: a sleek, spaghetti-strap ivory column with a narrow train down the back. As for the other dresses, they seemed to toe the line between bridal and “real life”: A floor-length white shirtdress would be ideal for an upstate wedding, for instance, or you could just wear it to brunch. The opening look, a tank-style midi dress with light padding at the hips, was similarly flexible, ditto the porcelain-blue toile halter with embroidered trim. In 2018, any dress can be your wedding dress—or cocktail dress, or vacation dress—so Stoecklein now refers to her specialty as “moment dressing,” not strictly bridal.It’s a smart way to position her young label, but she’s getting more playful with it, too. Stoecklein has a knack for bringing a bit of country into the city and draws much of her inspiration from her childhood summers in Sun Valley, Idaho. Spring’s tobacco gingham trousers, button-front dresses, and jackets were a loose riff on her mother’s picnic blankets—some girls might even consider the double-slit dress for their bridesmaids—and she used leftover fabric to whip up matching bucket hats, belts, and pouches. It’s a resourceful way to reduce waste, and styled together, those match-y pieces mirror how a lot of girls want to dress right now: bold, offhand, never fussy.For women who want to feel the same way on their wedding day, every single piece is available in white—and Stoecklein is carrying over a few standout “bridal” gowns from past seasons, like Fall 2018’s languid,vine-trimmed slip. A great gown is worth repeating—and it should give her a little more room to focus on those not-too-fancy, not-too-casual dresses we all need in our lives.
5 September 2018
While fashion becomes ever more obsessed with the future (see: Gucci’s trans-humans, Prada’sBlade Runnervibes), wedding style remains largely stuck in the past. The “norm” is still to buy a four- or five-figure gown you’ll only wear once, possibly just for a few hours (especially if you’re changing into something else for the reception). Many brides ask their friends to do the same, suggesting single-use bridesmaid dresses that end up gathering dust in the back of closets. If nothing else, it feels pretty wasteful.When Meredith Stoecklein launched Lein a year and a half ago, the premise was simple, yet radical: to make wedding dresses (and jumpsuits, jackets, and skirts) brides can actually wear again. Orders poured in for her signature ruffled, deep-V jumpsuit—it’s still her best seller—which brides wore down the aisle or for rehearsal dinners, engagement parties, and other wedding-adjacent events. Some brides placed custom orders for bridesmaid dresses, too, and other women bought a Lein dress with no intention of wearing it to a wedding at all. The designs are never too literal or “bride-y,” so you can just as easily wear your white dress to dinner or a midsummer party.Stoecklein likes to call it “ready-to-wear catered to women getting married,” but Fall 2018 marked her entrance into the “real” ready-to-wear market. Before now, she showed her collections during Bridal Fashion Week, but truthfully, the label occupied a gray area between those two worlds. Now, she sees Lein as more of a “special occasion” resource—for weddings, black-tie galas, and downtown parties, too. The cream twill jumpsuit, long-sleeved lace gown, and ’60s-ish puffed-sleeved blazer dress felt in line with her past bridal collections, but they’re all available in black, too.Other looks resisted any bride-y connotations whatsoever: a black skirtsuit, a gold-flecked LBD and jacket, and a cherry-red lace midi dress. They’ll speak to the girl who lives in jeans and shudders at the thought of a “cocktail dress,” but needs something to wear to a friend’s wedding or a gala. Whatever she chooses, she can probably dress it down later; Stoecklein pointed out that a black-and-blue checkered lace jacket looks just as good with Levi’s, and she layered tissue-thin turtlenecks under her “wedding dresses” to give you an idea of how to style them the other 364 days of the year.
16 February 2018
With her one-year-old label, Lein, Meredith Stoecklein’s goal is simple: to whip up charming, relaxed wedding dresses you can re-wear long after you say “I do.” Or if you’re not getting married anytime soon, you can just as easily wear one as a party dress. Lein deftly fills the gray area between bridal and ready-to-wear, but more important, it speaks to fashion-minded brides who aren’t interested in fluffy, princess-y gowns (or spending a year’s salary on one). The brand’s best-seller isn’t even a dress: It’s a sleeveless, open-back jumpsuit with big ruffles at the shoulders. Stoecklein’s bridal separates are also an unexpected hit, so for Fall ’18, she introduced soft tailoring, like cropped trousers and a pantsuit in ivory plumetis (a Swiss dot–like fabric with tiny feathery puffs).Also new to the mix was color. Maybe you’re the type of bride who wants to wear “something blue” at the altar; look no further than Lein’s dusty blue knot-tied jumpsuit. A few minidresses and columns came in pale lemon, trimmed with sweet, vine-like ribbons and self-tie straps that were left extra-long to hang down the back. Customers might see those dresses and think bridesmaids or honeymoon. But any girl who’s already got a dozen weddings on her 2018 calendar could consider picking them up, too. The black slip dress and jumpsuit would even work for a formal or black-tie wedding. That is what’s smart about Lein. Not only is Stoecklein addressing a new generation of brides, she’s also thinking about what their friends want to wear to the wedding, too.
11 October 2017