Here come the brides in Zuhair Murad for Rosa Clará

MANILA, Philippines - Filipino brides can now walk down the aisle wearing acclaimed designer Zuhair Murad’s wedding gowns. The Lebanese designer, with boutiques in Paris and Beirut, has collaborated with the Spanish brand Rosa Clará, which specializes in wedding and formal gowns and dresses. Murad follows in the footsteps of Rosa Clará collaborators Karl Lagerfeld, Christian Lacroix and Jesus del Pozo.

Called “Zuhair Murad for Rosa Clará,” his collection of eight wedding dresses is at the Rosa Clará boutique in Makati for two weeks and can be ordered by brides-to-be.

While Rosa Clará wedding gowns start at P40,000 and go up to P150,000 or so, Murad’s gowns  are from P200,000 to P300,000.

Murad’s dresses and gowns are regularly seen on the red carpet, worn by stars such as Kristen Stewart, Fergie, Cristina Aguillera, Kerry Washington, Jennifer Lopez, Taylor Swift, Blake Lively, and Beyonce.

Known for his glamorous designs for the red carpet, Murad’s gowns are as glamorous for that walk down the aisle — or beach, if you will. His gowns are romantic, frilly and with full skirts, fit for women who have always wanted to look like a princess on her wedding day — with lace, embroidery, flowers or ribbon on the waist.

Valerie Villar-Zayco, Rosa Clará managing partner, says Murad’s style is what Filipino brides tend to choose rather than the simple silhouettes.  “The trend in the past two years has been very romantic designs. Filipinos are very classic, they have a great sense of style, and so the lace gowns with train are very popular, especially for those getting married in big churches like St. James and Santuario de San Antonio.”

The Rosa Clará boutique in Makati has been a life saver for many rush brides, too. One night last year, a panicked bride went  there on the night before her wedding. Her gown, designed by a well-known Filipino designer, hadn’t yet arrived and she said she had a feeling it wouldn’t have turned out the way she wanted anyway. 

She tried seven gowns — the average number a bride tries at Rosa Clará until 2 a.m. (she arrived at 8 p.m.) with the help of the staff, and the next day, the Rosa Clará staff dressed the bride, like any couturier would.

Valerie explains that each gown comes in three colors: white (popular in the US), natural (or ecru and popular with Filipinas because it suits our skin color, from mestiza to morena), and ivory (which is more yellowish). The bride comes to the boutique, tries any of the 200 gowns they have from the Rosa Clará collection, is measured, and her measurements are sent to Barcelona. Normally, it takes four to six months for the gown to arrive in Manila, but for the rush brides  — and there have been many, says Valerie, though not as rushed as the bride who came the night before her wedding — the boutique has tailors trained in Spain who can do minor alterations.

“Brides don’t necessarily know how good they look in certain silhouettes. You hear them say, ‘I don’t look good in strapless,’ but when they actually see themselves in one, they realize that it fits them. We also dress the bride on her wedding day.”

TV host Patti Grandidge wore a Rosa Clara for her wedding to Jon Herrera in Boracay. Patty Laurel also got her wedding dress from Rosa Clara. 

Valerie says that when the  brand opened two years ago,  they thought their biggest challenge would be to introduce off-the-rack wedding gowns because Filipinos seemed to prefer getting a designer instead. “We thought we had to educate the market because we were the first to come in with this concept. We realized later on that a lot of brides were already looking for something like this — there is a separate market for those who want to buy their wedding gown off the rack, they want to fit gowns and see what looks good on them.”

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Rosa Clará Philippines is located at The Residences at Greenbelt Tower III, Retail #2, Esperanza Street corner Greenbelt Drive, Ayala Center, Makati. Call 238-1310, follow it on Instagram @RosaClaraPH, and Facebook www.facebook.com/rosaclaraphilippines.