Lifting the veil

The tradition of a bride wearing a white wedding gown and veil began with Queen Victoria in the mid 19th Century. It was even earlier than that, at the beginning of the 19th century, that St. Gallen became the leading region of Switzerland to export embroidery and lace for weddings.  Today, Chanel, Christian Dior, Giorgio Armani, Givenchy, Nina Ricci and Yves Saint Laurent have all made bridal wear using lace from St. Gallen

In the 15th century the Swiss town of St. Gallen became famous for producing high quality textiles. By the beginning of the 19th century the town was one of the leading places in Europe exporting fine embroidery. At the beginning of the 20th century, every local household had someone working at home or in a factory in the embroidery industry. At the time, this accounted for over 50 per cent of the world’s embroidery production.

Today, nine embroidery companies in eastern Switzerland  use modern machines to create innovative materials of superb quality for leading fashion designers. Chanel, Christian Dior, Giorgio Armani, Emanuel Ungaro, Givenchy, Christian Lacroix, Nina Ricci and Yves Saint Laurent have all worked with lace and embroidery from St. Gallen. Michelle Obama attended Barak Obama’s presidential inauguration in St. Gallen embroidery. Only a few people still use a hand embroidery machine and demonstrations can be seen at first hand in various museums in eastern Switzerland.

Fun fact: few textile workers have any idea which famous bride or bride’s maid’s dress they’re working on until they see it featured on the cover page of a glossy magazine, or celebrity website. This is what happened with Pippa Middleton's dress at her sister’s royal wedding in 2011.