Diversity. Inclusion. Representation. These are the core values of MunaLuchi Bride.
We cater to the bold and the beautiful. The witty, vibrant, and free individual who is fearless and pursues their dreams passionately. Who exudes style and grace not just on their wedding day but every day. Who embraces culture and seeks inspiration that speaks to them. Our audience comes in all sizes and shades. Simply put, they are beautiful no matter what skin they’re in.
MunaLuchi’s mission to uplift and celebrate couples from all backgrounds and to promote positive images of women of color should be an integral component of any brand. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. The bridal industry has been historically slow to make Black brides and other marginalized communities a priority.
From the runways of Bridal Fashion Week to advertising campaigns, social media posts, and magazine covers, Black brides and brides of color are still severely lacking in representation. Curvy models and natural hairstyles are also frequently absent.
While Black-owned publications and Black bridal designers have naturally prioritized multicultural brides, only recently have their White counterparts begun conducting deep dives into their brands, analyzing their media and marketing campaigns, and asking themselves the uncomfortable questions of “How can we do better?” and “What can we learn?”.
Wedding dress brand powerhouse, Justin Alexander, is one notable company asking the tough questions.
Munaluchi’s relationship with Justin Alexander began when Actress Michelle Mitchenor graced the cover of Munaluchi Bride’s Winter 2019 Issue wearing a stunning Justin Alexander Signature Gown in the style Berlin. The dress is a modern take on the classic ball gown look, with a crepe bodice, satin collar, and tulle skirt.
Regal and empowered, Michelle’s gorgeous cover marked the beginning of an ongoing dialogue between the brands on inclusivity and representation. While Justin Alexander has always strived to represent brides of all shades, shapes, and sizes, the partnership inspired new campaigns highlighting diverse brides.
One of the brand’s most notable projects so far was their 2022 “Be You!” campaign. The project consisted of a photoshoot and video highlighting models ranging in body types, personalities, cultural backgrounds, and skin tones, all wearing equally unique gowns from one of Justin Alexander’s 5 bridal collections.
Speaking on their “Be You!” campaign, Owner and Fashion Designer, Justin Alexander Warshaw, explained: “We want all of our brides to feel seen and easily imagine themselves in our gowns on their wedding day. To look at our photos and see a familiar face, to see brides and models that represent them in all their unique and beautiful ways. It is our hope that this photoshoot accomplishes that. Allowing brides to be celebrated and represented through “Be You!”.”
This year, Justin Alexander again joined forces with MunaLuchi for a 2023 campaign.
The goal is to bring more diversity to the brand and continue to strengthen its presence within the multicultural bridal market.
On September 19th, 2023, the Muna Team traveled to Springfield Township, New Jersey for an exclusive styled shoot at Justin Alexander’s Showroom.
Curated in tandem with the Justin Alexander team, the styled shoot showcased three models of color, including Derby Chukwudi (the reigning Miss New Jersey USA!), Jennifer Cadet, and Shakia Young.
Each model was styled in looks hand-selected by the Muna Team from JA’s various collections. Notable looks included Derby wearing an on-trend Ruched Stretch Mikado Mini Dress in style Nita, Shakia posing in a Crepe Fit and Flare Wedding Dress with Tulle Bishop Sleeves in style Emma, and Jennifer slipping into a Bridgerton-esque timeless Long Sleeve Mikado Ball Gown with a Pleated Bodice from Justin’s Sincerity Collection.
The day consisted of an exclusive in-studio styled shoot (captured by Muna Coterie Photographer, Nana Annan Photography), and organic content creation for social media led by MunaLuchi’s Marketing and Communications Specialist, Desiree Dossen, with assistance from Associate Editor, Linda Wallentine, and MunaLuchi’s very own Co-Owner and Editor in Chief, Jackie Nwobu.
Muna Coterie member Maritza Walton of Ritz Walton Wedding Collection contributed two gorgeous fall floral bouquets for the shoot, with hair styling by Priscilla Jay of The Key Look and makeup artistry by Megan Johnson of Makeup by Megan J.
For Justin Warshaw, this partnership is an important step in continuing to learn and cater to every bride who adores his gowns.
“Number one is learning,” Justin shared. “I always think it’s important to have a dialogue. Two, we love to learn from you. I’ve had meetings with Jackie and Chike in the past just to learn what we can do better to serve the market because it’s a learning process. We want to make sure we are doing everything we can to be inclusive.”
For size inclusivity, the brand is already ahead of many other bridal companies by offering up to a size US 30 without an upcharge. This is rare in the bridal industry.
He added, “Other things we do on sizing is making sure our dresses flatter all figures and that there’s proper boning and corsetry. We have a shapewear mesh that we like to include in all of our gowns, especially the fitted ones, to make sure the bride is hugged and best flattering her body.”
For deeper skin tones, Justin Alexander also offers 3 colors of mesh ranging from latte, caramel, and mocha.
“We also do the same thing for bust cups,” he added. “You can swap out our mesh in our bust cups for no charge.”
While these are positive steps, there will always be room for improvement.
The JA team remains committed and openly honest about its ongoing journey toward implementing more diversity into its brand.
“Every bride can have a great experience and we try to be as inclusive as we can,” Justin explained. “We’re always looking to learn. We appreciate our partnership with MunaLuchi for that same reason: there’s always a dialogue.”
From photography to models featured in Bridal Fashion Week and representation on social media, Justin acknowledged that while their brand is always striving to be inclusive, there’s always more to be done.
“Every season we’re trying to have a diverse bride included on every single brand that we’re shooting,” he shared. “We do our best to have a good assortment of imagery so every bride can see themselves in any particular gown. But it’s a challenge.”
He concluded: “We’re always receptive to feedback and we’re happy that today [The Muna Team] is here shooting for us so we can share more diverse content.”
Ultimately, navigating these important issues is not easy or comfortable.
More brands like Justin Alexander need to start having these honest conversations and consciously place brides of color at the forefront.
Bringing diverse perspectives and people together is a key step in creating more inclusive and welcoming spaces for all brides.
The more open discussions, brand collaborations, and partnerships occurring in the bridal world, the more the wedding industry will continue to grow and evolve in a positive direction.
For Justin and his team, the conclusion of their MunaLuchi campaign will not mark the end of their mission to keep Black brides top of mind. There are many more exciting projects and collaborations to come.
Justin shared, “We’re always interested in partnering with other brands that we can learn from and introduce our products to. We have a lot of great and exciting things in the works to expand into new and different categories. We can’t wait to share more.”
Below, we invite you to get to know more about the man behind the brand, Justin Alexander Warshaw, in an exclusive Q&A.
From debunking his namesake to his design inspiration, exciting life updates, and details on his latest Signature Fall/Winter 2024 Collection, The Art of Waiting, Justin gives us the inside scoop.
We can’t wait to see what the future has in store for the Justin Alexander brand!
*This article and accompanying interview with Justin Alexander Warshaw was first featured in MunaLuchi Bride Magazine Issue 30; click here to see the full issue and order your copy here!
Who is Justin Alexander?
My first name is Justin. My middle name is Alexander. And my Last name’s Warshaw. So I like to introduce myself as Justin Warshaw, because that’s my real name, but for Brides, for customers, I am known as Justin Alexander.
When did you first realize that you wanted to join the family business? Was it a gradual progression or something that was expected?
The company was established in 1946, so my grandparents started it. Then my father and his brothers took it over. When I was growing up I was always around business. The business at that time was in Manhattan, New York on 36th street in the Garment District. I was always hanging out there. Not necessarily getting involved with the business but seeing what was happening, and taking in all the action.
Growing up, I often worked summers in the warehouse, helping out and answering emails… so I always was around it. I was also traveling with my father, having exposure to trade shows, and having discussions with him, like “Hey, I’m thinking about doing this”, just to get me involved.
Now I wasn’t probably giving any good input at that time, but having exposure to the thought processes and strategies that he was involved with I think was always helpful.
I kind of always knew growing up that [being in the family business] was what I wanted to do. It was a great opportunity. I saw it as a way for me to put my own impact on something that we cherished as a family and put my own spin on it.
The only time I was like, ‘Oh is this for me?” was probably when I first started… you know, it’s tough being in a family business. I wanted to do things one way, and my father another way. There was some of that but it was never any doubt that I wanted to join the business.
Do you enjoy the creative side or the technical side more?
I like both sides of the business.
Interestingly, I studied international business at the University of Connecticut. I didn’t have an idea if I was going to be a part of the fashion side or the creative side as a kid, but when I graduated I felt that first of all there was an opportunity to improve the merchandising, the design, and the marketing. It was an area I wanted to approach first.
Once I started visiting stores, understanding the consumer, and their needs, visiting our design rooms, and working on helping develop products, I knew that I had a passion for that side, too.
I tried to learn and absorb as much as I could. Then I realized I also had a knack for design and I loved it. So over time, I developed my skills in design and merchandising.
It’s hard to pick one side. That’s one of the beautiful things about being able to touch both the commercial and the creative. It’s a great blend of responsibilities. Something new every day.
There’s nothing better than when we’ve designed a collection and seeing the dresses come to life, and seeing them finally on real women.
I love both sides and I think it kind of sets us apart a little bit from other brands, that I am involved in both sides of the company.
From first starting in the business to now, how have you seen the company evolve?
It’s an oversimplification of things, but I like to think that we were somewhat Bridal Manufacturers before. Now we’ve really developed into a brand with a strong portfolio. It’s not exactly correct because of course we did have brands before too, but we’ve done a lot of work to refine them, improve them, and expand our portfolio and presence in the United States.
When I joined the business, I’d say about 90% of our business was in Europe. Our business has grown in Europe, too, in the last 10-15 years. But, it has grown a LOT in the US where we’re one of the stronger players in the bridal industry with several collections that have performed quite well for our retailers that brides absolutely love.
That has been a big improvement. Helping out our marketing team… we have a really strong marketing team. And again, team, people, we have so many talented individuals that we’ve been able to bring on who have taken their department and expanded and grown and brought a lot of value to our customers.
There’s been a lot of change. A lot of good change. And more to come, for sure.
Going back to designing and the creative aspect, do you remember the first dress you ever designed from start to finish?
I remember some of the early days dresses. I don’t remember the first one. But I do remember some of the early days dresses.
There’s one in particular that stands out to me. Ironically, it was an a-line natural-waisted, gathered tule skirt, very simple, and it had a delicate long-lace bodice, with tulle draped over it. Just delicate and simple. It wasn’t necessarily my proudest accomplishment but for me at that time, it was more about commercial-made gowns and trying to make something that had nice detail and fit the market.
At that point, our market was more prominent in Europe. As I mentioned in the early days, we didn’t have that much going on in the US. It wasn’t necessarily my proudest design, but it was cool to begin that design process and get involved in that.
What is your design process?
For me, such a big part of my process is working with real women and a lot of that is experimentation on dresses that we’ve already developed.
A lot of that is trunk shows. So I work with real brides and they try on our dresses, we talk to them about “what are you liking, what are you not liking?” It helps shape ideas and can direct us on what brides are loving and not loving.
Pairing that with exposure to Old Hollywood and ateliers, I love to gather inspiration from travel, and museums, and then channel that individual brand that I’m designing for and try to re-interpret something in a way that works well for that brand and that brides will love.
It truly starts with the women we are designing for.
What about custom gowns?
For the majority of our dresses, the bride will look at the catalog of our collection and select a dress. There are custom options for that dress. So if they see a dress that they love, for most of our brands they can customize and make it their own in some ways.
Of course, from time to time, we will work with a bride and do something fully custom for her. It’s a smaller part and it is fun to do because obviously, that’s where the new, fresh, out-of-the-box ideas come from creating something from scratch.
But what we do do is try to merchandise our lines so a bride can find something from our collections.
What’s your favorite all-time gown? Can you share any details about your latest collection, The Art of Waiting?
My favorite gown of all time is the Bobbie dress. Bobbie is from the JA Signature Collection. This particular gown was made right around the time I was planning my wedding.
The inspiration of traveling to different wedding venues and the planning process really inspired me to create beautiful floral gowns with 3D floral details. This particular dress was definitely my favorite.
The new collection (The Art of Waiting) is inspired by something that’s currently happening in my life. Chelsey and I are having a baby in November. Just the feeling of anticipation inspired that new collection.
So there may be a new favorite gown from that line called Pax. It is kind of a derivative of the Bobbie dress but it’s a fitted, beautiful draped charmeuse dress, with gorgeous floral details at the neckline. So similar in that way, but a completely different dress.
There’s something about 3D florals that I absolutely love. Finding inspiration in my regular life and pouring it out into my creations, it’s really special to be able to do that.
How would you describe your style as a designer?
Modern, architectural, clean aesthetic with a little bit of detail. I love bringing in understated dimensions and detail. So for the laces, we try to bring in very soft, romantic details.
I like to bring a diverse collection out. Obviously, brides have different tastes. While the overall feeling is cohesive, I like to bring diversity in and try new modern necklines and draping, bringing out the latest trends so it is a diverse, cohesive blend of beauty.
**Congratulations to Justin and his wife, Kelsey, who welcomed their first child, Shiloh Alexander Warshaw, on the 15th of November at 3:48 A.M.!
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Vendors:
- Designer: Justin Alexander
- Photographer: Nana Annan
- BTS Coverage: Team Muna
- Models: Derby Chukwudi (Miss NJ USA) | Jennifer Cadet | Shakia Young
- Makeup Artist: Megan Johnson of Makeup by Megan J
- Hair: The Key Look | Priscilla Jay
- Florals (Bouquets): Maritza Walton of Ritz Walton Wedding Collection
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