Today, we are going behind the brand with Muna Coterie Gown Designer, Leah Langley-McClean, of elleNelle Bridal!
Since she was a little girl, Leah Langley-McClean knew fashion was her calling. She was always sketching in notebooks and dreaming up designs. However, for a while, at least, she didn’t let herself follow her true passions. Instead, she decided to pursue a stable career in accounting.
Between my negative self-talk and the concern of others (I’m 2nd generation African if that tells you anything), I suppressed my dreams of becoming a designer for a while.”
– Leah Langley-McClean | elleNelle Bridal
After navigating the mundanity of Corporate America, Leah quickly realized design wasn’t something she could suppress. “It was therapeutic for me,” she recalls. So she started reacquainting herself with her creative side, teaching herself how to sew again by up-cycling vintage clothing and eventually creating her own custom designs.
Then, in 2015, with her own struggles finding her dream gown as a curvy bride, she decided to design her own wedding dress. This marked the official beginning of her journey into the bridal industry!
Today, her brand is dedicated to creating custom size-inclusive gowns that are sleek, elevated, chic, and always just as magical as the bride wearing them.
Keep reading below for more on Leah’s journey into the fashion world, her inspiration, and all the details behind her beautifully designed and inspiring brand: elleNelle Bridal.
- Brand: elleNelle Bridal
- Owner: Leah Langley-McClean
- Blog: Coterie Spotlight | Behind the Brand
Tell me about your journey into the wedding industry and creating your company: elleNelle Bridal. As an Accountant by trade, when did you first realize you had a passion for design?
I’ve always wanted to be a designer, ever since I was a kid. I was always interested in sketching and fashion. When I was young my mom got me a couple of sketch pads and an old book that taught you how to sketch, and I used that to teach myself how to sketch.
In my earliest memory of it, I had to be about 7 or 8. From there, I knew I wanted to be a designer. I only became an accountant because I chickened out when it was time to choose my major. I was afraid of the uncertainty and lack of stability that can come along with being a designer. With both of my parents being accountants, I knew the career path would be safe.
Between my negative self-talk and the concern of others (I’m 2nd generation African if that tells you anything), I suppressed my dreams of becoming a designer for a while.
It wasn’t until I got into the field of accounting and learned just how terrible Corporate America can be, that I realized I needed design. It was therapeutic for me.
I found my way back to it, by teaching myself to sew by up-cycling vintage clothes and eventually making my designs from scratch, but it wasn’t until my wedding in 2015 that I made my wedding dress and I found my calling in bridal.
Explain your mission to cater to brides of all shapes and sizes, and the importance of inclusivity, particularly within the plus-size bridal community.
During my time as a bride I shopped for gowns before deciding to make my own, and let’s just say the process was underwhelming as a plus-size bride. The selection of gowns was limited, there was a premium added for plus size gowns, stylists didn’t always accept my vision for showcasing my silhouette, and the street size to bridal size conversion sucked.
Overall, my shopping experience was very unpleasant. I say this to say that I understand what brides are going through who don’t fit within the standard 8-14 “bridal sized” sample gowns and you’re left with scrapes to select from. It doesn’t feel good and it causes a lot of added stress on the already stressful process of planning your wedding.
My mission is rooted in making sure that brides of all sizes have options and don’t have to fight the battles I did, that’s why our gowns are made-to-measure with the option of ordering from a size chart.
Also, I want my brides to be able to picture themselves in our gowns when they see our marketing material. With the majority of my clientele being mid to plus size, it’s important to me that the brides that support the brand feel seen in our ads and understand they are valued.
As elleNelle continues to grow, size-inclusivity will remain at our core and you’ll see us diversify our models even more.
Where do you find inspiration for your designs? And who inspires you?
I find a lot of inspiration in old Hollywood glamour and mid-century fashion. I love the timeless silhouettes and the glam of it all.
I’m also inspired by the fabric itself.
I like to see and feel fabric and just let it tell me what it wants to be. It’s crazy the instant design visions I get from just seeing different types of fabric, it’s every bit of a “That’s So Raven” moment.
I’m inspired by my Grandma, Rosaline Langley, who recently passed away.
She was an amazing woman who overcame so many challenges during her life and helped hundreds in her community along the way. She was resilient and selfless. My Grandmother did so much to provide the best opportunities for her family and her legacy lives on within us.
Just having a glimpse into her humble beginnings in Mayawlaw, a small village outside of Sierra Leone, and knowing how far she brought her family inspires me to keep going even amid hardships. I feel like I owe it to her to succeed and give back after all of her sacrifices.
What steps do you think the wedding industry can take to promote more body positivity in the bridal market?
I think a lot of big brands can incorporate more mid to plus-size models in their ad campaigns instead of solely tall slender women. Stores can do a better job of being upfront and candid about their sample sizes on hand. A lot of them will tell you what you want to hear to get you through the door. However, once you’re there you learn they don’t have anything (or very many) in your size, a classic bait and switch.
Stores can also do a better job at choosing designers who are size inclusive, not only in their size offering but also in their marketing campaigns. Designers can get away from the archaic way of bridal sizing and convert their size charts to align with street sizes.
Lastly, they can figure out a way to remove the upcharge for plus-size gowns. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the average woman wears a street size 16. It’s about time the bridal market serves this size rather than exclude them.
What are the key points brides should consider when choosing a custom wedding gown designer? And why should brides choose your brand?
1. Budget
You should do some research on your favorite custom designers. Most of us provide starting prices on our websites and some provide an average price point that most of their brides spend. Finding out this information gives you a good starting point to first determine a realistic budget. Then you can determine what designers align best with your budget or adjust your budget to fit who you want to work with.
2. Make sure the designers are using their original images
Pay attention to the photos, you want to make sure they are using images of their original work. Pinterest is one of those places you need to be cautious of when it comes to finding the actual designer. A few tips for identifying this if you’re unsure are:
If they provide pricing and the pricing is less than an outfit from Walmart, chances are the vendor isn’t using their original images.
A lot of these images that are being reused have gone viral at one point or another, so they may be familiar to you. When that happens, a quick image search can help in finding the original designer, or using media platforms such as Munaluchi helps as well. These reputable platforms do a great job of recognizing the vendors behind the work to you see online as inspiration.
3. Compare their sketches to the final product:
Sketches will naturally vary in some capacity, however, it shouldn’t be drastic. Keep in mind every designer is different and so is their process, so some designers provide a fully rendered sketch and some provide rough sketches. What you’re looking for is how well they execute their ideas. If you’re happy with their execution, you’re all set!
4. Pay attention to reviews, good and bad.
I like to look at the negative reviews first. Give me the dirt first and give me an idea of people’s worst experiences with the company. From there I can assess if that’s something I can deal with for the sake of getting the product I want. Sometimes, you’ll even notice that the negative comments aren’t even from clients that worked with the vendor.
You’ll see surface-level comments like, “Their pricing was too high,” “I didn’t get a chance to try on their dresses because they were booked,” “They weren’t open” and they’re an appointment-only salon. You’ll see a plethora of random opinions and feedback that may not even apply to you. Some may be more severe like, “The vendor canceled my order a month before my wedding” or “Two weeks before my wedding, they revealed the dress to me and the color was wrong and then they attempted to charge me to fix it.”
Those are examples of red flags that you should absolutely pay attention to and a lot of times be reason enough to dig further or remove them from your list of contenders altogether.
I look for vendor responses in those cases as well, and if they didn’t bother to respond to such alarming accusations, I remember the saying “No response is a response.” Hopefully, when reading through the worst first, it helps with your process of elimination and makes your selection process a little quicker and easier.
5. Find a designer whose design aesthetic aligns with yours.
Compare your vision with the design aesthetic of the designer you’re interested in. Ask yourself do the two align. You may want to work with a designer solely based on your liking them and their brand, which is great! However, you want to make sure that you’re confident in them achieving the look you envisioned.
For instance, if you’re wanting a super sparkly dress from head to toe and the designer you’re looking into only has minimalist gowns on their profile, that may not be the best designer for you. You may be asking them to step outside their zone of genius, and in the world of custom where all sales are final, you may want to work with designers who actively create work that aligns with your vision. Just something to consider.
If you do decide to move forward with someone who has a different aesthetic, ask them directly, “Hey I love your work and brand, but I’ve always envisioned myself in a style/aesthetic that I haven’t seen you do. Do you have any concerns about executing this style?”
That may feel uncomfortable to ask, but it’s best to get those difficult conversations out in the beginning. This is really where having a bridal stylist is helpful because they can have those difficult conversations on your behalf.
Why should brides choose elleNelle?
Brides come to me for a variety of reasons beyond loving my design aesthetic, which is clean yet elevated. Most of my brides love the structure built into my gowns and the craftsmanship. My signature corsets stand out and give brides a waist-snatching effect. My custom gowns are one of a kind and brides love the exclusivity.
I treat my clients well and people see that, you know that you are in trusted hands when working with me. The passion and integrity I put into my gowns transcend in my body of work and are reflected in my client reviews.
Another thing brides loves is the flexibility and willingness to work with a variety of brides in complex situations, whether we’re talking about medical conditions, pregnancy, weight loss surgery, etc. I will make sure you look and feel good on your big day.
What does the Muna Coterie mean to you and how has joining helped grow your business?
I’ve been involved with Muna Coterie for a few years now and it’s really something special. I’ve been able to connect directly with Jackie and Chike, and they’ve been so welcoming and they really want to see my business grow. When you come into the fold, it truly feels like a community and I’ve built some amazing relationships because of it.
Share any advice for other up-and-coming designers who are trying to break into the wedding industry.
- Just start! A lot of up-and-coming designers are self-funded, making custom work an easier and more affordable way to break into the bridal market.
- Keep working on your craft, perfect it, and make it your goal to be the best. Craftsmanship is dying in the fashion industry and when you put out well-crafted work in a world of fast fashion, you’ll stand out. Even as you grow and you’re no longer the one sewing every dress, it’s still essential to know the craft and understand how these pieces go together to maintain quality products.
- Be creative!
- In a world where knowledge is so freely attainable, more and more designers are entering the market. Know that the only thing that will separate you from your competition is you and your brand.
- Figure out your superpower and communicate that effectively to your audience.
- Know that you are operating a business and until you can hire help you are the designer, admin, customer service, accountant, etc. Even though you are wearing multiple hats and it’s hard, you have to maintain good customer service and deliver a quality product. A wedding is one of the most important events of a person’s life and you can not fumble the ball. There are systems, apps, etc. you can put in place to achieve this.
What can we look forward to from you this year? Any big clients, shows, or events we can support elleNelle at?
I’m so excited to be having my very first pop-up this May in Nashville. Local and nearby brides will finally have a chance to try our dresses on in person. We are currently booking appointments for that on our website, www.ellenellebridal.com/book-online. I hope to have a multi-city tour soon, so stay tuned for that! If any brides want us to visit your city, just send an email to [email protected] and let us know where we should visit.
Any extra details you want to include?
The latest collection is on its way and it is so worth the wait! Brides who book during our May pop-up will get the first look! Also, we are looking for newly engaged brand ambassadors, if this is you and you’re interested please email [email protected] for more details.
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Vendors:
- Featured Designer: Leah Langley-McClean of elleNelle Bridal
- Photographer: R Jones Photography
- Makeup Artist: Pure Glamour Makeup
- Photographer: Motelewa Smith Photography
- Photographer: Love in Motion Wedding Films
- Photographer: Shannon Bankston
- Model: La-Tanya Greene
- Makeup Artist: Face Fetish
- Model: Treece Brown
- Decor: Endless Events LLC
- Photographer: Jess Farley Photography
- Florist: CLUX
- Makeup Artist: Johnetta Mae
- Photographer: Andre Shipp Visual Effects
- Creative Director: What’s Poppin’ Balloon Decor
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