Do Some Bridal Shops Have Exclusive Designers?

[Razzle Dazzle]

Hi! I visited Belle Bridal of Bellingham, WA, and they have a dress that I really liked. They said the designer was Ala Creme. I have never heard of this designer, and can't find anything about them on the internet. So, we assumed that they were tag-rippers and didn't want to buy from there. However, they do carry designer brands, and advertise in the phone book that they carry Ala Creme exculsive gowns... Does it sound like they rip their tags or not??? Please help because they have good prices, and I would only be okay buying from there if they didn't rip tags...
Sincerely,
Razzle Dazzle

[miki7]

Yes, and in fact Davids Bridal is a good example, too. What a company will do is make a dress that is very similar to a major designor's gown (with a few minor changes, of course), and slap their name on it. They will enter into a contract with a store chain and agree to only sell their gowns at that store, hence the "exclusive" title. Usually, the copy will sell for much less than the copied designor gown, BUT NOT ALWAYS.

A simplified example would be if I decided to make ring pillows that looked very similar to something i saw in a magazine, and call them MIKI'S MAGIC PILLOW'S. I would then find a store that would agree to sell them for me, but they have me sign a contract that says i will not try to sell these pillows anywhere but at their stores. They now have the ability to say that they are exclusive sellers of MIKI'S MAGIC PILLOWS. (Silly example, right?)

I hope this helps with your decision.

[lisarab]

I found out that a lot of the better shops are now having some gowns made by "groups" for them. This is to combat Davids Bridal. I would say this is probably what has happened and good luck in finding that gown elsewhere. I do know that normally these are copies of other gowns and the same is true for Davids.

[Jen79]

I had a similar experience at Balina Bridal in Austin. I fell in love with a dress, and they told me it was a Helmi, which they claimed was a small overseas designer. They had posters and such around the shop featuring pictures of Helmi dresses, so I thought that maybe it was just a small designer that no one else carried. It turned out that they were just lying to me so I wouldn't shop around. My dress is a Mon Cheri, and even though they gave me the best price quote I will not be returning to that shop now that I know the designer and style number of my dress.