Toulouse: how this designer of wedding dresses adapted to the pandemic
Anaïs Ricard has been creating wedding dresses for 10 years. Like all providers in the marriage sector, her has been hit hard by the covid. Today, La Toulousaine has implemented innovative solutions to relaunch its business. She will be at the MEETT Wedding Show this weekend.
A designer of wedding dresses for 10 years, Toulouse-based Anaïs Ricard has been hit hard by the covid crisis. Overnight, his business fell to zero, “it was a disaster. Suddenly, I no longer had an appointment ”. While the year 2020 was looking good, “with around twenty potential orders, only three have been maintained. The others have been postponed to 2021. ”During all this time, the designer was able to live thanks to“ state aid ”and the support of her husband.
Today, while the pandemic is in full swing, to prevent its customers from traveling, Anaïs Ricard offers remote appointments. “I set up videoconferences. With my little camera, I present my models to them as in a virtual showroom, then I direct them to my website. As soon as the bride has chosen her model, Anaïs begins to work. “To take measurements, I send them an explanatory video and on the fact together by interposed screens”. During the third meeting, the designer favors a face-to-face meeting with the future bride to try out the prototype. “We make all the adjustments before starting to manufacture on the real fabric”. After two more videos, a second meeting takes place for the final fitting “and the bride leaves in principle with her dress”. This tool imposed by the covid, Anaïs intends to continue using “because it reduces the risk of contamination, and my stress load. In addition, we can see each other more, because we can make appointments at any time, ”she admits.
at MEETT, this weekend
This weekend, Anaïs Ricard will be at the MEETT wedding fair where she will present some of her creations. “There will be four: two that will parade and two that will be on a mannequin.” The public will be able to discover in particular a small civil wedding dress, “short, flared and with knots on the shoulders”. She will bring a kimono suit, a two-piece dress with a skirt – train and puffed crop top “cloud effect” or this model with open shoulders and beaded slit. All these models are infinitely customizable. Through her creations, Anaïs Ricard takes pleasure in revisiting marriage. “I live the modern bride and groom,” she says. Tired of “bohemian chic or country” style dresses, the designer relies on simple, refined shapes, “while keeping a remarkable touch”. Even if her activity has resumed since mid-2021, this weekend, at the MEETT wedding fair, Anaïs Ricard hopes to fill her order book for 2022.