Listen to the Wedding Reporter Podcast with our designer Cynthia Dessy
Or read the full transcript below:
Alyssa (00:01.294)
Hey everybody and welcome to the show. Today I'm with Cindy Dessy, and we are gonna talk about what's next for bridesmaid dresses. And I'm just gonna go ahead and read Cindy's bio. So she is the COO and creative director for the Dessy Group, and she is a third generation owner partner in their family apparel business, specializing in social occasion, bridesmaid dresses, and formal wear.
The company was founded in 1939 by a woman and has had a woman owner partner at the helm ever since. So welcome to the show, Cindy. That is super cool that your family has such a generational legacy with Dessy Group. Did you want to maybe expound a little bit upon your family history and like how it's it's gone through the years?
Cindy Dessy (00:37.457)
Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Nice to be here.
Mm-hmm.
Cindy Dessy (00:52.733)
Sure. Yeah.
Absolutely. so my husband, Alan Dessy, his grandparents started the business in nineteen thirty-nine. and they, like many Jewish immigrants, came just before they were actually on one of the last boats over to flee Nazi Germany and they shipped over a armoire filled with
fabric swatches from European mills. and that is literally how they survived the first year. selling those swatches to the mills in Carolina and different fabric companies in New York City so that they could copy the weave of the fabric and produce those goods here. and then they started a millinery business and they made headpieces and dyed them to match special occasion dresses. when
Their daughter Ronnie came into the business and she married her husband Andrew. They started to manufacture dresses. and then my late sister-in-law, Vivian Diamond and her brother, Alan Dessy, my now husband, ran the business together for a long time. and Vivian actually hired me straight out of college to intern in the design room. so
Alyssa (02:23.486)
Wow.
Cindy Dessy (02:24.656)
I've been here for almost thirty years. Yeah.
Alyssa (02:27.611)
my goodness. Wow. What a legacy. my gosh. Like so much history tied to that of fleeing Nazi Germany to like, and this was the business that truly just like helped your ancestors survive. Like that's incredible. So it's super cool and such, I'm sure probably like a privilege to just like carry on that legacy with what you're doing now.
Cindy Dessy (02:31.708)
Yeah.
Cindy Dessy (02:35.493)
Yes.
Cindy Dessy (02:43.086)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, it's
Cindy Dessy (02:50.426)
yes. No, I think I think that unlike we're we're definitely unique in that we've been a family funded, owned and run business throughout our 87 years. I think because of technology and because we've had a very technology forward approach at the company.
all due to my husband who loves technology and really believes in being at the forefront. even though we're just technically a a dress business, we we just really focus on our customer. And when somebody writes in to us, you know, there's a family member who's reading it. It's like we feel such responsibility to the legacy and the name and what we do.
So I think and that goes for everybody at the company. I think everyone I work with, I've worked with for twenty plus years at our company. We have it's really a family. and even the newbies are new, but they've been here for like five to seven years. and we all feel really invested in making sure that our consumer feels heard and taken care of. and I think
you know, because of direct to consumer and online sales, people don't often realize that, but there are very definitely real people behind every dress.
Alyssa (04:24.653)
That's super cool. I love that so much. So, okay, just a little bit about your love story. So did you start working at Desi before you and Alan were together? Or is that how you met? Like when you okay. my gosh.
Cindy Dessy (04:39.978)
No, we met there. Yeah. And we were just like, I mean, friends forever. and then, you know, eventually got married and had probably the longest engagement ever because I was not like, I guess it's like the cobbler with their shoes. You know, I was like, I don't want to think about it. I think I bought my dress like four months before we got married. Like I tried on one dress. I have two dresses.
Alyssa (05:00.407)
Ha ha ha.
my gosh, yeah.
Cindy Dessy (05:07.364)
and a very beautiful atelier in New York City, Mark Ingram and the saleswoman sort of laughed and she said, Have you been shopping for a long time? I'm like, Nope, this is the one, I know it, and then that's it. So yeah. Mm-hmm.
Alyssa (05:20.541)
that's awesome. That's so cool. I love that so much. So let's hop into Desi and bridesmaid dresses and all the new trends that you're seeing. I'm so excited to just like talk about this with you because you are at the forefront of what is happening. so let's talk about 2027. What do you feel is going to be like one of the biggest trends in bridesmaid dresses coming up in the next year?
Cindy Dessy (05:30.492)
Sounds good. Mm-hmm.
Cindy Dessy (05:40.402)
Is it?
Cindy Dessy (05:47.527)
Well, I think we're seeing a lot of drop waste and like varying drop waist, right? You have like the sort of slightly dropped basque waist, which is really beautiful and really flattering and totally like snatches you in. but we're seeing a more dramatic drop waste, something that goes a little bit past the high hip. and I think it is so beautiful and so special and really amazing, especially for like a black tie event.
But I think the tricky part is going to be proportion. And that's where we when we do our fitting process here, we're not just fitting on a fit model. And in fact, most cases we aren't. Most cases we're fitting on real people. So we actually use all of us at DESI because we feel it's really important to see it on somebody who's normal. Even a even a size 10 fit model is the perfect proportion for a size 10.
Alyssa (06:40.353)
I love that.
Alyssa (06:45.333)
Yeah.
Cindy Dessy (06:45.564)
and we want to see it on everyone. People are short waisted, long-waisted, whatever. and you know, average height at five, four, five, three, you have to get that proportion for the drop waist right to make it work on as many people as possible. But it can be really beautiful. and then the other thing we're seeing are a lot of ankle length and like sort of Dior length skirts, which are really pretty and they can be
Alyssa (06:59.692)
Right.
Cindy Dessy (07:14.96)
you know, super special and maybe an easier ask for people who don't want to spend on a hem. so I think we'll definitely be seeing varying lengths and bridal parties.
Alyssa (07:27.583)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. I'm seeing a lot of those trends too. Almost where like, like you said, the drop waist is going even lower, where it's almost is like a mini dress, but then it has like an extra skirt attached, like going down to the floor. Like, yeah, even that's your length. I think that's so cool where it's like people can see your shoes and you know, it's just kind of like yes, exactly. Yeah, which is so pretty.
Cindy Dessy (07:29.468)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Cindy Dessy (07:35.077)
Mm-hmm.
Cindy Dessy (07:39.14)
Yep, yep. Yeah.
Cindy Dessy (07:46.318)
Yes. Shows the prettiest part of your ankle. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yep.
Alyssa (07:54.454)
So thinking more about trends maybe from the past, which ones are you seeing that are kind of on the way out?
Cindy Dessy (08:01.958)
Well, I mean, the obvious one, which has been making its way out, is everybody in the same exact style. and we started seeing that. I mean, I remember probably like sixteen, seventeen years ago, we are had already started to see people mix bodies within a color. so everybody was wearing the same color, but they would pick different styles. And we were probably saw it earlier than most because we had
Alyssa (08:08.076)
Yes.
Cindy Dessy (08:31.386)
a huge color range that applied to many, many SKU. And I remember when it first started happening, there were a couple of people who were like, no, this is never going to take off. I'm like, absolutely it's going to take off. Like it's not reasonable to think six girls in a bridal party are gonna feel great in the same exact style. It just I like I go shopping and I know I see a dress that's not gonna work on me. so
Obviously that took off. it's really nice to give your bridal party agency and their choice for what they're gonna wear. we still see that more in the south and like a more formal wedding, they keep to one color palette. They keep one color and then they let them vary their dresses. but you know.
Alyssa (09:04.194)
Yeah.
Alyssa (09:20.502)
Right.
Cindy Dessy (09:27.442)
I mean, obviously people are really editorializing and curating their look and feel. And it's about your comfort level and mixing and matching, just like decorating a house. Like, you know, it takes a really confident eye to say I'm gonna like power clash pattern and like really like embrace it, which I love. but you see people where maybe they're like doing a tonal mix within the party. I think you'll see more of that and less same same.
you know, as people get more confident in their choices.
Alyssa (09:57.343)
Mm-hmm.
Alyssa (10:01.621)
Yeah, for sure. I know. I even just saw like Haley Page's wedding. She had like each girl in almost like a different sort of like Easter egg type color where it was like a pastel and you know, just all all different, but still within her same color scheme that she had going on. So yeah, we're definitely seeing that in a lot of the celebrity weddings that have come up. we talked a little bit about this for trends, but like
Cindy Dessy (10:10.33)
Yep. Mm-hmm. Yep.
Cindy Dessy (10:18.822)
Mm-hmm.
Alyssa (10:28.755)
What silhouettes are about to explode? I know you said like the drop waste. are you seeing anything else? Like is an empire wasteback or anything? Or like yeah.
Cindy Dessy (10:37.744)
I wish it would come back. I think, I think there's, you know, there's a way to do it. because it is it is super, super comfortable. And we we have actually some things that we're developing for fall next year, sort of a draped umpier waist. So maybe it doesn't have a seam right under the bust, but it still follows the form of the body, so it doesn't necessarily
Alyssa (10:44.076)
Mm-hmm.
Cindy Dessy (11:06.488)
make somebody feel like maybe it's more maternity leaning. I do love like that sort of Bridgerton Regency empire waist. It looks it it looks really beautiful and it can be an interesting choice. But I think right now people really want to emphasize their waist. I mean that's you hear it all the time. Like I wanted to snatch my waist. so there's like that Kardashian snatch like still they're hanging on to that. So
Alyssa (11:10.028)
Right.
Alyssa (11:25.761)
Yeah.
Hmm. Yeah.
Totally. I know.
Cindy Dessy (11:34.938)
I think we'll probably move that way. It's just it's very comfortable to wear during you're not worried, you know. but I think it's gonna take a little bit longer.
Alyssa (11:40.929)
Mm-hmm.
Alyssa (11:45.377)
Yeah. Are you seeing any like kind of lace up bodices or anything, or is that mainly for like a wedding dress?
Cindy Dessy (11:52.869)
I do, I mean, there there has always been that lace up going on, especially in bridal, obviously. there's I think it it's a certain customer. it's also like in bridal, I think it works because they often put a zipper in the dress. So you don't have to like completely unlace the dress to get into. It's not such an easy wear, although it like
allows you to adjust the dress. And then also you have to do it right with like because you don't want to have it like sinking into the skin. So there's a little bit more to doing that and having it look elevated and clean. but it's I think it's a specific look. and you have to tread a very fine line with we're always cognizant of trend and like you don't want it to look costume.
So we're always taking a really hard eye when we're looking at something. Does this look like it's something that's a costume for a period film or is this like a formal dress? You have to really watch that. Yeah.
Alyssa (12:51.149)
Right.
Alyssa (13:00.302)
Totally. Yes.
Right, yeah. And especially with you guys doing bridesmaid dresses, it's like you don't want to upstage the bride at all with like any anything too crazy where it's like gonna take the attention off of her. So yeah, I'm sure there is a fine line with all of that. So we talked a little bit about colors, but like what colors are you seeing trending for the future too?
Cindy Dessy (13:11.408)
Yes, yep. Mm-hmm. Yes. Yep. Yes and yes.
Cindy Dessy (13:27.558)
I think, and I'm very happy about this because it's been like enough already with the pastels, but there's always a place for pastel. I know people like especially in spring, but we are seeing more call to saturated color, which is I think great. saturated color, especially like cobalt, it flatters every complexion. I mean
You want to make your skin look like fresh and bright and young, put on cobalt blue. It will literally take five years off of anybody's face. so you were seeing more like call for stronger like pinks and blue-tone pinks, and we just put on a really pretty poppy red that looks gorgeous. so we did, but we're careful with it because.
People say they want it and then maybe they think it is like gonna upstage the bride. So they're like very hesitant, or that's like something that they would mix into a curated palette. browns obviously are huge and ready to wear. We're definitely seeing a call to that. We've got several browns that we've we put on an espresso brown, we have a cognac brown, like soft neutrals. and I think that sort of follows this.
Alyssa (14:37.548)
yeah.
Cindy Dessy (14:54.094)
It sounds crazy. elevated Western wear. I have I have zero doubt that that's gonna filter down to us over the next 12 to 18 months. and I think again, it's just looking at the trend and figuring out an elevated, approachable and real way to translate it and distill it down to what we do. So whether that's a motif in a print or embroidery or beading, you don't
Alyssa (14:57.814)
Yeah, totally.
Cindy Dessy (15:23.586)
aim to make like a cowgirl costume, you think like what can I take from this trend through color and design and like make a nod to it without like making it into something that looks, you know, unlike something you would wear day to day. So
Alyssa (15:41.943)
Yeah, definitely. We've seen that for a while here in Nashville. There's a lot of people who come here to do a barn wedding, to do the cowboy hats and everything, and to take it to the next level. So yeah, I mean, and I do see it, you know, coming across in in other weddings too, just that aren't here as well, just on social media that I'm seeing. Okay, so Desi has a new collection coming out 2027 and
Cindy Dessy (15:46.246)
Yes.
Mm-hmm. Yep.
Cindy Dessy (15:59.185)
Mm-hmm. Yep.
Cindy Dessy (16:07.152)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Alyssa (16:09.75)
We talked about some of the trends. Can you describe some of the dresses that are going to be in this collection for you guys?
Cindy Dessy (16:17.218)
Sure. so obviously we have some drop wastes. we have beautiful prints. We really focused on designing some bespoke prints for our line that would mix well with solids and with each other. we've
Focused on volume in skirts because like I said, we've heard a lot of call for we want our waist to look really tiny. and the b a really easy way to achieve that is to give more volume to the skirt. and we played with lengths, introduced several new lengths to give because we do see they want to vary full length with the T length with MIDI. so we
are adding those on also.
Alyssa (17:13.678)
Yeah, that's super cool. I love that so much. How you're playing with length, you're playing with print. just giving, you know, brides several options for their girls and really truly, you know, they'll be able to find something that their bridesmaids will like because I think a lot of brides love to just like have their bridesmaids' opinion on it too, instead of just assigning like, this is the dress you're wearing, this is the dress you're wearing. They really
Cindy Dessy (17:15.484)
Mm-hmm.
Cindy Dessy (17:30.478)
Yep. Yep.
Cindy Dessy (17:37.266)
Mm-hmm.
Cindy Dessy (17:41.456)
Yeah.
Alyssa (17:43.043)
are wanting to make sure like is this something that like, you know, is your personality that you would actually wear? And so yeah, I think that's something that's really important to brides that you guys are definitely like taking into account and providing those dress options in a variety of different silhouettes and colors and things for them to choose from.
Cindy Dessy (17:48.975)
Yes.
Cindy Dessy (18:00.954)
Yeah. I think we changed our mindset over the last six years at Desi. I mean, obviously we saw the trend with chain curating your party, but we also, you know, we want to design beautiful dresses. We're not designing thinking we're dry designing a bridesmaid dress. We're just trying to make a beautiful dress. and
Whether that's for the guest of the wedding or the girl who's standing up next to you, I think that change has been probably one of the po most important evolutions of our business. A, it's a lot more fun to design if you're thinking that way. and I think there for a long time people were afraid to
bring novelty fabrics and prints in because they thought it would upstage the bride, but people are seeing that it's additive to the wedding. and that has been huge. and that's been huge for our business because we've we see, you know, a lot of our business are people who are just attending a formal event or a garden, you know, a more dressy garden event or a really young mother of the bride.
who's fit and doesn't wanna wear something that covers her up. That's been a big change in our business. and it's been fun to dress all of those people, not just the bridesmaids.
Alyssa (19:39.791)
Yeah, for sure. I know. Your business definitely goes beyond the bridesmaids and, you know, offers so many different dress options for, you know, people attending the wedding and beyond and, you know, all the events leading up to the wedding as well, because now we know a wedding is not just a one day event anymore. It's a full full on weekend or week, you know. Yeah, for sure.
Cindy Dessy (19:52.047)
Yep. yes. Mm mm. No. It is yep, that's true.
Alyssa (20:02.424)
So let's dive a little behind the scenes into what it's like creating these dress collections. So how far in advance do you actually start designing for a new collection?
Cindy Dessy (20:07.122)
Mm-hmm.
Cindy Dessy (20:14.982)
I would say, you know, in so our company is a little bit different, or I guess a lot different than most of our competitors in that we still have a full design room. So most competitors will start concepting the line and they send their sketch out to the factory. The factory does the patterning, makes the sample, and then they send it back to them. For us, we actually have a full.
design team with sample hands in New York City. and so the designer, we have our head designer, two technical designers, and I really start saving stuff probably a year in advance. But we start building boards seven to nine months in advance of a season. And sometimes that overlaps with doing the season prior. so we'll start building the board. we'll start
Thinking of fabrics. Sometimes we have fabrics that we've even saved. Like we we say, like, this might be good. You know, maybe it maybe the consumer's not ready for it yet, but I want to like keep it on the side and let's watch and see what happens with trends. we'll start building the boards. we do sketches based on inspiration. and we really try to
narrow down and edit our sketches as close to what we think we're gonna move forward with with development as possible because it is you know once we start patterning that's somebody's hard work and I wanna cut attrition as much as possible. I don't I would like to try to make it the percentage of attrition really low. and then we start building the dresses so they pattern
They make the samples. We start doing development fittings. maybe we see two dresses, we like an element of each, we think they would work better together. So we compress them into one. or we see a new fabric, it doesn't tailor up like we want it to. we don't think that we're going to be able to make it work. So we'll, you know, discard that. and then we go into
Cindy Dessy (22:37.074)
production fittings. And by the time we photograph, we really want to be almost done with the fitting process so that we can roll into costing and get the stuff ready to put up on the site and out to the stores.
Alyssa (22:54.188)
Wow, that's incredible. There's so much that goes into every little detail into a new collection. And you're doing this twice a year, right? Cause you come out with spring and fall. So yeah. And then it's always trying to forecast and predict what's gonna be the future And I'm sure you probably look at, you know, social media and what's going down the runways at regular New York Fashion Week and
Cindy Dessy (23:01.52)
Yep. Yes, yes. Yep, yep.
Cindy Dessy (23:09.574)
Yes.
Mm-hmm. Yes.
Cindy Dessy (23:19.186)
Mm-hmm.
Cindy Dessy (23:23.442)
Mm-hmm.
Alyssa (23:23.874)
Things like that to inspire you. Is there anything in particular that inspired this collection, this new one for you?
Cindy Dessy (23:31.057)
Well, I mean, we love what Wes Gordon is doing at Dior, or at Carolina Herrera, Jonathan Anderson at Dior. So we look, we try to look at aspirational brands for our inspiration, in part because we feel like our strong suit is taking that inspiration, translating it, and bringing it out at an accessible price.
I mean, we're not we recognize what we are. We're never gonna be a race to the bottom price point. that's just not our place. our factories are the same factories we've had for 20 plus years. their family business is just like ours. We know them, we know their families, and we love making our dresses there because we know they do things right by their employees and their team.
so but that said, I think we can definitely bring something out, you know, in the high twos to mid threes that is not, you know, that was inspired by something that was couture. so we look to do that. my designer, I look I'm on Instagram a lot. I look at that.
My designer who's much younger than I am, and my technical designer, they look at TikTok. I try to stay off of TikTok. so that they do that. but we do really look at runway. And then at the same time, you have to, there's still a little bit of a lag. So we have we always laugh because there's certain things we see, we're like, my God, this is so great. This is so awesome.
Alyssa (25:07.883)
Hm yeah.
Cindy Dessy (25:26.96)
And it takes like 18 months for our consumer to get it. which is understandable. and then all of a sudden it's like the hottest thing. And we are always like, my God, like it it took it, there's just a timeline. So sometimes we try to anticipate that and stage it out when we think the consumer will be ready for it. but sometimes we're a little bit ahead. we also we do look at our competition.
Alyssa (25:29.293)
Right.
Cindy Dessy (25:55.357)
But we also take it with a grain of salt because we're just, we know we're just not, we're not gonna be the person who's gonna bring bring a dress out for $89. It there's not a way to do it. and I I know what the cost of the fabric is. I know what the labor takes to make it. And I think if the consumer knew the amount of work that goes into even making a small dress, it like
Alyssa (26:06.604)
Right.
Cindy Dessy (26:24.932)
It's much like a simple dress, I should say. you you have to have real skill to make that simple dress look beautiful because there's it will show every mistake. and I will not squeeze the factory on labor. I mean, the cost of the goods are the cost of the goods, but the hand that's making it, like that's not where we're gonna save our money. So that's it. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Alyssa (26:49.099)
Yeah. I like that philosophy a lot. Yeah. You're, you know, valuing people for what they're worth and what their jobs are. And yeah, it really is. Yeah, for sure. And and I'm sure you can see that in the quality of your pieces too and compared to maybe some of the other more like fast fashion brands and things like that. Yeah.
Cindy Dessy (26:57.614)
It's skilled workmanship, I mean, that's the bottom line. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Mm. Mm-hmm.
Cindy Dessy (27:10.872)
It is listen, I've we we do competitive shopping all the time. We're always looking. And sometimes you see like I mean there are brands that I see and their quality is great. they're direct to consumer only, so they have more room and margin. but they also have a volume, I think, of of product when they're placing their orders, so they probably, you know, their their pricing varies there.
Alyssa (27:15.287)
Mm-hmm.
Cindy Dessy (27:40.959)
but other times, you know, for us, we still offer, we have in stock ready to ship dresses, but we still do a very large made-to-order business. so we're not cutting unless the person places the order for the dress, which is a lower volume, which carries a higher price because they're making it, it's like a one off, basically. so it's a little bit different. but you you do see
Alyssa (27:51.682)
Wow.
Alyssa (27:59.33)
Right.
Yeah.
Cindy Dessy (28:11.664)
You do see varied quality for sure. we try our best, you know, to bring the consumer something that's a well-made garment, but still affordable while understanding that anything, especially being a bridesmaid, it's a high cost. I mean, we get it. It's you're, you know, paying to be part of a bridal party. It's it's a commitment. Yeah.
Alyssa (28:27.116)
Yeah.
Alyssa (28:34.39)
Right.
Alyssa (28:40.017)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, it is for sure. Yeah. And something that just kind of clicked with me when you were talking about, you know, the process of like the design and everything, up until, you know, the consumer gets it. I feel like from the time you're starting to like conceptualize a collection and design it all the way up until a bridesmaid is actually wearing it.
I feel like it'd almost be like two years because like cause brides like you know a bridesmaid dress isn't always the first thing that they shop for, you know, when they first get engaged. And then it's like engagements last like about a year-ish av on average. And so then it's like once it comes for the time for them to wear it, you know, it's like a year in designing and then like a year.
Cindy Dessy (29:10.512)
Yes.
Cindy Dessy (29:18.768)
Yeah.
Cindy Dessy (29:24.227)
yes. Mm-hmm.
Alyssa (29:35.305)
And like finding it to actually wearing it. So I was like, wow, you really have to be on the forefront of like forecasting and what the trends are gonna be. So yeah, it's pretty wild like what what you guys are able to do.
Cindy Dessy (29:35.57)
Mm-hmm.
Cindy Dessy (29:45.232)
Yep. Yep.
Cindy Dessy (29:49.841)
And we see girls are shopping like we're getting girls coming in and shopping for like weddings in 2028. We're like, please, you should wait. There's gonna be like five collections before you come out. You know, just yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm.
Alyssa (29:56.329)
my gosh. Yeah, you're like, wow.
Yes, I know. That's so true. Yeah. Like when I worked in at a rental company too in weddings, we would have brides, you know, like two years in advance, like coming in and choosing their tablescapes. And I was like, you know, the colors and trends are like gonna change by then. Like you might not want to like order your stuff. Like, I'm glad you're trying to do this early and knock it off your list, but like
Cindy Dessy (30:21.53)
Yeah.
Cindy Dessy (30:26.168)
Yep. Yep.
Alyssa (30:29.57)
Just for you and what I know is probably gonna come down the line, like you're gonna wanna change this all up at some point. So yeah, there's definitely a fine line because there's a lot of messaging out there of like, get in early. You know, you gotta like get all your stuff done before like vendors book up and everything. But I think there's also some certain things that are like, okay, maybe you should wait on this, maybe like decor color-wise and everything. So
Cindy Dessy (30:35.607)
Absolutely. Yes. Yes. For sure.
Cindy Dessy (30:48.293)
Yeah.
Cindy Dessy (30:52.582)
Yes.
Cindy Dessy (30:56.196)
Yeah. I think I as much I as I hate, like I don't there's always it's always good to have a little bit of a buffer. You know, I would want to get my dress in maybe a month if I was doing a made to order dress a month before so I have time to do alterations. I know and I we are so sympathetic to the fact that alterations are expensive. they're
Alyssa (31:05.537)
Rights.
Cindy Dessy (31:24.198)
hard to come by because you just don't have as many skilled tailors and seamstresses around anymore. but these dresses are they for a perfect fit, oftentimes you do need an alter. Like I I have been every size under the sun while I've worked here. And I always have to do something. You know, I'm smaller on top, larger on the bottom, I'm shorter waisted, so I need to adjust my straps. Like there's just stuff that has to happen.
Alyssa (31:46.072)
Right.
Alyssa (31:52.92)
Yeah.
Cindy Dessy (31:53.767)
Very few people just are lucky enough to take the dress out and it just looks perfect. so I would say, like, you know, it's good to have some time. and probably this coming season, depending on what's going on, you know, there will likely be freight delays, freight and delays because of everything that's going on. So planning a little bit ahead.
Alyssa (32:18.722)
Yeah.
Cindy Dessy (32:22.532)
might be a good idea. I think just being a little anticipatory this year is probably gonna be a good idea. Yeah. Yeah.
Alyssa (32:24.51)
Mm.
Alyssa (32:32.47)
Right. Yeah, for sure. I know. And I've heard the horror stories firsthand from some brides who their dress was like just sitting like, you know, in a a shipment like on the shore and she couldn't get it, yeah, stuck in customs. And so yeah, I know.
Cindy Dessy (32:46.904)
Mm-hmm. Or stuck in customs. Things have changed. We we used to be able to really like like put our muscle behind it and have our freight forwarders and logistics people like help us out when there was something. And that is like out the window. So I think planning a little bit ahead is always good. Yeah. Yeah.
Alyssa (33:06.04)
Yeah.
Alyssa (33:10.134)
Mm-hmm, definitely. Yeah, for sure. going back to the new collection, is there do you have like a personal favorite or one that you think a lot of the brides and bridesmaids are gonna like gravitate towards for like the one dress in the new collection?
Cindy Dessy (33:27.836)
So there's I would I think there's two. Well, there's a new print that we have that's a a tulip print, which sort of the tulips sort of remind me of like an old Dutch master's painting. And I love like botanical paintings. it's really beautiful. It's on this pretty like Celadon tea green color ground. so I love that print. but we do have a new dress. it is
Alyssa (33:30.892)
Okay.
Alyssa (33:40.123)
fun Yah.
Cindy Dessy (33:56.391)
Very simple but so well executed and it is so incredibly flattering on and it looks beautiful in like navy, it looks beautiful in the print, and it's sort of a cat eye strapless. It's got a very subtle drop basque waist with a shirt full skirt, it's got pockets, which as a person who needs somewhere to put their hands when they're having to make small talk is like my dream.
and yeah, and it yeah. and it's available in like the Dior MIDI or full length. It's just so simple and beautiful, and it makes like literally we put it on our size 22 fit model and she looks stunning. And I put it on our size eight and she looks stunning, and everybody feels great in it. I love it. and then we did for me my taste personally at this age at 53.
Alyssa (34:25.368)
yeah. Love a pocket.
Alyssa (34:46.869)
man.
Cindy Dessy (34:55.056)
We did a shirt dress that's like a halter sleeveless shirt dress and it's got a collar and you can button it all the way to the top and it's got a wide sash and full skirt and pockets again, midi and full length. And I think for like a young mother of the bride, it is a great dress. It just looks so chic and clean. And you can again like you can do it in one of our prints, you can do it in a dark color. I am totally getting it in black and navy to have in my closet.
and just the cut of the bodice cut in to show like the best features of your shoulders. It just looks beautiful. It's fantastic. Yeah. So I think those are gonna be great.
Alyssa (35:35.186)
that sounds so gorgeous. Yeah.
Yeah, wow. And I feel like just even the silhouettes in those two dresses that you described are so different. And it's just cool to see the range of styles that you guys are able to offer. And the prints, like how cool I love a floral print so much. And so yeah, I love that that's something that you're offering in like many different colors and everything.
Cindy Dessy (35:49.574)
Mm-hmm.
Cindy Dessy (35:55.183)
yes, definitely.
Cindy Dessy (36:02.588)
Yeah.
Alyssa (36:04.438)
So what do brides say they want and what do they actually end up buying? Have you, I'm sure you've probably dealt with this in some past collections or maybe if you do, you know, some market research or things like that, they say like, yeah, I like this dress, but then you're not necessarily seeing it in the purchasing. maybe break that down for us a little bit.
Cindy Dessy (36:16.86)
Mm.
Cindy Dessy (36:32.528)
I think that oftentimes it's it's more around color. I think brides might like to what you said, they've been dreaming about their wedding for years, in some cases decades, it feels like. And they've had this idea of what they think they want as far as like a color palette. and then when they get in and they actually start trying the dresses on and seeing the colors on their bridal party.
that is probably the number one thing that changes. Like they'll come in saying, like, I want blush pink and cameo, which is like a nude color, and this is, you know, and then they're like, no, these this might be hard for my girls to wear. I think I'm gonna do pale blue, you know. So like you see that a lot, like a really big change as far as what their color palette's gonna be. because I think
Alyssa (37:21.666)
Right.
Alyssa (37:27.854)
Mm-hmm.
Cindy Dessy (37:29.862)
There are certain colors that are harder to wear for a wide range of skin tones. and those nudie colors, champagne colors, can really wash certain skin tones out. I've seen them look absolutely stunning. but it's definitely the more challenging end of the spectrum to wear. as far as dresses, I think like I love a slip dress.
I think it's so great, so comfortable. I think people think they want to have slip dresses, but in order for a slip dress to work, it has to be cut on the bias, which means you're actually cutting it cross grain and it sort of gives even a non stretch fabric sort of mechanical stretch. but it can feel kind of funny to wear if you're not used to wearing it because it sort of is like the like.
Alyssa (38:14.861)
Yeah.
Cindy Dessy (38:29.35)
the Chinese finger trick, it like kind of like hugs you. yeah. yeah, and people kind of feel like, it's a little weird. so that I think oftentimes people are like, I want everybody in a slip dress. And then when they like put it on, they realize maybe this is not gonna work. but then you like for a beach wedding or something like that, you see and it looks great. I mean, it's perfect, you know? so
Alyssa (38:31.956)
Yeah, it kind of is. That's a great like example.
Cindy Dessy (38:58.406)
I think that's probably the hardest where. but yeah, I think it's color palette is the number one thing that we see really like switch around. Or they'll see something new that has come out that they didn't even think about and they're like, this is it, you know. so when they get in in our office, there's the when you first walk in, there's a wall of all of our swatches and we've got them like arranged chromatically.
Alyssa (39:15.926)
Mm.
Cindy Dessy (39:28.016)
And that's, you know, that's the first thing they they really get in touch with is the color.
Alyssa (39:36.086)
So cool. So you guys have an office. Is it in Chicago or where are you guys? you guys are in New York. Okay. And so brides can bring their bridesmaids into your office and do fittings and everything and like have okay, very cool. That's awesome.
Cindy Dessy (39:36.839)
Yeah.
Cindy Dessy (39:43.48)
We're in New York. Yep, yep.
Cindy Dessy (39:53.735)
Yep, we have an atelier. Yep. so we have a showroom that we do appointments. Megan runs our showroom and we have appointments all day long, people coming in with their bridal parties and that's really fun. We've had people visit us from all over. and it's really nice to like actually meet them and have them have the feedback.
And then we also distribute through local authorized retailers like the Bella Bridesmaid franchises of one of our biggest customers and we've had a long standing relationship with them. and then we do direct to consumer on the site. Yeah.
Alyssa (40:35.81)
Yeah, they're great. We have one here. Yes. Yeah, that's so good. That's super cool. There's like multiple ways for people to reach you guys and to actually try the dresses on in person. yeah, and I know so many brides, especially lately, ones that I've been speaking with, like they go to New York to buy their wedding dress. And so it's like, why not?
Cindy Dessy (40:44.626)
Mm-hmm.
Cindy Dessy (40:48.754)
Yep.
Cindy Dessy (40:58.736)
Yes. Mm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Alyssa (41:01.262)
Pop into Desi with with your bridesmaids and try some dresses on there. So yeah, I'm it's so cool that you you get to meet brides from all over who are making it a trip and a destination to find their dresses. So super cool. I love that. So is there anything else that you want to share about the new spring collection or anything else that you think our listeners just need to know about Desi?
Cindy Dessy (41:14.695)
Yeah.
Cindy Dessy (41:19.205)
Yeah.
Cindy Dessy (41:28.274)
I'm trying to think. the spring, I well, we're work we're actually working on fall, if you can believe it already. So our head is like in fall. the new spring collection will be going up on the site probably late October. and the samples will start shipping to the stores. and yeah, fall.
Alyssa (41:35.18)
yeah, it's fall. Yeah, that's wild. Yeah. Yes.
Alyssa (41:49.197)
Okay.
Cindy Dessy (41:57.319)
We're already working on fall 2027. very excited about that. We've got some very cool new fabrics coming out. we've been experimenting with screen like printing on velvet, which is really, really cool. and we just relaunched, we launched our new website. So we as I had said before, my husband came from a technology background.
Alyssa (42:12.654)
Cindy Dessy (42:26.214)
before he came into the family business. And we had a monster of a website that we have been building and maintaining and innovating on for the last 20 years. And last week we actually launched our new site, which has been like a 10 month project. So that was a big, big deal. and so yeah, the new site is up.
Alyssa (42:44.908)
Congrats.
Wow, yeah.
Cindy Dessy (42:55.056)
very streamlined checkout process. We're thrilled with that. yeah. and and the new fall dresses. So fall 26 is up now. with lots of in-stock dresses for people for all kinds of different occasions. But for spring we have a lot of we have some sequin dresses that are really pretty.
Alyssa (42:59.118)
Great.
Alyssa (43:22.136)
Fun.
Cindy Dessy (43:23.748)
Yeah, we really leaned it. Green continues to be super, super popular. all shades. and we definitely see sort of lavender starting coming to come in, lavenders and plums. And part of that I think is because it plays so well with green in a color palette. So that look for like we have some new maufs coming on. Yeah, pretty new colors.
Alyssa (43:28.685)
Yeah.
Alyssa (43:47.662)
Nice. Yeah. So pretty. Very regal. Very fall. I love it. So pretty. So where can listeners or people who are watching this on YouTube find you guys online and maybe give us your the link to your new website too?
Cindy Dessy (43:51.356)
Hm. Yes. Yeah.
Cindy Dessy (44:05.398)
the website is Desi.com, very easy, D E S S Y dot com and it's Des at Desi Group for our socials. and yeah, I'll reach out anytime you you can send us inquiries at stylist at Desi.com and there will be one of our team ready to answer you or help you with anything. They're really adept at helping people pick sizes.
Alyssa (44:18.328)
Very cool.
Cindy Dessy (44:33.328)
We know it's a challenge. unfortunately most people don't even have a measuring tape in their home anymore. So so we're we're always there to try to help you out. you know, pick the closest size or with questions about the product or delivery. they are really, really responsive and really invested in trying to make people happy with what they're wearing and what they choose. And yeah.
Alyssa (44:39.867)
Ha yeah.
Alyssa (45:02.99)
That's awesome. Very cool. Well, we'll make sure that we link all of that in the show notes for you guys if you're listening and watching. So go check out Desi, all the new amazing bridesmaid dresses in the collection. You can visit your local Bella Bridesmaid.
You know, go to New York or even shop online on their new website. So thank you so much, Cindy, for just taking the time and telling us all the amazing fun new trends for bridesmaid dresses. So so appreciate it. Thank you. All right. Bye.
Cindy Dessy (45:25.532)
Thank you.
Cindy Dessy (45:34.397)
Thank you. Take care. Bye.