Beautiful Brown Brides: December 2012

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Monday, December 17, 2012

Brown Bride of the Day 12/17/2012

blog.african-americanbrides.com

African American Bridal and Eveningwear Designer

AMSALE ABERRA BIOGRAPHY

Amsale Aberra's career as a couture bridal and eveningwear designer happened by necessity. While planning her 1985 nuptials to film executive Neil Brown, Amsale scoured the stores to find a simple, refined wedding dress. She found little in the way of clean, sophisticated gowns, and discovered an untapped niche in the bridal market—elegant and understated dresses.

"Everything was so overdone and with too much ornamentation," says Amsale, who was sure that her taste in gowns was shared by many other brides-to-be. Amsale placed a classified advertisement for custom-made gowns for other brides-to-be who shared her taste in sophisticated, understated designs. And so, with a few responses, a sketchpad full of designs, and a small team of couture sewers, Amsale started her business out of her New York City loft apartment.

Since then, the name AMSALE (pronounced Ahm-sah'-leh) has become synonymous with the "forever modern" wedding dress. Her collections are designed for brides who desire a fashionable, sophisticated and timeless look. Amsale believes: "Twenty years after the wedding, I want a bride to be able to look at her pictures and be as happy with the way she looked as she was on her wedding day."

Amsale's love of fashion began as a young girl growing up in Ethiopia. However, Amsale never considered becoming a designer: "In Ethiopia there were no fashion designers. I never knew that designing beautiful clothes was a profession to which one could aspire."

Amsale convinced her parents to allow her to leave Ethiopia in order to study commercial art in New England. While in school a revolution broke out in her native country, which forced Amsale to stay in the United States to support herself and complete her undergraduate education at University of Massachusetts - Boston through a number of odd-jobs. With limited financial resources, Amsale admits "I would design and sew my own clothes because I couldn't afford to buy new things. That's when I first thought of becoming a fashion designer."

Amsale left Boston, enrolled in New York's Fashion Institute of Technology and began her career as a design assistant for Harve Bernard upon graduation. Two years later, Amsale launched her custom bridal-gown business with her "forever modern" approach to sophisticated design.

Amsale's design philosophy has redefined the perception of the timeless wedding gown. Her innovative twists to time honored hallmarks of the traditional wedding gown—reintroducing "illusion design," modern updates of the traditional bustle, and tasteful color accents including the now-famous "blue sash" gown—have become so popular among prospective brides that they have been recognized as modern classics.

She extends that viewpoint of individuality to her collection of chic and refined gowns for the bridal party, and in the Amsale Evening collection of couture evening wear—both lines a natural progression from the sophisticated and modern styles of her bridal collection.

Amsale's ball gowns, cocktail dresses and evening suits have been featured on the fashion and party pages of all the top fashion magazines, and worn by celebrities and socialites including Halle Berry, Julia Roberts, Selma Blair, Salma Hayek, Lucy Liu, Heather Graham, Kim Basinger, Deborah Norville, Vivica A. Fox, Vanessa Williams, Lisa Kudrow, Heidi Klum, Katherine Heigl and many others. Producers turn to Amsale when they need beautiful designs for films and television programs; her gowns have been featured on "The Oprah Winfrey Show", "Grey's Anatomy" and "27 Dresses."

Amsale's Madison Avenue boutique, which opened in September 2001, has fulfilled Amsale's desire to present her designs in a setting that reflected her "forever modern" vision. The 5,000 square foot boutique is an urban space with a gallery-like atmosphere that provides a sleek, sophisticated canvas and the perfect backdrop for Amsale's elegant designs, including Amsale, Amsale Presents The Little White Dress, Christos and Kenneth Pool collections.

In addition to the Madison Avenue boutique, Amsale's bridal designs are found nationwide at the finest boutiques and specialty retailers such as Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus.

AMSALE BRIDAL COLLECTION PREVIEW

For Bridesmaids Collection Preview click here.

DATE	STORE	CITY	STATE	PHONE	DETAIL
December 28-29	Nitsa's Apparel	Winston-Salem	NC	336-725-1999	Bridal Trunk Show
January 4-5	White	Daniel Island	SC	843-471-2975	Bridal Trunk Show
January 4-5	Nitsa's Apparel	Charlotte	NC	704-940-1999	Bridal Trunk Show
January 11-12	L'atelier Couture	Minneapolis	MN,	612.367.8120	Bridal Trunk Show
January 18-20	Amsale Flagship Salon	New York	NY	212-583-1700	Bridal Trunk Show
January 18-19	Belle Vie Bridal Couture	Chicago	IL	312-751-2222	Bridal Trunk Show
January 25-26	Mia Bridal Couture	Houston	TX	713- 622-2022	Bridal Trunk Show
January 25-26	Bridals by Lori	Atlanta	GA	404-252-8767	Bridal Trunk Show