Image may contain Clothing Apparel Evening Dress Fashion Gown Robe Human Person Wedding Wedding Gown and Sleeve
Weddings

Heiress Ivy Getty Walked Down The Aisle In A Mirrored Gown By John Galliano For Maison Margiela 

Emilie WHITE

Talk turns back to the dress. Ivy and John Galliano officially met for the first time via Zoom during the pandemic and quickly formed a bond, despite the fact that they hadn’t spoken IRL. “We just understood each other,” Ivy says. “From growing up around his designs and knowing them so well, I felt like I already knew him, but this whole experience allowed me to get to know a new part of him. The entire process was incredibly personal, which allowed us to get even closer. The feelings [that came along with] creating my wedding dress never got old, I am still pinching myself.” 

The bride didn’t go into the process with any preconceived ideas or expectation about what the end result should look like. “I had complete faith and trust in Galliano and his creative process,” she says. “I knew I was in good hands.” Galliano asked her to put a mood board together to give him an idea of what she was thinking. She did it – pulling references like butterflies, animals, walnuts, guitars, and dancing elephants to symbolise the important people in her life – but also told him not to be influenced by it, as she wanted his vision to come alive. “The walnuts served as a representation of my grandmother as she grew up on a walnut farm,” Ivy explains. “The guitars throughout the veil represent my father, who was a musician.”

Both Ivy’s father and grandmother sadly passed away in 2020. “Not physically having two of the most important people in my life with me on my wedding day is extremely hard, but through John’s vision and creativity, he was easily able to bring their presence to life,” she says. On the veil, he embroidered walnuts and guitars – “John and I were joking around, and he told me I could put anything on the veil – ‘even dancing elephants!’ Within that moment, I knew I had to include dancing elephants on my veil as a memento to John himself. My veil embodies the people and moments that got me to this day.”

“I really tried to get an understanding of what Ivy wanted to feel on the day,” Galliano explains. “She did fantastic collages, and I looked for the themes that kept recurring and helped her edit it down to what she wanted. The recurring theme with the body shape was pictures of Marilyn Monroe.”

Three fittings were done in the lead up to the wedding day. “I got to meet John and his team in person for the first fitting in Los Angeles at the Beverly Hills Hotel,” Ivy notes. The second fitting took place at the Margiela headquarters in Paris, and then the finishing touches were put on the dress at the final fitting at Claridge’s in London, with several of Ivy’s bridesmaids in tow.

“It was an out of body experience!” Ivy says. “Each fitting felt like a dream. I constantly had to remind myself this was actually happening in real life. I am grateful I was able to share such an intimate moment with someone I admire so much along with several of my bridesmaids, who I have known since childhood – my closest friends in the world. To finally be in the presence of my favourite designer was unreal. I had the privilege [of learning about] his inspiration, how he sourced each material, and got to see him work his magic directly in front of me. He is a true artist that brings every vision together, creates a story behind his work, and pays attention to every single detail. My grandmother always admired him, so it felt as if she was there with me during all of this.”  

“At the ceremony, she’s not going to feel alone,” Galliano adds. “There’s going to be a spiritual connection. All the people she misses are going to be there. She only needs to glance down her arms, and she’ll see the presence of her grandmother and her father. I think she’s going to be truly happy, surrounded by her husband and her friends.”