New York (CNN) 鈥� Wedding dress shopping may never go back to what it used to be.
Instead of collecting your entire bridal entourage to spend a few hours at a boutique trying on several dresses for the perfect find at a lofty price of a $1,000 or more, some retailers are offering to make the wedding dress hunt as easy breezy as buying a T-shirt off the rack.
Taking their cue from Millennials and Gen Zers who are turning stuffy traditions on their head and marking life鈥檚 milestones moments 鈥� such as weddings 鈥� in , a string of affordable fashion brands have jumped into the weddings industry to appease thrifty shoppers with inexpensive bridal wear.
Abercrombie, Forever 21, Boot Barn, Shein and Lulus, better known for their tank tops, shorts, ripped jeans, bikinis, cowboy boots and sparkly dresses tailor-made for Beyonc茅 and Taylor Swift concertgoers, are trying to dress brides for much less.
The move isn鈥檛 a complete headscratcher. For one, it allows these mass-market brands to get their slice of the more than $100 billion US wedding industry, according to The Knot Worldwide, a wedding planning and vendor marketplace.
鈥淭hese companies see bridal as a natural extension of their business given that they are already present in many of these product categories,鈥� said Janine Stichter,聽managing director and consumer retail and lifestyle brands analyst with global financial services and market research firm BTIG.
Plus, many of their core customers are older GenZers and younger Millennials who are in the sweet spot age demographic for getting married and attending weddings, she said.
鈥淭he move into wedding wear makes sense so long as it鈥檚 not a distraction from their core business,鈥� Stichter said.
One-stop-shop for jeans and a wedding dress
Teen favorite label Abercrombie & Fitch 鈥� which has undergone a by shedding its overtly sexualized marketing strategy of the past to more on-trend, age-appropriate and parent-approved clothing 鈥� is continuing its evolution, by going after brides.
The retailer in March launched the A&F Wedding Shop, a collection of more than 100 pieces for brides, the bridal party and wedding guests, all priced from $80 to $150.
Beyond dresses, the collection includes items such as bikinis, pajamas and skirts for other events tied to the wedding.
鈥淥ur customers live for the long weekend, and when we asked them about their exciting upcoming getaways, we heard so many of them speak about wedding weekends, wedding-adjacent occasions, and the all-important question of what to wear, which this collection is perfectly designed to answer,鈥� Carey Collins Krug, chief marketing officer of Abercrombie & Fitch Co., said in a statement announcing the launch.
In April, fast-fashion brand Forever 21 debuted its , priced from $9 to about $50. The clothing includes dresses, sleepwear, accessories, such as a wedding-ready cowboy hat with a veil affixed to it. A white strapless satin and lace midi dress from its bridal shop has a pricetag of $24.29, while another altar-ready white split-hem halter midi dress will set a bride back only $27. That鈥檚 a basement bargain compared to the average wedding dress cost last year of .
California-based trendy fashion chain Lulus has also got in on the act by opening its first bridal boutique, with dresses ranging from $100 to $270, in Los Angeles in February.
鈥淎t Lulus, brides won鈥檛 have to compromise. Attaining that luxurious look without breaking their budgets isn鈥檛 a dream, it鈥檚 a reality,鈥澛燙rystal Landsem, Lulus CEO, said in a statement in February.
The standalone bridal boutique builds on Lulus鈥� 2019 entry into wedding wear and 鈥渆nables the brand to offer its customer-first online experience to brides in real life,鈥� the retailer said in a press release.
That鈥檚 a smart move, said Allyson Rees, a senior insight strategist at trend forecasting and analytics firm WGSN, in an interview with CNN.
鈥淔or these bridal collections to land with Gen Z, It鈥檚 important that these brands tap into the way that Gen Z shops. Gen Z is always online, but 97% of US Gen Z still shop in-store,鈥� Rees said. 鈥淲edding dresses, in particular, and the tradition of trying them on, is a rite of passage that Gen Z still want to partake in. So brands will need to create compelling in-store experiences that encourage socializing.鈥�
A lot less traditional
As the oldest GenZers reach marrying age in their mid-20s, they鈥檙e increasingly putting their own spin on nuptials and are
Part of this is also being driven by these younger non-conforming consumers being forced into even more cost sensitivity than聽Millennials.
鈥淭he cost-of-living crisis has affected Gen Z, and they feel deeply insecure about their finances,鈥� said Rees. 鈥淥ver half are living paycheck to paycheck and a third are living with their parents. So it鈥檚 no surprise that fast fashion, which has seen its market share increase over the last few years due to the cost-of-living crisis, is capitalizing on the need for affordable, on-trend wedding fashion.鈥�
At the same time, wedding fashion is a lot less traditional now, she said. With wedding dresses in particular, one trend that emerged during the pandemic was the popularity of
鈥淕en Z is very much picking up where Millennials left off here. So it鈥檚 not uncommon for brides to wear alternative colors to white, or to change outfits several times during the course of the event. So this an area where fast fashion brands can really fill a void,鈥� Rees said.
Shein, which launched in 2012 and has since ballooned into the , also sells bridal and wedding wear. Its bridal gowns cost on average between $50 and $100, up to a maximum of $200. On Memorial Day weekend, the retailer will open a wedding-related pop-up shop in Las Vegas to showcase its new bridal gowns and bridesmaid dresses.
鈥淎ffordable prices are important for Gen Z customers, who often balance the desire for fashionable and trendy styles with a need for options that won鈥檛 break the bank,鈥� Lisa Zlotnick, spokesperson for Shein, said in an interview with CNN. 鈥淎s wedding attire evolves from traditional, occasion-specific outfits to versatile, stylish pieces that can be worn on multiple occasions, we aim to ensure our offerings meet this increasing demand.鈥�
Even Boot Barn, which sells cowboy boots and westernwear, has jumped on the wedding bandwagon for the first time, with its new western-themed wedding collection of bridal dresses, cowboy boots, hats and accessories priced mostly at $400 and below.
鈥淭here鈥檚 been a surge in country weddings and casual garden weddings coming out of the pandemic as people wanted to get married outdoors. These are also budget-friendly choices,鈥� said Isha Nicole, senior vice president of marketing with Boot Barn, in an interview.
鈥淐ouples are trying to move away from something that is formal and stuffy to weddings that embrace a different setting. We looked at these trends and it seemed like a right time to support our customer,鈥� Nicole said.
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