Milla Nova: Stella Couture Collection and NYC Flagship Opening

The day’s biggest moment belonged to Milla Nova, the Ukrainian bridal house founded by sisters Zoryana and Iryna Senyshyn in Lviv in 2002.

The brand opened the doors of its first ever New York City flagship, a 500-square-metre space at 597 Broadway in SoHo, and used the occasion to debut Stella, its new couture collection. The concept draws from celestial wonders and modernist art, specifically the wire sculptures of Alexander Calder and the intricate woven forms of Ruth Asawa. Each gown is named after a celestial body. Bespoke beadwork creates what the brand calls “cosmic fragments,” and the star motif from the Milla Nova logo becomes the soul of the collection for the first time.

The silhouettes ranged from ethereal column gowns heavy with celestial beadwork to sculptural strapless pieces in flowing tulle. One standout featured an ornate choker-like collar of intricate lacework that framed the face like jewellery built into the gown itself. And in a bold move, Milla Nova expanded its palette to include gowns in profound shades of obsidian black.

Olivia Palermo was front row. The room was full. The craftsmanship, built by a team of 600+ women (98 per cent of whom are mothers) now operating from Warsaw, was the kind that makes you stop and look twice.

The first Ukrainian bridal house to showcase at NYBFW. That distinction still stands. With Stella, it carries more weight than ever.

Alexandra Cohen Photography

Alexandra Cohen Photography

Alexandra Cohen Photography

Alexandra Cohen Photography

Maison Margot: COLLAGE S/S27

Maison Margot’s evening presentation was the most atmospheric show of the day.

The Israeli label, founded by Shiran Navon and textile designer Ella Kaliski, showed COLLAGE S/S27 in a heritage-panelled space with dark timber, ornate columns, and low candlelit lighting. The effect was cinematic. Models posed against weathered surfaces in pristine white, and the contrast between old and new was exactly the tension the collection was built around.

COLLAGE draws from 90s glamour and Old Hollywood. Not in the way bridal designers typically reference either era. This was the confidence of Claudia Schiffer between shows. Kate Moss at a record store. The collection brought structured taffeta bodices, voluminous gathered skirts, sleek slip gowns with high slits, 3D floral appliques, and a short structured mini with crystal detailing. The hero piece was a strapless taffeta ballgown with a bow at the bodice and pockets that stopped every conversation in the room.

The brand carries deep personal significance. It is named for Shiran’s great-grandmother Margot, a Holocaust survivor whose advanced sewing and design skills saved her life. Every gown is handmade in Israel and priced between $7,000 and $10,250. This is couture-level bridal that knows exactly where it sits.

Where the previous Mirage des Camelias leaned into Victorian romanticism, COLLAGE strips back to something cooler, bolder, and more direct. It is Maison Margot’s most confident collection yet.

Alexandra Cohen Photography

Alexandra Cohen Photography

Alexandra Cohen Photography

Alexandra Cohen Photography

Alexandra Cohen Photography

Alexandra Cohen Photography

Alexandra Cohen Photography

Alexandra Cohen Photography

WONA Concept and Eva Lendel: El Jardin del Eden at Mriya Gallery

At Mriya Gallery in TriBeCa, WONA Concept and Eva Lendel staged El Jardin del Eden, a three-hour presentation that felt more like an installation than a press preview.

The gallery was transformed into a garden. Lavender, greenery, lush floral arrangements throughout. And at the centre of it all, the moment everyone will be talking about: a live artist painting directly onto a white bridal gown mounted on a mannequin. Vivid strokes of green, blue, purple, and pink, transforming a pristine piece into something unrepeatable. Fashion as performance. Craft as conversation.

The two sister brands, both founded by Ilona Shramko, presented distinct new collections. WONA Concept debuted Maison Blanche, 30 gowns inspired by French aristocracy and chateau life, photographed at Chateau de Baronville. Sculpted corsetry, voluminous skirts, translucent layers, and the kind of hand-finished detail that takes between 70 and 160 hours per gown. Eva Lendel showed Less is More VI, another 30 gowns, this time shot in Puglia. Clean construction, refined proportions, quiet confidence. Minimalism as precision, not absence.

Together they make one of the most compelling cases in bridal for the sister-brand model. One house, two aesthetics, zero compromise.

The brands show again at Barcelona Bridal Fashion Week on 23 April at the Jardines de Pedralbes.

By Bridget Photography

By Bridget Photography

By Bridget Photography

By Bridget Photography

Alexandra Cohen Photography

Alexandra Cohen Photography

Alexandra Cohen Photography

Alexandra Cohen Photography

Mariana Hardwick: Lumiere at PUBLIC Hotel

Mariana Hardwick presented Lumiere at PUBLIC Hotel’s Ava and Sunrise Terrace, and the collection was a quiet standout in a day of big moments.

Founded in Melbourne in 1985, Mariana Hardwick holds the distinction of being Australia’s first contemporary bridal designer. Now led by Rebekah, the label carries over 40 years of heritage and five Australian Fashion Industry Awards. Every gown is 100% Australian made in the brand’s South Melbourne atelier.

Lumiere lived up to its name. The collection was soft, precise, and unapologetically refined. The architectural draping and structured corsetry that Mariana Hardwick is known for were present throughout, but with a lightness that felt intentional. This is a house that has always understood that restraint is a form of confidence.

With stockists now in New York (Jaxon James), Los Angeles (En Blanc), and multiple locations across the UK, Mariana Hardwick’s NYBFW presence signals the next chapter of its international expansion.

Alexandra Cohen Photography

Alexandra Cohen Photography

Alexandra Cohen Photography

Alexandra Cohen Photography

Alexandra Cohen Photography

Alexandra Cohen Photography

Alexandra Cohen Photography

Alexandra Cohen Photography

The Rest of Day Two

Beyond our four headline shows, the TBJ team covered ground across the city.

Berta opened its NYC atelier on Wooster Street for an in-store preview of two collections: SS27 Couture (Dream State) and GALA (Mid Summer Night’s Dream). Both were cinematic.

BERTA by Alexandra Cohen

Dana Harel staged a press preview at The Pierre Hotel on the Upper East Side, showing SS27 with a design philosophy built on restraint with presence and fluidity with intention. Nicole + Felicia held an event at PUBLIC Hotel. KYHA Studios opened its NoHo flagship on Bond Street for a press preview.

KYHA STUDIOS by Alexandra Cohen

LIHI Hod’s runway at Studio 525 in Chelsea was a strong showing. Tanner Fletcher staged its Spring/Summer 2027 wedding runway inside St. Bartholomew’s Church on Park Avenue, one of the most beautiful show settings of the entire week. And Alexandra Grecco offered a quick but polished runway at GH On The Park near Bryant Park.

What Comes Next

Day three brings Justin Alexander Signature and Poeza (the morning’s biggest appointment), Jenny Yoo’s Floris presentation at Tusk Bar (with the Zendaya and The Drama cultural moment still reverberating), and whatever else this week has left to deliver.

Full editorial features for Milla Nova, Maison Margot, WONA Concept, and Eva Lendel are publishing this week. The flagship NYBFW trend report follows.

Photography: Alexandra Cohen and By Bridget Photography for The Bridal Journey