SAPPHIRE WHISPER

About:

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. The boutique offers a full range of designs from all of the brands within the Amsale Design Group, including Amsale, Amsale Bridesmaids, Christos and Kenneth Pool. The Kenneth Pool line is designed by Project Runway alum, Austin Scarlett, while Amsale Aberra is the Creative Director for the Amsale and Christos lines.

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.

Store Hours & Location:

 Amsale Boutique 
625 Madison Avenue  
New York, NY 10022  
 212.583.1700
By appointment only

www.amsale.com

 Click HERE for Directions

Amsale Couture Gowns Featured in 'Ghosts of Girlfriends Past'

For those of you who are wondering where you can get Jennifer Garner's simple, chic and easy style from her new film Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, look no further than New York based designer to the stars, Amsale. Garner's character in the movie, Jennifer Perotti, turned to Amsale for an elegant party dress featured in many of the movie's promotional shots. Amsale was also tapped to design a collection of modern bridesmaids gowns featured in the movie. Whose wedding is it? You'll have to go see the movie to find out!

Amsale's elegant designs have made her the number one couture wedding gown designer in the United States, and won her the reputation as the creator of the modern wedding dress. Though most recognized for her exquisite bridal wear, Amsale has also gained a strong celebrity following for her evening wear, as seen at the Academy Awards and other high profile events on stars such as Kim Basinger, Salma Hayek, Julianna Marguiles, Diane Lane and Vanessa Williams.

Pictured below the lovely blue dress from the movie Ghosts of Girlfriends Past: Style C614 made in Jersey with Beaded Cyrstal Trim. Available for Special Order at the Amsale Flagship Store  in NYC. Retail $715.