From a Local Atelier Come One-of-a-Kind Wedding Gowns

By Heidi Fuller - THE NEW FILLMORE FEBRUARY 2011

In a city in which couples increasingly trade tradition for personal preferences, brides don’t look to neighborhood designer Joan Gilbert for the Sugarplum Fairy styles that populate many bridal boutiques. They seek her flair for creating fresh, one-of-a-kind wedding dresses. “The trend today is that there are no trends,” says Gilbert, who customizes her collection of French and Italian gowns to fit a bride’s individual style, the wedding venue and decor, plus any cultural influences the couple wants to incorporate. Gilbert says she prefers sophistication and a form-fitting silhouette; other than that, she’s singular in every way.

That includes the designer’s atelier at 3866 Clay Street, a century-old building with an understated facade and distinctive glass and wood sculpture at the doorway. At the top of the studio stairwell — decorated with one of Gilbert’s prized Shinto kimonos — clients pass a carved walnut armoire displaying a wonderland of white pearls, purses, feathers and other accessories. The flat’s sunny parlor has been converted into a working studio furnished with an eclectic mix of French antiques, fine art and architectural elements. Two racks of distinctly European-style gowns separate the elegant front sitting room from the fitting room where Gilbert brings her visions to life. A round elevated stage places the brideto-be in front of a floor-to-ceiling antique mirror, highlighted by light filtered from a side window as Gilbert circles around working her magic — tucking, draping, cinching and testing this and that on the gown. “Just because a bride doesn’t want to look like every other Cinderella doesn’t mean she doesn’t want to feel like one,” she says.

Gilbert says brides seek out her work because they enjoy participating in the playful artistry of her design process. Among her clients have been neighborhood resident Brook Sobel Schell, who planned an elaborate destination wedding in Hawaii. To outfit her, Gilbert transformed a contemporary Italian dress, adding three layers of organza around the skirt and 30 Italian silk organza peonies on the layers and the train. “It definitely reflected her romantic and creative sweet spirit,” says Gilbert. For another bride who sought a contemporary gown but also wanted to honor her Japanese heritage, Gilbert incorporated a magenta silk-satin obi that flowed into a train on the European gown. Gilbert also designed a separate kimono-style waist jacket for the bride to wear in the evening. Even though each of Gilbert’s designs is unique, she still can be taken by surprise, as she was by an Iranian bride’s recent request. “The tradition she wanted was purely American: formal wedding, white dress, the whole etiquette affair,” said Gilbert, who matched her client with a form-fitting gown and cathedral-length lace veil from Italy — one of the most traditional wedding cultures in the world. Gilbert helps each bride envision a unique wedding gown, then brings it to life. “We begin with a little personal giveand-take,” says Gilbert. “I want to know how she feels about herself, who she is, what she wants to convey. I also want to know the location of the wedding, the time of day and other aspects of the event that make it unique. All of this tells me what she values in creating the wedding and how she might want to personalize her dress.” After years spent creating her own designs, Gilbert’s niche as a bridal wear specialist began 18 years ago when brides began to step out of the traditional mold. Now she works with 12 different design houses in Italy and Paris, customizing each selection by adding, rearranging or removing elements until it becomes a unique design.

Many of the added elements come from Gilbert’s world travels. In France, for example, she discovered fascinators — feathers arranged in a variety of lengths and compositions and attached to a clip that attaches easily to hair or fabric. She now has fascinators custom made in Paris. In Gilbert’s studio, a collection of fabrics span the globe: embroidered silk from India, antique lace from Paris, trims from Italy, colorful silks from Japan. Often she will send the fabrics to Europe to be incorporated into a design.

Coming from a line of fashion designers, Gilbert received formal training at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and paid her dues in the garment district before coming to the west coast. “When you come from that kind of a background, especially working on Seventh Avenue, you gain a sense of fashion that becomes a sense of purpose, ” she says. “My brides get from me a forthrightness that comes from that purpose. It is always her day, her dress; she will always get what she wants. But she also will always get the designer’s extra — my sense of what works for her, flatters her frame, accentuates her most beautiful features.”

Named by Town and Country Bride as one of the best bridal ateliers in San Francisco. With a stunningly elegant collection, Joan Gilbert Bride has become the barometer by which impeccable style in bridal gowns is measured.



"Her visual acumen and attention to detail has made Gilbert's French and Italian gowns so much in demand over the past decade"
San Francisco Chronicle



"Brides-to-be stop in her European style atelier to feast their eyes on gowns and accessories you won't see elsewhere."
Where to Wear: Insider's Fashion Bible to New York, San Francisco, Paris, London and Italy.



Featured and interviewed for Michelle Ghillotti segment.
Lifetime Television



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