Luxury bridal and eveningwear designer Sareh Nouri is not only gearing up to launch her new bridalwear collection during this week’s New York Bridal Fashion Week, but also working on opening her second flagship in Chevy Chase, Md., this summer.
“The success of our first location exceeded my expectations,” the designer told WWD of opening her first flagship at the Short Hills Mall in New Jersey shortly after the pandemic ended, before relocating to its current space at Livingston Town Center in 2023.
“Having our own space gave us the ability to offer more customizations, rush orders and an elevated level of service. In addition, we would have brides come to our [nearby] design studio to do alterations, which they loved, because they also got a tour of where everything was made,” she said. “I also introduced my evening collection at Short Hills, which brought us incredible visibility, because it’s a very luxury Mall. So a mom spending $4,000 and up on an evening dress was really not an issue.”
Nouri explained that when deciding to open a second flagship, she homeed in on Chevy Chase, Md., in order to grow her brand’s presence with brides across the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area — a place that also holds a special place in her heart.
“I grew up [in the D.C. area], went to school there and got married there; my childhood friends, mom and in-laws live there. It was kind of a full-circle moment,” she explained. The location — a “sophisticated, high-end market,” she said, will also allow her to further expand eveningwear, which the designer said her friends and family noted was lacking in the area.
“It’s also going to help us further grow our presence there, and introduce my brand to a new clientele. I had a lot of brides from D.C. that would drive to come to the Livingston flagship, so we knew there was a market there. Also, Chevy Chase is a very regal, old money area, with a lot of young professionals and high end retailers, so I felt like that was a really nice, nice area to open in,” she said.
Nouri plans to open the second flagship in early summer, looking to the end of May or beginning of June. The store design will be cohesive to her Livingston flagship, with a modern, clean aesthetic for her made in New Jersey dresses, “to take center stage,” she said.
The brick-and-mortar will offer her luxury bridalwear collections, priced between $5,000 to $16,000, give or take with customizations and add-ons; the eveningwear line, priced between $4,000 to $7,000 and accessories.
“Both stores are by appointment because we want to give that personalized, exclusive shopping experience. Of course, we welcome walk-ins if there is availability, especially for evening collections, because we want to accommodate clients looking for last minute, special occasion dresses,” she said.