Nicole Cavallo, wedding dress creator (and influencer) and Nicole Milano ambassador, has dressed two of the most anticipated brides of the last few months: Federica Pellegrini and Nicole Daza. “I trembled in Sanremo for Georgina Rodriguez’s broken zipper”
Nicole Cavallo has that reassuring smile that makes you feel at home even in a (gorgeous) wedding dress atelier. «Federica Pellegrini I put them on in three hours. I even had no trouble helping Nicole Daza, Marcell Jacobs’ wife, choose the dress. But there are moments of tension, like when we had to fix the broken zipper on Georgina Rodriguez’s dress just before we went on stage in Sanremo to perform a tango».
At just 26, Cavallo is an ambassador for Nicole Milano, a wedding and formal wear brand, which she also talks about on TikTok and Instagram, where she shares tricks and secrets for saying yes. Here she is followed by over 400,000 followers and she was a pioneer when she realized that social networks could be a fertile field to talk about a world as exclusive as it is fascinating like that revolving around marriage.
We meet her at Nicole Milano’s store, not far from the city center, where she greets us together with her sister Aurora, aka Cooker Girl, Tiktoker with more than a million followers and aspiring chef. As a daughter of art — her mother, Alessandra Rinaudo, is a bridal stylist and her father, Carlo Cavallo, was managing director for southern Europe at Pronovias — she said she always thought, “I’m not ever going to do this work.
It didn’t go quite like that…
“I grew up in this world. Sometimes it was even a challenge: my parents started the company when they were very young and they had to make ends meet as best they could, so they took us everywhere. After school I went to the store or to the tailor shop. My first memory is right there: lining the buttons of wedding dresses. This job selects you like my mother did.”
Did her parents have expectations of her?
“I don’t think they always gave me the freedom to do things and make mistakes: I’ve always had a lot of independence. And also in the workplace, I’ve always been fortunate to find people who have shown so much trust in me, even though I’m so young in this industry. I made this trust my own and tried to follow a path that reflects me».
Also via social media.
«I wanted to go my own way, which is typical for working in a family environment: my mother is the best designer in the field of wedding dresses for me, I could never have traced her footsteps. When I started with igtv (long video formats on Instagram, ed.) I still remember it very well. I was in Milan with my mum and I spoke to her and I said, ‘I see all these influencers making videos about how they’re dressed. Who knows what it’s like to wear and show off a wedding dress while doing the same thing. “I started and slowly (I’m still the only one doing it in the bridal world) it was well received”.
You dressed Federica Pellegrini. How was it?
“She wanted to be treated like a bride, not like the Olympic champion who made the history of Italian swimming. We didn’t know each other, I read that she was getting married and wrote to her. She immediately told me “okay”. He decided on the first appointment: in three hours we had finished ».
It was easy!
“It was all very natural, but thanks to her. We started with a base and matched it, we immediately sketched the dress with my designer and she never changed her mind about anything.”
And the flower? This detail kept people talking for days.
«I tell you the truth, it wasn’t even from my collection and it was almost born as a game. She wore the dress and was already convinced, but there was a spark missing. One of my bridal stylists grabs this flower and puts it on her head. At that moment she is crying. This flower represented part of her personality: it’s whimsical, original. If this accessory had not been there, it would not have confirmed the dress».
She also followed Nicole Daza on her wedding day with the fastest man alive, Marcell Jacobs.
“Two completely different women, but equally interesting. We all know Federica, she is incredible, with an education, kindness and simplicity compared to her character that is almost disarming. Even with my team she was lovely. Nicole has a completely different story: she is very young, she already has two children, she and Marcell have distant families, he then had to cope with incredible success. But they too are two humble boys. Nicole has very different tastes than Federica, but she is direct and determined. I put zero effort into both of them, much less than non-famous brides, because they knew what they wanted.”
Is there a moment in your career that you hold in your heart more than others?
“Yes, and it’s something that didn’t happen directly to me, it was one of my bridal stylists who told me about it and I was very excited to think of it happening here. A bride chose her dress with her blind mother. And every time she wore a dress, she described it to her mother in great detail. Once my mother touched it and realized it was her dress. A fantastic moment.”
And an episode where you thought everything would fall apart?
«(Sighs and laughter, editor’s note). Often. There’s always the catch. It’s a mess when the dress doesn’t fit right before the wedding because the bride has gained or lost too much weight, or maybe got pregnant and didn’t tell us. Once I thought “Now I’m dying” when Georgina Rodriguez, Cristiano Ronaldo’s partner, had to dance on the Ariston stage in Sanremo. She had worn two dresses, one by Pronovias and one by Nicole, for the tango and pulled up the zipper, which broke just before the performance. I thought “It’s the end”. We adjusted it as best we could and hoped it didn’t make any sudden movements. She takes the stage and breaks up live on TV: I thought she would get up naked, without a dress. Instead, fortunately, he kept everything, but the tension was at its peak!”.
It can’t have been easy to keep my nerve.
“It wasn’t easy. But it has also happened to weddings: once it happened that the dress caught fire right at the place of the ceremony. It’s not nice to manage these unexpected events, but we always try to support the bride Most of the time everything goes well, but sometimes these accidents happen.
What is the secret of being able to deal with such different women so well?
“Now I have a fantastic team, I have to admit that. Among my trusted associates is Milva, who I’m dying to mention as she was a sales clerk to my grandmother, my mother and now mine. She is fantastic, she also has great sartorial expertise. Your safety gives me safety. And when a person stands in front of me, I end up thinking to myself, “What should he do, just get married. If we meet, fine.” Then of course I get very emotional, but while I’m working I’m aware that you have to like the dress because you’re getting married.”
What is it like working in an industry where customer expectations are so high?
“I don’t feel the fear. When you speak to my bridal stylists, they get to know brides well in the nine months they see each other before the big day. You know people’s personal and family dynamics, but it’s natural: rehearsals last two to three hours, we can’t just talk about the dress! You have a lot of relationships with the bride and are therefore part of this day. Our happiness is that we work in a beautiful moment in people’s lives. That’s why I never feel the pressure, not even when I’ve dressed important people: in the end, there’s always a bride in front of me».
The most difficult thing in your job?
“There is nothing difficult. Maybe always be one step ahead? However, it is a sophisticated, small, very traditional and deep-rooted industry. A sector that moves slowly ».
Also in 2022?
‘Yes, even today. There are so many things I would like to do but I can’t because the industry doesn’t allow me to. The hardest thing is trying to be one step ahead without making the mistake of distorting yourself».
Give me an example.
“We bring out a collection every year and present around 400 dresses at a time. I would like to share more, make more collections. But then I think about it and realize that with all the choices, everyone can find their dream dress here. Another example? Catalogues: Every dress must be photographed with an editorial, a story that accompanies the dress. I can’t do lookbooks like in the fashion world with a white background. The dress needs to be contextualized and convey emotions. So there is a huge amount of extra work behind every photo».
You were just on tour with Nicole Bridal Stylist. Where did this idea come from?
“It’s an event I’m very proud of because there’s no such thing. It grew out of another in-store event where I thought I’d give all women across Italy the opportunity to have an interview with the stylists we train here in the Milan store. And so we thought about a tour of Italy. We met more than 700 brides, all the appointments were sold out and most importantly, the brides made an appointment».
We’ve talked about brides, but what’s your relationship with followers like instead?
“Very pretty. On social media I only show a small part of my life that I choose and drink because I know that part is the one that keeps me close to brides and those who follow me for my work .I consider myself very fortunate because I have a close relationship with all the brides.We have a network of 400 retailers across Italy: I receive photos of women going into the store from our retailers to choose a dress and they ask me for advice on the type of veil in private Instagram messages, or the stylists suggest trying to learn how to sit with the dress and the clients say, “We already know, let’s Nicole on social media.” follow”. It’s something special”.
January 3, 2023 (change January 3, 2023 | 07:28)
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