Fashion's Fairy Godmother
Madison Chamberlain ’17
Fashion Design
While many brides dream of walking down the aisle in a traditional white dress, fashion designer Madison Chamberlain ’17 has thrown open the window to let in the light from a dazzling rainbow of colors, fantastic array of fabrics and textures, and imaginative, inspired design, empowering nontraditional brides to dare to dream of a magical wedding featuring glorious, customized, one-of-a-kind gowns and veils.
A visit to her website, TikTok, or Instagram accounts features a peek into a fashion fairy tale resplendent with everything under the sun, from sequins to tulle, ruffles to metallics—flowers to hearts. Brides will see words like "joyful," veils with the names “Moonbeam” and “Darling,” and find welcome and acceptance, no matter their size or design dreams.
Even as a child, Chamberlain, a 2017 graduate of Jefferson’s (then Philadelphia University’s) fashion design program, knew early on that she wanted to be in the fashion field. “I toured different schools in New York and Philadelphia,” she says. “I loved that Jefferson had a beautiful campus but still had such a great fashion program. At other fashion schools, I felt like I was getting one or the other. Here, you had both.”
Chamberlain didn’t always envision a business creating incredible bespoke bridal couture. “In college, I never did bridal, but I always created very over-the-top occasion wear,” she shares. “I liked working with embellishment, was obsessed with sparkly things, and loved designing with lots of color. It’s not so different from what I do now, it’s just a different category.”
To this day, she utilizes—and values—lessons she learned and challenges she conquered, while at Jefferson. “They really asked a lot of us, but in a good way,” Chamberlain says. “They expected a lot with the workload, with managing your time, and with presenting something you worked on and pushed yourself through.”
She is grateful that Jefferson set her up to succeed. “I think that level of expectation and balancing things made us feel like we wanted to achieve those things and do a good job,” she says.
I really cared about sustainability, and body and size inclusivity.
“There’s so much pressure in owning a business and working in fashion in general, and I use those skills every single day. Everything was project-based in school, and I treat almost everything I do the same way today.”
Chamberlain is proud to have won a chance to show her second senior collection at New York Fashion Week and has kept a lot of her early work. “That was a career highlight that I still think about,” she shares.
It’s not only in career matters where Jefferson changed her life. “The closest people to me are from school,” she says. “My roommate, who I still live with to this day, was my roommate in college. I’m getting married this year, and our officiant is one of my friends from Jefferson’s medical program. I look back on school very, very fondly, and I just loved it.”
Following graduation, Chamberlain joined Free People as a design assistant on the party dresses team. “After two years I was burnt out and thought I was done with fashion in general,” she shares. “I got a tiny art studio in Fishtown, started to waitress again, taught kids art and sewing, and painted pet portraits.”
But after some time, she realized she missed the fashion world and wanted to do things her way. “I left because I felt like I was contributing to mass consumption,” Chamberlain says. “I really cared about sustainability, and body and size inclusivity. I tried to create a ready-to-wear brand but soon realized all the different challenges that come with that. Then, after a year, a friend introduced me to her friend who was a size 16 or 18 and was looking for a wild, custom wedding dress. It was my first one-on-one experience with a client, and I fell in love with the process.”
For Chamberlain, creating designs celebrating fun, fashion, sustainability, and size inclusivity “ticked all the boxes” and set her on an exciting new journey. She shares, “Creating crazy clothes at a price point where I could get paid for my work; making things that fit people perfectly and brought brides joy for their important day; having them be so elated and bringing purpose to the world through my designs: these were my main goals.”
After creating this life-changing dress in September 2021, in January 2022, Chamberlain turned to social media for help in announcing her new venture, regularly posting her nontraditional custom veils, dresses, and capes on Instagram. Slowly, people began to take notice. But it wasn’t until a post on TikTok in August 2022 that her business launched into the stratosphere.
Still working other jobs, Chamberlain didn’t really have clients and was posting as much as she could, trying to gain notice. “Someone found me that wanted a nontraditional veil,” she shares. Once Chamberlain posted a video modeling the stunning, sequined, rainbow-colored creation, the veil went viral, and she was able to quit her part-time job and devote all her time to her business. And the rest is fashion history.
In the two years since the business’s hard launch, it has expanded to include two additional team members, both Jefferson alums. Chamberlain serves clients from across the globe, with all fittings taking place in her studio in Philadelphia’s Fishtown neighborhood, and offers not only these one-on-one custom design experiences, but also a number of items available for purchase and made to order on her website.
“I do one collection each year,” she says. “Right now, I’m inspired by designs from the Victorian and Edwardian eras in combination with women of today, from pop stars to media personalities. I’m also drawn to fantastical, whimsical things like fairies and angel wings and am incorporating them into my bridal designs.”
Chamberlain doesn’t take her role in designing dresses—and dreams—lightly. “So much of what I do is run a business,” she says. “And that comes with trials and tribulations, headaches, stress, fear, and all the things. But I feel most proud when we show things to the clients, and they cry and feel so moved. I start crying every time as well. It’s so emotional and cool to see things that you create evoke that emotion. At the end of the day, that is the goal as a designer, right? You want to make people feel things.”
But for her own wedding dress? The design is top secret!