The brand's own claim is that Aberra invented the modern wedding dress, and it is more defensible than most such claims: she stripped the ornate mid-eighties bridal silhouette back to silk chiffon, a high neck and sheer illusion sleeves, which is the template her own gown established. The illusion neckline became the house signature. She sold her first full collection of twelve gowns to Kleinfeld, launching the wholesale business, and opened a Madison Avenue salon in 1996 before adding evening couture in 1997. Aberra died in 2018, and the company continues under her husband Neil Brown and their daughter Rachel, with pieces still made to order in the New York atelier.

This is the most institutional name in the list and the clothes reflect that: restrained, made to measure, built for one day and photographed for decades. The gowns have appeared in Runaway Bride, 27 Dresses and The Hangover, and Halle Berry, Julia Roberts and Salma Hayek have all worn the label. Buy it if you want bridal or evening dressing with no irony in it at all.