Bridal Gowns: $$$

PRONOVIAS is a family owned firm that began life in “El Suizo”, a prestigious Barcelona store founded by Alberto Palatchi Bienveniste in 1922 that specialized in lace, embroidery, and high-quality silk fabrics.

What started as a family business would later grow to become Pronovias. In 1964, when Alberto Palatchi Ribera joined, the company pioneered the creation of the first prêt-à-porter bridal fashions, a revolution at the time, which made wedding dresses accessible to all women.

The company started internationalizing in 1977, pioneering the franchise business and opening the first store of this kind in the Netherlands before moving into North America and Asia during the nineties. Pronovias leads the world with its extensive distribution network, with more than 4,000 points of sale in 105 countries. Since the seventies, Pronovias has had a network of 79 franchises which share the values and savoir-faire of its own stores, guaranteeing a unique shopping experience, that has reached all corners of the world.

The firm also has 44 of its own stores in the world’s main fashion capitals. In 2002 it opened a flagship store in Paris. Then came London, with a first store in a Victorian building in New Bond Street. In 2008 it was time to launch a flagship store in New York, a seven-story business in 52nd Street, between Fifth Avenue and Madison. Then came Dubai and Mexico in 2008, Milan in 2009, Tokyo in 2011 and Rome, followed by Brussels and Berlin in 2015.