About - Gilded Rose

MEET LULU CLEARY

Owner and founder of Gilded Rose Atelier.

Born in Taiwan and raised in Honduras, she grew up surrounded by her parent’s manufacturing company and her interest in the construction of a garment grew ever since. She decided to pursue her interest and graduated with a Fashion Design degree from The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles, California. After graduation, she was invited to participate in Honduras Summer Fashion Week 2011 and had the opportunity to debut her first RTW collection. This was her first experience dabbling into her “own business”; she enjoyed creating beautiful, unique pieces and interacting with her clients throughout the process. After dipping her toes in the fashion world, she decided to add to her education and graduated with a Marketing degree from Saint Leo University in Florida.

During her time in Florida, she met her husband Steve. “My husband is a sport and computer junky; completely opposite from my world of fashion and glamour. Like people say, "opposites attract", and Steve and I fell in love and decided to start our adventure together”.

After living coast to coast over the next few years, Lulu and Steve decided to settle in Illinois and start planning their wedding. During Lulu’s planning she noticed a gap in uniqueness and inclusiveness when shopping for “the dress”. She felt she had to settle, and a bride should never have to settle when it comes to something so important. An event of this importance happens only once in a lifetime!

This is when Lulu realized she could find and create a space where brides didn't have to travel into a big city just to find their dream dress. After lots of research and many months of hard work, sacrifices, and building great partnerships, Gilded Rose had morphed into a leading International bridal house.
As seen in Modern Luxury Weddings North Shore Magazine, "It's a posh cosmopolitan escape outside the saturated city".

With this ideology and her passion for providing a unique selection and experience for her guests, Lulu has created a “big city” feel in a small town. When asked what drives her, Lulu said “the joy and emotion I find amongst the sea of beautiful intricate gowns makes my world full of excitement! Having the pleasure of interacting with brides and hearing their love stories give me butterflies. It is important for me to be able to offer more than what is inside the box of traditional wedding designers.”

Lulu is “proud to introduce Gilded Rose Atelier to the world. We work hard everyday and continue to strive in presenting hard-to-find collections from well renowned International and Domestic designers that embodies the intimate architecture of a gown. Gilded Rose’s main focus is finding and introducing these unique International designers to the US market”

“I’ve had the pleasure of meeting strong independent women in my life, which inspires me daily to continue succeeding and morphing not only as an individual, but also as a business owner”, - Lulu Cleary

Through Lulu’s hand-picked selection of gowns from international designers, she strives to provide every bride with the design choices she was not able to experience. In Lulu’s words, “every bride has a beautiful story and we feel so honored to be part of their special journey.”