May 24, 2018

When you hear a bride to be say “The Loved One” some people might think she was talking about her fiancee, and while that very well may be true, if you’re talking to a Canadian bride, there’s a good chance she’s referring to the one of a kind accessories company who refers to themselves as “makers and curators of beautiful accessories.” Olive Studio has been lucky enough to have had the opportunity to feature some of the beautiful and unique pieces from The Loved One in our past creative bridal shoots. 

Brides in Toronto certainly have an abundance of options when it comes to accessories shopping for their wedding day, but when asked what makes The Loved One stand out from other designers in the city, Antonia, the co-owner and founder of The Loved One, thinks it’s their desire to create beautiful, original designs that are mindful of current trends, but don’t necessarily follow them. This is especially true in the custom work that they do. Antonia says she works closely with her brides to either adapt existing designs, or create bespoke, one-of-a-kind pieces.

“While my own aesthetic is always visible in my work, I love adding in special flourishes that make a custom piece as unique and diverse as the individual wearing it.”

The Loved One, co-owned by Antonia and her business partner and husband, Scott Casuccio, officially launched their business back in February of 2012 and keeping in line with the theme of their company name and the spirit of their brand, they decided to launch on Valentine’s Day…how perfect!

Their name, which I find just as charming and lovely as their accessories, was actually inspired by a novel called The Loved One written in 1948 by Evelyn Waugh.

“The book is a delightfully dark little satire, and has nothing to do with weddings at all, though there is a lovely little sub-theme of eternal love. I try to bring that contradiction and element of the unexpected into my work.”

Advertising and promotion for the business is mostly done through word of mouth, but social media and Instagram in particular play a huge role. Antonia also believes their listing on The Wedding Co. has been really helpful, and she gets that through her participation in their annual spring wedding show.

Antonia’s professional background is in display, merchandising and retail design. She started her career as part of the display team at Holt Renfrew, where she learned an incredible amount about retail and the art of presenting things beautifully. Some of the other amazing retailers she’s had the privilege of working for include Club Monaco in southern California; Urban Outfitters; Gap Inc in NY and Toronto and Anthropologie. She also recently had the pleasure of working on the redesign of the flagship Umbra store. Quite the impressive career background! 

But like most of us, what Antonia dreamed of being when she was a little girl was a bit different than what she does today. Her passions as a child ranged from becoming a ballet dancer, to paleontology to literature and she actually had plans to go into academics but at the last minute, she decided to submit some fashion sketches to Sheridan College and ended up enrolling in their fashion design program. Fashion was always a passion of hers growing up as well.

“When I was a kid back in England, I used to beg my mom to take me into Knightsbridge to see the windows at Harrods (foreshadowing). Apparently I was also obsessed with the bridal shop at the top of our local high street. Hmmmm…”

The world of couture is where Antonia gets a lot of her inspiration from, in particular the late Alexander McQueen, John Galliano during his days at Dior, Vivienne Westwood, Iris van Herpen, Guo Pei, Cristóbal Balenciaga and the list goes on. But her primary source of inspiration comes from the beauty in nature. She also loves to travel and looks to the photos she’s taken over the years while visiting museums and art galleries as a source of inspiration.

Their most popular accessory right now is almost any of the gold crowns, combs or halos, particularly the new Laceflower Comb and Primrose Halo and the Floriana and Madeleine crowns. According to Antonia, gold has been the overwhelmingly popular choice of metals for the past two seasons.

I asked Antonia if she had a favourite piece from one of her collections over the years and not surprisingly, she said it was too hard to pick a favourite. But she did share that her most meaningful piece is the Gwendoline Halo, which is named after her Grandmother.

“Some of my happiest childhood memories are of spending days with her in her beautifully tended English garden, learning the names of different flowers and plants.”

One of the things that I admire and appreciate about The Loved One is the support they show to other small businesses in Toronto. In fact, many of their beautiful pieces are designed and made locally in Toronto and surrounding areas. Some of the designers that are featured on their website are David Dunkley Fine Millinery, who creates exquisitely made millinery in the English tradition; goldsmith Kim Drosdick, who is one of the owners of Flux & Form, jewelry designer Jenna Ianelli from Valentine Rouge, Breanne Morrow from White Feather Designs and jeweler/artist Lissa Brunet. 

While I think that Antonia has a pretty fantastic dream job already, when asked if she had another dream job she would like to one day add to her repertoire, she shared that she would love to “pull a Jon Stewart” and have a rescue farm somewhere in the countryside, or to rescue sea otters off the coast of Monterey. Okay, how awesome would that be?!

Owning and running your own business is no easy task and I’m always amazed by successful business owners and often wonder how they manage to balance it all. Antonia says that finding a good balance between work and relaxation is challenging and that entrepreneurs put pressure on themselves to always be working….but she wisely acknowledges that reminding yourself to step away for a bit is a good thing. I couldn’t agree more! We wish you continued success, Antonia, for many years to come. I wonder what beautiful accessories you’ll wow us with next 🙂

~Marilyn

————————————-VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV————————————-

photo credits:  The Loved One // Danijela Weddings // Olive Studio // Facebook @TheLovedOne.ca // Instagram @theloved_one