Kate Middleton's bridal dress inspires fashion

After Kate Middleton walked down the aisle Friday and unveiled the most closely held secret in royal apparel in decades, hundreds - maybe even thousands - of designers entered the race to be the first to create the next big trend in wedding attire.

Within hours, online shopping site lightinthebox.com was offering a Kate-inspired satin gown for under $400. And experts say Middleton's look will be seen in one variation or another for years to come.

"Whatever she wears will have a lasting influence," said Dan Rentillo, design director for David's Bridal. "My big challenge is how we are going to interpret it."

Like many designers across the world, Rentillo's team sketched designs weeks ago illustrating what they thought Middleton might wear, based on her sense of fashion, body type and what an event of such magnitude would dictate.

What will be shown in bride books, at bridal shows and in bridal stores worldwide will be an interpretation rather than a duplicate of Middleton's dress. Designer Romona Keveza said she doesn't think brides want the exact dress anyway.

"The vast majority of brides will want to put their own special stamp on their wedding day and create their own special look," she said.

Plus, most designers want to put their own stamp on trending styles. "I'll put a Kate dress with my twists on it in the store in two weeks," said designer Alice Padrul, who owns an eponymous bridal

couture in Chicago.

For mass-wedding-attire retailers like David's Bridal, it will be closer to three months - still a quick turnaround - before future brides see their take on the new duchess' dress. Though most wedding dressmakers have their factories fired up for fast production, many are in China and it will take time to get the dresses shipped to stores.

The prices, of course, will depend largely on the type of fabric - silk, taffeta and chiffon, for example, come at very different costs - and what kind of beading or hand-stitching is required.

Designer Allen B. Schwartz, whose A.B.S. line of dresses is known for affordable interpretations of red-carpet looks, was commissioned to crank out a gown inspired by Middleton's dress within 12 hours of seeing it. The price tag was to be determined at a Friday night auction for the 18th annual Race to Erase M.S. in Beverly Hills.

Keveza noted that there is more than one royal getting married this year - Prince Albert of Monaco will marry Charlene Wittstock on July 2 - which is why she anticipates a royal-based trend in wedding dresses for 2011 and 2012.

"It's really all about a new sense of sleek elegance and a new sense of refinement that is coming back," Keveza said.

Rachel Weisz Ivana Bozilovic Chyler Leigh Erika Christensen Leonor Varela