Bridal Buyer Award 2004 Leigh-Anne McCague Tiaras

Winner Bridal Buyer Awards Best Headdress Designer 2005

Charlie Rose Tiara

Leigh-Anne McCague takes the glittering prize again this year.

Judges Comment

Leigh-Anne McCague is a true experimenter, mixing high fashion looks with the demanding needs of bridal. She never holds back in design terms, hence she always has something new to say that sets her apart from others.

She has been in business for 21 years, originally in fashion retail when she produced her own range of handmade jewellery. She moved full time into bridal 11 years ago and hasn't looked back. Today Leigh-Anne has a UK client base of more than 200 retailers as well as a thriving export business, with customers in Japan, the USA, Malta, Norway, Iceland, Ireland and Germany.

Asked about her 2004 win, Leigh-Anne said that the recognition from within the industry that came with winning gave her - and her business - a tremendous buzz, as well as the excuse to get new stationary printed.

Her most outrageous creation to date is Twiggy, an asymetrical sculpture made of tiny gold twigs covered in crystal, and a leopard-print tiara made up of tiny petals, a flurry of feathers and feathers and big, big crystals. Look out for her new bold and brights, especially for bridesmaids, featuring rich deep greens and a brilliant cerise pink. Leigh-Anne sees a growing demand for 'Alice Band' headdresses where a single decorative shape is the feature.

Bridal Buyer Awards 2004

Judging Criteria

  • Design bravado that pushes the limits and makes the mainstream fashion industry sit up and take notice of bridal.
  • The degree to which traditional materials have been used in an innovative/creative way.
  • Diversity across the range of headdresses, so that different tastes - and different markets - are catered for.
  • Unusual/innovative use of colour.