Lake Como Wedding: Tamara Kalinic & the Last Alaïa Gown

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Real Weddings

Lake Como

Inside Tamara Kalinic's Lake Como Wedding and the Last Alaïa Gown Pieter Mulier Designed

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When the atelier saw the final fitting for this Lake Como wedding, they cried. They understood what the dress meant, not just to the bride, but to the house.

There is a moment in fashion when a garment becomes more than clothing. Sometimes it carries the weight of a designer’s final creative act alongside the most personal moment of a woman’s life. Tamara Kalinic’s Lake Como wedding at Villa Pizzo on July 5 was that moment.

She wore a custom Maison Alaïa couture gown to marry Italian fashion manager Filippo Testa. It was the last bridal gown Pieter Mulier designed for the house. In fact, he drew the creation directly from the landscape of the lake itself. He translated Como’s shoreline and light into sculptural, architectural couture.

The images, by photographer Vlasta Weddings, are as considered as the dress itself. Below, they trace the couple’s Lake Como wedding from first look to final dance.

Tamara had known from the start. “There was never any doubt. I knew who would create my dress,” she said. Mulier designed several proposals inspired by Lake Como, sketches in dialogue with Alaïa’s DNA. From those sketches, the direction then emerged. The final fitting brought members of the atelier to tears. It was, by any measure, a significant moment in the history of one of fashion’s most revered houses.

The Villa Pizzo Setting

Villa Pizzo, one of Lake Como’s most storied properties, provided the ceremony’s backdrop. Its panoramic terrace opens onto the view that has drawn artists, writers, and now brides here for centuries. First, Tamara walked in to Ave Maria, accompanied by her father. Then she exchanged vows in front of 100 guests, among them Naomi Campbell. A close friend who had known their love story from the beginning officiated the ceremony. Seven bridesmaids and seven groomsmen flanked the couple, while Tamara’s nephews carried the rings.

The rings themselves carried a detail worth noting. On the inside of each, the couple engraved their signatures, with Tamara’s in Cyrillic script on Filippo’s ring. It was a small private declaration of identity within the grandest of public moments. Her bouquet of white peonies from Roni Floral Design held its own quiet secret. A single purple anemone sat among the blooms, placed in memory of her grandmother.

The Wardrobe

If the Alaïa gown was the ceremony’s centrepiece, the broader Lake Como wedding wardrobe told a more complete story. Tamara approached the weekend as a designer approaches a collection. She considered every look carefully. Moreover, each one reflected a relationship built over years. For the welcome cocktail, she chose a Magda Butrym dress crafted through some 200 hours of crochet handwork. The piece paid deliberate tribute to her Balkan roots. Later, for the reception, she wore a custom Khaite creation developed with Cate Holstein. Clean lines met sculptural construction, with a corset and silhouette built specifically for dancing. Finally, shoes came from @jimmychoo, jewellery from @buchererfinejewellery, makeup from @aliandreeamakeup using @narsissist, and hair from @sebastianiskander.

“This was not a fashion event,” she said of her approach to the dress. “This was a moment when two people become a family. I wanted to look classic, chic and elegant, and to look back at these photos in thirty years and still love every decision I made.” The Alaïa gown, the Magda Butrym crochet, the Khaite corset — each one suggests she will.

The Celebration

@atelierlstudio planned the weekend, with event design by @nicolas_barelier and entertainment by @inspirationlivemusic. An 18-member choir performed opera arias throughout the evening. It was the kind of detail that turns a wedding into theatre. Afterwards, the celebration ran deep into the night, the lake still and dark beyond the terrace.

Filippo Testa met Tamara during Fashion Week. He has worked across some of fashion’s most influential houses, including Off-White and Balmain. The symmetry feels right for this Lake Como wedding: a love begun in fashion, celebrated in couture, documented for history.