It’s not that Molly Guy, 36, loves weddings — “f - - k weddings” is the motto of Stone Fox Bride, her groovy chic NYC dress shop — it’s that she loves women. And there’s no better time to connect with another woman in all her complicated glory than when she’s planning her nuptials. Stress, joy, love — Guy wants it all.
My customers are like my friends, not clients,” she says. That’s not cloying sales chatter. Brides and mothers-of broadcast love for the girl-crush worthy, hippie doyenne of unruffled weddings in glowing reviews on Instagram and Pinterest.
Her many devotees also include the girls of “Girls.” Jemima Kirke (who plays Jessa on the show) starred in Guy’s Spring 2013 look book, frolicking in ethereal dresses and locking lips with jewelry designer Pamela Love. “Jemima’s sister Domino was my doula,” Guy explains. “I had to find models who were strong and deep and dark and really comfortable in their skin. Jemima was perfect.”
And, last summer, fellow “Girls” star Zosia Mamet (who plays Shoshanna) posed for the label’s Second Life collection — a vintage selection of pajamas, blouses, kimonos, shawls and more.
“Zosia is such a stone fox. She’s super free-spirited and down-to-earth and also completely composed and regal and old school Hollywood,” Guy says. “She’s equal parts Huck Finn and Jean Harlow.”
Indeed, Guy has a knack for amplifying her world with cunning style stars. Ashley Olsen popped by last spring and bought a vintage dress (not for a walk down the aisle) straight from Guy’s closet. “I met Ashley’s best friend at a baby shower and we hit it off,” Guy explains. “She mentioned her friend was looking for some worn, beautiful block-print Indian dresses, so I pulled a few of mine. I didn’t know it was Ashley ’til she walked through the door.”
It may all seem an effortless flow now, but the idea for Stone Fox Bride sprang from blocked frustration. “When I got engaged I kept asking, ‘Where’s the cool shop?’ ” Guy says. “I couldn’t find it.”
After doing the wedding circuit, she bought a lovely off-the-rack Alice Temperley for her 2010 nuptials, but felt muddled by the process. “It was peculiar I couldn’t find exactly what I wanted in NYC,” Guy says. “There’s something for everyone here, that’s why we live here.”
Around that same time, she felt disillusioned by her career as a magazine editor and novelist and fantasized about a way out. She bought “Retail for Dummies,” meditated (cried, too) for about three months and, with zero experience, launched a dress shop.
“I just really wanted to start a cool, carefully curated wedding store,” Guy says of the celebrate-you-as-you-are showroom that winks at the décor of a fallen princess’s chic crashpad.
With the help of her brother-in-law and business partner Peter Shapiro, owner of Brooklyn Bowl, Stone Fox Bride opened in February 2012 with dresses commissioned from her favorite designers, and, later, her own creations.
This spring brings five new Stone Fox Bride dresses, capsule collections from Savannah Miller, Honor and Mandy Coon, and an exclusive jewelry collection from Anna Sheffield.
The company’s blog, Stone Fox Tales, also relaunches on Valentine’s Day, with content like “Weddings We Love,” “Foxes We Heart” (a spotlight on creative types) and addictive super-short engagement stories from Instagram.
“The goal is to expand content to everything love and sex and relationship-related,” Guy says, adding that a guidebook filled with essays and tips embracing the label’s frank, fun spirit is also in the works.
With Allison Williams rumored to be getting engaged any second, might another “Girls” star be basking in Stone Fox Bride love soon? The free and easy Guy wouldn’t dare to presume.
But she does have plans for one bride who struggled to find the ideal gown.
“I’ll create the ‘Molly’ when I renew my vows with my husband and design the dress of my dreams,” she says.