Since founding their namesake label Nicole + Felicia in 2015, sisters Nicole and Felicia Chang have achieved greater than they ever imagined. 

“We did not actually set a purpose for the place we wished to be as a result of I really feel like beginning a model is one thing that is actually arduous,” Nicole, designer and inventive director, tells PEOPLE solely. “It is simply been about actually, actually attempting our greatest.”

Their hustling paid off. Right now, the siblings — who had been born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan, by mother and father who labored within the marriage ceremony robe manufacturing enterprise — and their model have created a number of seasonal collections and a fan base stuffed with Asia and Hollywood’s hottest stars, together with Taylor Swift, who wore three ball robes by the label throughout her U.S. Eras Tour.

And their momentum hasn’t stopped. This month, Nicole + Felicia launched an unique assortment with marriage ceremony put on mecca Kleinfeld Bridal, which marks the corporate’s first collaboration.

“It was truly simply one thing that occurred this January after I was at Kleinfeld doing a trunk present. I walked into [Kleinfeld Bridal’s head buyer] Dorothy [Silver’s] workplace and was like, ‘Do you guys wish to do an unique assortment with me?’ ” Nicole remembers, including, “It isn’t about being at Kleinfeld, it is the individuals that actually made me really feel particular.”

Forward the designer — together with Amy Chen, Nicole + Felicia’s public relations supervisor — tells PEOPLE how she and her sister reworked their firm from a “small concept” right into a rising empire cherished by celebrities and the perfect in bridal. 

PEOPLE: Nicole, was vogue an enormous a part of yours and Felicia’s lives rising up? 

Nicole: My mother and father are in manufacturing for lots of the American and European manufacturers, so in fact I additionally grew up watching all of the seamstresses and the design staff. It was form of like a pure path for me to enter the entire bridal business.

I additionally grew up watching my mother gown up — I used to be very fortunate that she was very into vogue and she or he educated me on easy methods to gown. My dad would additionally go on enterprise journeys to Europe, and after I was 10, he purchased me a small Dior gown for my birthday. These particular moments made my curiosity in vogue develop.

PEOPLE: Have been you ever somebody who grew up envisioning themselves in a marriage gown? 

Nicole: Imagining myself as a bride, I wasn’t so positive as a result of I wasn’t positive if I used to be going to search out the correct man. Individuals all the time ask me about what I wish to put on after I get married. I all the time wished to put on a quite simple swimsuit or white gown, however now that I’ve created so many alternative kinds and all these ball robes, I am not so positive anymore. Possibly a ball robe for me sooner or later.

Chen: I all the time pester Nicole. I am like, ‘You based one of many biggest bridal manufacturers to come back out of Asia.’ I would like a grand dramatic second.

Nicole: The primary query that folks began asking me after I acquired engaged was, ‘What are you going to put on?’

PEOPLE: You and your sister went on to review completely different fields that could not be farther from design and manufacturing. What made you determine to return to the style world after which create your personal label from there? 

Nicole: Finding out economics was simply so we had a greater concept of the enterprise aspect. I believe it is also vital that we did that. I believe it actually helped us know the truth of beginning your personal model.

PEOPLE: Have been there any challenges that you simply confronted when constructing this label from scratch? 

Nicole: I believe the toughest half was truly choosing a reputation for the model. We had been like, ‘What if it fails?’ Utilizing your personal title, you aren’t getting a second likelihood. I believe the second-hardest factor all through this complete journey was throughout COVID. I believe lots of people had been questioning themselves, not figuring out what to do or simply hitting that wall. We had been very established in Asia already, so we had been form of caught, not figuring out after we may ever enter the U.S. or European market. It hit us fairly arduous.

PEOPLE: On a private degree, is there any stress working as a sister duo?

Nicole: To start with, me and my sister spent numerous time determining who’s doing what. When it comes to design, I’ve concepts and she or he had concepts and it was arduous as a result of, who’s the staff going to hearken to? However later, we discovered that I used to be in command of the entire inventive advertising aspect and my sister in command of the manufacturing aspect as a result of she did work for my dad for 3 years and she or he’s extra conversant in how the manufacturing facility runs. Working with household is fairly arduous usually. My dad is my boss too, in order that additionally has plenty of stress.

PEOPLE: How lengthy was the method of making the gathering for Kleinfeld?

Chen: Since February, we began actually placing the concepts collectively. The entire course of was very collaborative from each side and I might say took, from begin to end, perhaps 5 months. Every part was completed by the tip of June and Nicole introduced the samples together with her and did a complete manufacturing in Paris to shoot the marketing campaign.

PEOPLE: How would you describe Nicole + Felicia’s type as a label, and the way are these components ingrained on this unique assortment you’ve got with Kleinfeld? 

Chen: We carry plenty of the glamorous components that you’d see on purple carpets into each day life. So what we’re actually identified for, aside from modern traces and corsetry, is that factor of luxurious. Any hand-done components that you simply see on our robes — all of the appliqués and beading — had been all made and designed in-house in our atelier, and I believe that actually units us aside. Lots of the interpretations of purple carpet items you will see transferred to our bridal assortment.

PEOPLE: Is there a selected storyline that you simply wished to inform?

Chen: Kleinfeld actually wished to spotlight and have our craftsmanship. We have now ball robes and beaded kinds, each minis and your normal mermaid silhouettes. We additionally included among the actually modern, very trendy items that we thought could possibly be timeless. We have now one thing for everybody.

PEOPLE: What are among the greatest bridal developments you are seeing up to now this 12 months?

Nicole: I believe usually individuals now are on the lookout for one thing that is actually elegant and trendy and never so dramatic or excessive, which is what our model is aiming for and who our model is designing for.

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PEOPLE: What’s one piece of recommendation you’d inform brides who’re simply embarking on their marriage ceremony gown procuring journey? 

Nicole: I might say, actually keep true to who you’re and check out as many items as potential. I believe that actually helps with determining what you need. You by no means know till you set one gown on.

PEOPLE: Is there something that you simply and your staff wish to verify off your bucket checklist?

Nicole: I believe it’s simply to have a fair higher assortment for October. I really feel like the largest problem we have had is creating a greater assortment than the final. I wish to hold the purpose nearer to me. I do not wish to say, ‘Oh, I wish to do that.’ I really feel like alternatives will come alongside while you work arduous.