bridesmaid-dresses
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Grace Lee Chen and the six-dress education
Six turns as a bridesmaid taught Grace Lee Chen what wedding shopping got wrong. She built Birdy Grey with her best friend, then handed over the CEO job to return to the creative work that started it all.
Birdy Grey
Birdy Grey is a direct-to-consumer bridal brand that reinvented bridesmaid-dress shopping by moving it entirely online with a simple promise: stylish, coordinated wedding-party attire at a fixed, affordable price. Launched in 2017 from a West Hollywood living room by Grace Lee Chen and later joined by Monica Ashauer, the brand sells bridesmaid dresses starting at $89, ships free color swatches so brides can match their palette, and has since expanded into groomsmen suits, accessories, and everyday event wear. It crossed $100 million in revenue in 2024 and has served over one million customers.
Monica Ashauer
Monica Ashauer is the co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Birdy Grey, the direct-to-consumer bridal brand that put stylish bridesmaid dresses on the map for under $100. A Wharton-trained, ex-McKinsey strategist, she paired with best friend Grace Lee Chen in 2017 to fix a broken category - the six-month wait, the non-returnable polyester, the $300 dress worn once. The result: a hybrid made-to-order model that built reverse working capital, crossed $100 million in revenue by 2024, and made Birdy Grey a wedding-season staple. In 2025 she stepped from President into the Chief Strategy Officer seat and joined the board as Executive Chairman.