Buried deep in the heart of industrial West Burleigh, there is little indication that inside this unassuming brick building there lies an Aladdin’s cave filled with luxurious fabrics and exquisite gowns coveted by brides around the world.

This is the secret headquarters of Grace Loves Lace, the homegrown bridal label that has become a global sensation – with 26 showrooms around the world, a darling of New York Bridal Fashion Week and featured in fashion bibles like Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar.

Now the largest independent bridal brand in the world, shipping to more than 80 countries and with celebrity fans like Margot Robbie, Audrina Partridge and Chloe Fisher, the local label does it all from its Kortum Drive warehouse – design, development, cutting and sewing, quality control and packaging.

On its spacious floor, filled with sewing machines and cutting tables, hangs a rack of stunning dresses ready to be shipped to one of the world’s waiting brides-to-be.

And there is a reason why Grace Loves Lace is behind the most pinned dress on the planet … her name is Megan Ziems.

With an obsession for perfection, founder and creative director Megan was inspired to begin the brand in 2011 after becoming disillusioned with the traditional wedding ‘uniform’ that dominated the market – structured, a bit boring and overpriced.

So she set out to change the bridal industry from her own living room.

“I just knew there was a gap in the market for something luxurious, comfortable and stylish that was affordable but still high quality,” said Megan, whose parents sailed to Australia from Europe when she was just four years old, and have been on the Gold Coast ever since.

“So I just lay down on my lounge room floor in Palm Beach and sketched it myself, badly.

“But I found out I knew more than I thought I did because both my mother and grandmother were in the business of dressmaking, I understood fabrics and patterns.

“The first collection was like five dresses and it was really simple and comfortable but beautiful. My mother’s luxury lingerie line had a factory in Burleigh, which suffered during the GFC, so we just took on that team of seamstresses.

“It was all online to begin with but then brides wanted to try on the dresses so I just opened up my home to brides.

“When I sold my first dress I thought I would be ecstatic, but I am diagnosed OCD, so I went from ‘woo-hoo!’ to ‘this needs to be perfect’.

“I turned into a crazy person. I used to pack all the wedding dresses myself, I wouldn’t let anyone touch them, I would have 20 boxes ready to deliver and then think ‘what if I got the order wrong’, and I would unpack all of them and pack them again.

“My perfectionism comes from genuinely wanting everyone to be happy, this is the most important dress most women will ever buy.

“Perfectionism can be my superpower, but it’s also extremely exhausting.”

Another superpower is that Burleigh base, as well as an ability to see risk as opportunity.

During Covid, when major bridal businesses struggled with supply chains, Grace Loves Lace was able to continue deliveries on time since its local manufacturing was relatively unscathed by lockdowns, and was even able to expand its retail footprint.

That stands in stark comparison to other major bridal businesses such as Australia’s The Bridal Atelier and David’s Bridal in the US, which folded last year as they faced ­increased financial pressures and a difficult market post-Covid.

“We were fortunate that our business continued to grow during Covid thanks to our production being 100 per cent based in Queensland at the time so we were less affected by lockdowns and we continued to deliver gowns to brides,” she said.

“We made some calculated investments into technology in areas of production, operating systems, our people and digital to help deliver the growth we were predicting.

“Last year we also launched standard size alongside our custom size made-to-order dresses, which has allowed us to scale the business for sustainable growth and, due to that success, we have moved some production offshore. But all of our customised gowns are still made here in Burleigh.

“We also were able to take advantage of some excellent leasing opportunities that came up due to the pandemic and really expand our retail footprint, which has paid off for us.”

Megan said while the post-Covid era was not without its challenges, she and her close-knit team, including head designer Rosie Keating, had spent the last few years consolidating, refocusing and innovating.

This month they released Viva, their most anticipated bridal collection in 14 years and the culmination of two years of design, which has already been met with stellar sales.

“After Covid there was a lull in the market because all the brides had already bought their gowns, but the next wave was putting off their purchases until they could book venues.

“So we used that time to literally go to the drawing board and create not just a new major line but some major changes like our own built-in shapewear and our own soft boning to give some structure for those brides who wanted that.

“Brides are changing and we change with them, but we also have to stay true and genuine to what our style and ethos is, and this new line represents that.

“It only launched two weeks ago but it’s the strongest launch we’ve ever had, we’re so proud of what we’ve produced.

“It took two years but we are so back.”

Megan said there were more new releases to come in the next year, even as she continued to juggle the business and her family.

She said while she might be a perfectionist, she also was not afraid to let her staff see her sweat.

She said Grace Loves Lace was not just a team but a family, with all members encouraged to manage their own ‘juggle’ in whichever way worked.

As the winner of the Queensland Telstra Women in Business Award, she said the brand was built on the belief that women should support and celebrate other women.

“Our team is 95 per cent women, so making space for flexibility and family is not a strategy, it’s our life – I’ve been at meetings while breastfeeding a baby. You do what works,” she said.

“Staff come to my house, I go to theirs, we’re all in this together.”

And when it comes to homes, Megan has no plans for either her family or business to leave the Gold Coast, but both have some relocations planned.

She said the Grace Loves Lace showroom on Hibiscus Ave, Burleigh would soon become part of the Kortum Drive headquarters, while her family had recently moved from Palm Beach to the same suburb she grew up in.

“When my parents first sailed to the Gold Coast they weren’t planning to stay, we stopped at the Southport Yacht Club and lived on a boat for a while, but then we moved to Currumbin Valley – and now we’ve come full circle,” she said.

“Next month we’ll move into our new home, which is totally off-grid, completely sustainable and gorgeous.

“It’s been a huge project but I just love design, whether fashion or architecture.”

And no doubt when this building project is complete it will be just like her bridal designs.

Perfection.