Wedding-dress designer Hayley Paige changes her name to Cheval amid a months-long legal battle with her former employer

• Hayley Paige Gutman, the former designer for Hayley Paige Bridal, has changed her name to Cheval.
• She told Insider she chose the name because it felt "imaginative" and like "strength."

Hayley Paige Gutman, the former lead designer for Hayley Paige Bridal, has changed her name.

She told Insider she would now go by Cheval, which means "horse" in French.

JLM Couture, Hayley Paige Bridal's parent company, was granted a preliminary injunction against Cheval in March 2021 following disputes between the wedding-dress designer and the company over her use of the @misshayleypaige Instagram account.

The ruling prevents Cheval from using any @misshayleypaige social-media accounts or trademarks for Hayley Paige, which is her birth name. A judge denied Cheval's request to dissolve the preliminary injunction on July 25.

Cheval decided to change her name professionally in March 2021. After referring to herself on Instagram as "a girl you might know" for more than a year, she announced her new name on Monday, telling Insider she came to the decision over the past few days.

"I wanted something that felt really sentimental but also something that felt otherworldly, not just, like, another human name but something that really represented my creativity and the journey that I've been through," she told Insider of what she wanted in her new name.

She added that she stumbled upon the name Cheval organically at a meeting with some of her business mentors.

"We were at a place that had the name Cheval," she said. "I've always been somebody that's been drawn to imaginary unicorns and imaginative mindsets. And horses kind of always represented something of fortitude and strength and this idea of running against the wind.

"I just felt immediately drawn to Cheval as a real name and an identity that I could step into and feel really proud of."

She added: "I just wanted to really like it and feel like I could embody it. I feel like I have conviction with it, which is a really nice feeling."

Cheval also said using one name felt right because of many of the artists she looked up to, such as Adele and Beyoncé.

"Choosing something that is just one name felt like I could harness the energy and power that I want to carry going forward," she said.

Cheval shared two posts on Instagram and a video with her followers explaining why she chose her new name. She also told Insider she would be changing her Instagram handle to @sheischeval.

According to court documents filed on July 25 and reviewed by Insider, Cheval is now allowed to work in the bridal industry and any other industry that competes with JLM Couture, as August 1 marked the expiration of her employment agreement with the company.

But according to the court documents, she cannot be "identified" as a designer or use her identity to promote the sales of a business in competition with JLM Couture until August 1, 2027, which would make it difficult for her to work in the bridal industry.

Cheval told Insider she had been "mentally prepared" to reenter the bridal industry and that she felt "blindsided" that she would not be able to do that. But she said she's in the process of starting a business venture targeted toward women that did not compete directly with JLM.

"I've always seen myself as an artist and as a creator," Cheval added. "This has given me a whole new excitement for other frontiers. I always thought that bridal was my linchpin, but really I have this opportunity to engage and captivate with even more women now."

She is also launching the A Girl You Might Know Foundation, which she said would "provide a platform to protect the interests of young artists and designers and creatives" as they entered the workforce.

Cheval plans for the foundation to give artists and creatives access to resources like pro-bono attorneys and templates for legal documents.

"I think it's necessary," she said of the foundation. "Unfortunately for me, I had to learn through experience, but I can take what I've gone through and hopefully inspire and educate other people."