The new La Strada per CABIRIA and Cabiria Autumn Winter 2015 Collections are Here!

Hi Friends

The new collections are here! Following a soft launch with a successful pop-up sale in Chicago, and a fantastic NYFW charity fashion show to benefit Care for the Homeless and Susan's Place Women's Shelter in New York City, we have officially launched the La Strada per CABIRIA and Cabiria Autumn/ Winter 2015 collections. 

Here's some photos of the residents of Susan's Place modeling at our NYFW show:

Chi wearing our Resort 2015 Lorna in Green Basketweave

Ebony wearing our A/W 2015 La Strada per CABIRIA Gloria in Cobalt Animal Print

And here are some of the photos from our lookbook:

Adelina in Blue Turtles and Cinzia in Digi Snakeskin

Claudia in Berry Herringbone

Sofia in Yellow Gingko

Please explore the website and our ecommerce site for more details and gorgeous photos. In the meantime, I will leave you with this image: Lydia Hamilton, owner of Boutique Larrieux in Milwaukee, WI, wearing our Claudia in Berry Herringbone with Oprah Winfrey.

I hope you like it all!

All my best, 

Eden

This Week: Delivery, Monday: Photoshoot, Imminently: AW1415 Release!

Hello friends!

My apologies for not posting more frequently, but I've been very busy ushering in the new La Strada per CABIRIA and Cabiria collections, coming out imminently!

Delivery is always frenetic, but that's a very very happy thing.  Here's a few photos from the ironing and finishing area at the factory.

And here's one of our racks getting sorted out for pre-orders.  

Some of our great stockists are Bombshell Boutique in St. Paul, MN, Boutique Larrieux in Milwaukee, WI, HeyGorgeous, Madison Plus Select, and MS.SVG in London, UK.  I get so excited shipping these out!

We are also participating in a Pop-up Shop in Chicago on the weekend of September 5th and 6th run by Stephanie Sack (formerly of Vive la femme) and Lydia of Boutique Larrieux.  It will be held at Ganesha Yoga Chicago ONLY that weekend.  Lucky Chicago folks will get a first peek at much of the new line!

In a VERY few days, we'll be shooting our new lookbook and catalog.  As you know, the La Strada per CABIRIA line is our funkier, less expensive line, and we're including a lot of separates to add to our dresses. The collections are called Via Ostia, after the road to the ancient seaside town of Ostia Antica about 15km from Rome.  In the movie "Nights of Cabiria", this road is where Cabiria and Wanda and their friends live and work, and in real life it's a gorgeous archaeological site.  It's also a part of the Roman city perimeter, and thus has a lot of astounding street art along the way.

We'll be working with the stunning Maxey Greene, the face of our company for 3 seasons now, Chearice Vaughn, whom you may remember from the NYFW show last September, and Connie Andrade, whom I'm thrilled to finally work with after all this time.

Maxey Greene

Chearice Vaughn

Connie Andrade

I can't wait!!!

And then, after all the photos are shot and all the factory items are collected, and everything happens in a moment's time, we anticipate launching the new Via Ostia collection of Cabiria and the Inaugural collection of La Strada per CABIRIA around the first week of September.

Lots more information will be coming soon, so look out!

All the best, 

Eden

The new La Strada per CABIRIA and Cabiria Collections and a SALE

Hello friends,

I have been super busy the last few months drawing, sourcing, plotting, pattern developing, and getting items into the factory for the new Cabiria Collection and the diffusion line, La Strada per CABIRIA. So very excited!

I'm also excited to let you know that the online site Zulily is having a major SALE of Cabiria's past season items for today through Saturday at 6am EST only.  Grab these items before they're gone; you only have another 66 hours!

In the meantime, delivery from the factory is coming in mid-late August, then the photo shoot.  Some of your favorite plus size boutiques and online stores have placed pre-orders, so you can expect to see Cabiria and La Strada per CABIRIA in Boutique Larrieux, Bombshell Boutique, Hey Gorgeous, and Madison Plus Select by autumn.  As always, if you know of a shop that needs to carry our lines, please let me know and I'll pursue that.  I love giving customers the opportunity to try on the clothes and both see and feel the difference.

In the meantime, I want to offer you some sneak previews of the upcoming collections.  Remember that the La Strada per CABIRIA line is our street style inspired line made in lower end fabrics (sometimes), and that's why it's a lower price point.  All the attention to detail and excellent fit you've come to expect from Cabiria is still there!

From the Cabiria line:

Vivi top in 100% silk jersey or 100% silk double georgette

Lorna dress in 100% silk twill (also in green basketweave)

Adelina top in 100% silk twill (also in blue turtle silk CDC)

And from the La Strada per CABIRIA line:

Gloria dress in Purple Heather super soft poly cotton jersey knit

Claudia dress in Berry Herringbone poly/lycra ponte knit

and these amazing pants, with a spiral seam that pulls the fabric forward as you walk, so you don't get that bunching up at the inner thigh.  I'm quite proud of this!

Cinzia pants in 100% silk twill

In the meantime, I'll keep you up to date on all the press we've been getting internationally and at home, and appearances like this one on Showtime's "Nurse Jackie" in a custom Cabiria piece on the wonderful actress Ashlie Atkinson.

Have a wonderful week, and again Zulily's past season super discount sale is ends Saturday morning. Go!

All my best, Eden

Campo Dei Fiori Collection - Autumn Winter Holiday 2014 - Is Here

Hello friends,

First of all, thank you for all your patience.  Many of you have asked when you could see images from the catalog and photoshoot, and many of you have asked when you can buy the pieces you saw at NYFW in September.  Finally, I have the collection ready for you. Now. Today.

For the new collection, Jourdan wears a version of the Stella blouse in Blue Leopard and Black Silk Charmeuse, paired with the Flavia in Giraffe Wool, as previously worn by Victoria in the fashion show.

Maxey wore the Stella blouse in Orange Pebbles and Blue Digital Snakeskin Silk Charmeuse and the Flavia skirt in Atari 8-bit Chevron Brocade for the fashion show.  I had Frances wear it for our lookbook.

Bernadett wore the Stefania dress in Gold Balloons 4-ply silk with Gold Leopard contrast cuffs, collar, and yoke for the fashion show.  Frances wore the same dress for our catalog, but I made this dress in a number of different versions for the collection.

Maxey wears the Stefania in Blue Gerbera silk crepe de chine with Butternut silk faille trim, as well as a version with no contrast at all.

She also wears the Stefania in Horoscope White Italian merino wool jersey, a super fine gauge knit that insulates the body while being nearly translucent.

And Frances wears the Stefania in Blue Gerbera silk crepe de chine with Taupe Paintbrush silk twill trim with an accent belt.

As well as the Stefania in a Pink Jigsaw silk twill with black silk charmeuse contrast.

In the show, Frances wore a Sofia silk jersey dress in Black and White Wire Fence print, which immediately sold out.  For the collection, Frances wears the same Sofia cut in French Apricot silk jersey,

while Jourdan wears the Sofia in Blue Player Piano silk jersey, so named because the pattern reminds me of the punch card paper strips that make automatic vintage pianos play their tunes.

Finally, Mimi wore the Paola maxi dress in a one-of-a-kind fuchsia, brown and orange horizontal stripe. For the collection, Jourdan wears the Paola in a beautiful and soft Jade Green Italian merino wool jersey, with a softer, heavier hand than the Horoscope wool.  Each Paola in Jade Green has an individualized lining of fine cotton jersey in a pattern different from any other Paola out there.  A secret pleasure for the wearer.

I hope very much that you get the chance to touch and wear these garments soon.  Currently, Bombshell in St. Paul, MN and Boutique Larrieux in Milwaukee, WI have their Campo Dei Fiori collection pieces in stock.  MS.SVG in London, UK will have them starting in January, and Madison Plus Select has several pieces online for worldwide shipping.  Additionally, AbbeyPost had a special exclusive run of the Stefania dress made just for them in Gold Leopard and Black Hashmark, and Gwynnie Bee has a large selection of sizes of the Stefania in Pink Jigsaw only for their subscribers.

I am always looking for new retailers and new ways to get Cabiria to my customers, because the differences in quality are best communicated through personal experience.  I will be going to the Curvy-Is-Sexy trade show in Berlin in January to introduce the brand into the European Continental marketplace, and I'm happy to reach out personally to store owners where you shop.

Also, I'm always open to listen to what customers are really clamoring for in the marketplace.  As long as it is a cut and quality level that fit in with the Cabiria brand, I see no reason to ignore the collective expertise of so many plus size shoppers out there.  Cabiria was started to provide a choice!

One happy, beautiful, confident customer at a time.  That's how Cabiria is going to become a premier brand for discerning women all over the world.

Happy holidays everyone, and please shop the collection while it lasts!

                                                                                 All the best, Eden

Timing is Everything, Slow and Steady (and TV Stuff)

Hello friends,

I hope all of you are enjoying your summer. It's been waffling back and forth between heat waves and monsoons here in New York for weeks! As many of you know, I also went on an incredible trip to the Upper Midwest this summer as well, which allowed me to meet the customers and store owners who make this whole adventure possible. Thank you again.

One question that came up a lot was "Are you doing a Fall/Winter Collection?" A very good question, indeed.

Originally my funding had come from Kickstarter, which supplied a very helpful push to get production for Cabiria, but wasn't enough to cover multiple seasons. I had assumed I would sell out of my dresses, and that money would fund subsequent line development. This is the reasoning that comes from a fine art school education, and very little business knowledge.

Sales have been incredible (thank you!), especially for a brand new line. Reception has been entirely positive, and press keeps building more awareness. I've accidentally found astounding allies who know what they are doing far more than I do, and have put me directly in the right places at the right times. What that means is that with only 1 season's micro collection under my belt, I've attracted *media placement, an investor, and the interest of several larger retailers who want to carry Cabiria. This is unprecedented, seriously, and I count my blessings, for sure.

*While they're not the clearest shots, here's the lovely Ashlie Atkinson in the Sofia in Oxblood Beetle in the pilot of "Us and Them" on FOX Television!

I also need, for the time being, to keep my day job in order to have cash flow to build the inventory lines and pay the rent. I am lucky in that regard as well to work with dear friends in an industry I love - in this case, I'll be wardrobe supervising a television series. I know some people may be able to do it, but I do not know how to efficiently perform at high levels on two jobs that are 90 - 100 hours per week each.

Quality and details mean everything to me with Cabiria. Professionalism and customer service, rapid follow through and production supervision for development are all very hands on. So rather than try to force through a Fall/Winter collection that's half-baked for time reasons, I am going to quietly develop both a Fall/Winter Collection and a Spring/Summer Collection for release early next year. I am going to concentrate on having product I believe in, and that my vendors would be proud to carry. I will have time to find the right fabrics, and develop the right silhouettes based on on my design sensibilities and your incredible feedback. I will develop more tops, as well as dresses with sleeves and more tailored pieces in a range of high end fabrics. I will do this right, or as right as I can get it.

Thank you everyone for understanding, and know that Cabiria is still going strong. Stronger than ever, thanks to you all!

All the best, Eden

Home Again and a Celebratory Giveaway!

Hello friends!

I've returned safe and sound from my fantastic trip across the Upper Midwest to meet the customers and store owners who've been such great supporters of Cabiria. It was an astounding success, not only because I got to meet you all, but also because I got to see people's faces as they came out of dressing rooms wearing the clothes, beaming. It's an incredible feeling of accomplishment when that happens, and I feel lucky. Thank you!

First stop was in Milwaukee at Boutique Larrieux in the Historic Third Ward. Lydia's shop is gorgeous, in a converted warehouse space with exposed brick, dramatic lighting and great bead-festooned dressing rooms.

Lydia was a great hostess, and got saucy modeling some of the pieces herself in rotation. I also loved that I got a 3 person shot in the Sofia in Giant Peonys - triplets!

The next evening was at the jewelbox of a boutique, Vive la femme in the Bucktown neighborhood of Chicago. Stephanie and her staff are such a bundle of joyful energy, and that's not just the mint juleps they served! She also had Jen and Tish from Spa Soak, a local business, come out to do hair and makeup for the attendees, thus, evening though there had been rain, my hair looked fabulous. Speaking of fabulous, Stephanie's staff Amber, Amanda and Perry all modeled dresses during the event and looked stupendous. I think they are directly responsible for selling them just by showing the world how great they look in Cabiria.

The following day, I woke up at the crack of dawn and started driving from Chicago to St. Paul for the last event at Bombshell Boutique in St. Paul, MN. That is a pretty but long drive... Denise was our hostess for this event, and pulled out all the stops. She event baked biscotti! Yum. I loved meeting Denise and her staff and customers - it felt like coming back to a dear friend, though it was the first time. One of my favorite moments was a woman came in looking for a dress for her retirement party on Monday, but felt that the neckline on the Valentina was a little too low for her. So I got a needle and thread from behind the counter and stitched it up for her and she walked out happy! So much fun!

At the very last minute of the event, my dear friend Emily came in the door with her fiance. She had driven quite a way to make sure she got to see me and to buy a Francesca in Orange Dot to wear for her wedding reception. I am so honored that she chose to do this and she looks stunning in the dress!

The day after I came home, the Supreme Court knocked down DOMA and Prop 8, giving full rights and recognition to gay and lesbian couples who marry in states allowing same-sex marriage. I love love and romance and all things involving two people finding a partner, so I wanted to celebrate. Inspired by Emily's choice to wear one of my dresses for her own wedding, I am offering a free Francesca dress from Cabiria to the first plus size bride marrying a bride (or groom marrying a groom who is fond of wearing plus size dresses). You will have to prove that it is an incipient marriage with an invitation or photos or license or something, but it would be my honor to celebrate with you!

Finally, the wonderful website Madison Plus Select has released the Francesca in Robin's Nest, worn by the lovely Ivory May Kalber, on their curated website for sale. I'm a lucky girl indeed.

Here's to celebrating all kinds of success!

Eden