Factory Delivery!!

Hello friends!

I want to thank you for your patience since the last update. In between, the fabric went to the factory, and two months later, they're emerging as dresses. We're picking them up today, just ahead of a big winter storm!

I've been back and forth to the factory many times since they started production, and was even interviewed on Japanese TV for an NHK show called "El Mundo" as the symbolic representative of all the indie plus size designers in the US. How cool is that? And yesterday, I was in the factory bagging up the dresses for transport to my studio, which is about to get very, very crowded. Hopefully, not for very long!

For your viewing pleasure, a few racks waiting for delivery:

I'll next be delivering dresses to those who pledged at the amounts to get them as part of their Kickstarter swag (thank you again!!), and to the several boutiques who pre-ordered them. I will also then release them for sale on the e-store website, http://www.store.cabiriastyle.com and hopefully sell out very quickly. The success of the line's sales will determine if Cabiria goes forward with a Fall Winter 13/14 line, but here's the secret: it's already been designed, patterned, and first prototyped. Prepared!

I'll be updating soon, and if you were a backer at the level to get dresses but did not pick what you wanted, PLEASE get in touch with me as soon as humanly possible! If they are sold and gone, I can't replace them for you.

Thank you again, and all the best,

Eden

Location locked!

Hello friends!

I've been Tweeting away in 140 character updates this week, but it's been pretty spectacular for updates. We've got our location for the catalog portion of the photo shoot locked down inside the epic Archive Building in the far West Village:

So far, I have 3 finished sample dresses in my hands, courtesy of the superlative Michael Bevins at 4 Seasons Fashions, who slaved away during NYFW for me. The brilliant photographer Matthew Powell and I have been scouting the exteriors with a lot of promising results. If I haven't already mentioned it, Cabiria is lucky to have the stellar talents of Farrah Olivieri

Maxey Greene

and Allison McGevna

Insane how gorgeous these ladies are! We've also found great, hardworking PA's and the hair and makeup dream team of Fabian Garcia and Stella Sensel, as well as the talented behind the scenes documentary shooter Jendra Jarnagin and our inimitable video segment director Colleen Davie Janes.

SO MANY WONDERFUL PEOPLE!! I am so lucky. Can't wait for this all to come together in a few weeks, but in the meantime, back to paperwork and permits... it can't all be glorious, right? So why am I smiling so wide?

-Eden

Pattermakers, Accountants, and Other Fun Updates

Hey there folks!

It's been a few weeks, and there have been some new combinations afoot. One of the things I'd done was learn Adobe Illustrator, at least the basics, so I could make flats of my garments for the patternmaker. Since I seem to do everything from the ground up, I'll happily share my flat plus size template for drawing out clothing on a truly plus size figure:

There were many like this available in mainstream sizes, but of course, like with so much in the plus size world, I found none so I drew that one myself. You like?

I've also changed patternmakers - while Werkstatt is a wonderful resource and she is obviously a talented patternmaker, it wasn't the perfect fit. I did manage to track down the patternmaker and samplemaker I'd worked with over a decade ago, when we were at Lucy Barnes (now wholesale private sales only). When I designed the line and envisioned the quality, it was always with this woman's craftsmanship in mind, so it's pretty genius to get her on board.

Finally, I've been reworking the business plan. I'd always thought of starting up with crowdsource funding and using that collateral to gain business loans, but now I'm trying to research what options are available with business partners and shared equity. I'm a workhorse, but I don't know everything about business and accounting, so finding someone gifted in the arena would be amazing. If you, dear readers, know of anyone who would be interested in contributing knowledge, resources, or/ and funds to bring Cabiria to market for love and profit, please contact me. I'm very open minded!

Monday begins a new phase of development, and hopefully my next posts will be about finding wonderful size 18/20 models in the New York area soon!

-Eden

Cabiria Studio is up and running!

Hi all,

First of all, thank you so much for your patience in waiting for my blog updates. It's been a very hectic few months here with the move to New York and the new studio set up, but we're in and ready to start cranking out beautiful patterns now. Thank you for everyone who's helped and supported along the way!

For your enjoyment, the first shots of the new Cabiria Studio!

My next step is to start working with the wonderful patternmakers and samplemakers I've reconnected with here in New York, and hopefully knock out the first samples so I can photograph them on beautiful plus size women and show them to wonderful plus size boutiques! I'm keeping busy, for sure!

Thank you again to my generous and wonderful donors, who are collectively responsible for much of the items you see in the studio - bolts of fabric, labels, notions, and of some you don't see - licensing and bureaucratic paperwork fees, professional services, etc. Your help means the world to me, and I appreciate it greatly. Hope to show you what I can do with those gifts soon!

-Eden

Getting it together in New Yawk...

Hello all!

I know I've been horribly delinquent in posting how things are going for Cabiria. I am officially hand slapped. What I've been up to has been administrative, mostly - establishing the new LLC in New York State, talking to New york based patternmakers and samplemakers, and hunting for new workroom furniture, including an enormous cutting table. So much whirlwind activity, blogging ended up slipping to the side. Mea culpa!

The upshot is that dresses like this one:

will be coming together here in New York soon!

Stay tuned, folks. Stay tuned.

-Eden

Moving on up to the (very) East Side and GLORIA!

Hey folks!

So as you know, I'll be moving to New York soon. Now I know where - a beautiful apartment in Astoria, Queens! It's big enough to have my workroom not eat the living quarters, and there's lots of natural light. I'm really looking forward to it.

I've shown you some of the dresses in the line so far, and I want to give you another teaser. This one is a top instead of a dress - GLORIA.

No pockets, but features controlled gathers at the center front to drape beautifully over jeans or skirts. We plus size women shouldn't have to think about our tops binding when we sit down, and this solves the issue gracefully. With accent bars at the top of the breast, wide enough to hide bra straps but open enough to show off, it's a feminine top to add to our collection. Hope you like it!

-Eden

Forward momentum

Hey folks,

So as you know from my last post, I'm moving back to New York in a few weeks. I'll regretfully not be there in time for Full Figured Fashion Week, but I encourage all of you to check it out. More exposure and positive press means more ability to make brands like mine a reality!

I'm furiously trying to make sure I don't leave anyone in the lurch information-wise while I transition, so here's another teaser from the line. This time, we have FLAMINIA.

This dress is inspired by James Galanos and Hana Mori, two designers famous for making women look chic in the 1960's - 1980's. Galanos was Nancy Reagan's favorite designer, and wore one of his designs for the 1980 inauguration. Chic!

FLAMINIA has a surplice (cross front) bodice, so many bust shapes can be accommodated, inverted tulip short sleeves, adding a pretty, feminine detail, a relatively straight/ pencil skirt, and a wide shaped waistband. Oh, and of course...pockets, so you can be chic and practical at the same time. Perfect dress for a spring or summer day at the office!

I hope to have some more big news very soon, so hold tight, loyal followers.

-Eden

the next set for your enjoyment

Greetings from sunny Orlando, Florida!

I wouldn't let you guys go without new dresses just because I'm on the road. This week's dress composite is the AIMEE (last week's was the SOFIA, if I forgot to mention it). All of my dresses are currently named after actresses or character names in Fellini movies, however I have a special perk. One of my donation incentives, albeit at the $5,000 level, is that you get to name the dress styles. It could be your own name, it could be someone you'd like to honor, it could be your superhero name! If you look at lifetime costs of having a child or a pet, it's really a bargain...

So onto the new dresses! Again, please let me know your opinions, comments, and constructive criticisms. The Aimee has an elasticized waist, a flyaway wrap skirt, pockets, and adjustable 1/2" straps on metal sliders. It's made of silk knit jersey, which can be hand washed in cold water and laid flat to dry, or dry cleaned.

Again, please be constructive in your criticisms and opinions! You can dislike something, but not telling me why doesn't help me change it for the better!

-Eden

Speaking of feathers...

Hi guys!

My fabrics have started coming in!! It's an incredibly complex formula because I'm buying job lots from wholesalers, which means I can only buy however many yards exist. Sometimes it's a few 100 yards, and sometimes, like in the case of this amazing Italian cotton feather print, it's only about 5 yards - enough for 1, maybe 2 dresses.

Isn't it gorgeous? I love how organic the pattern is; how it looks like both anemone and a George Grosz pen and ink drawing at the same time. Swoon!

What that means for Cabiria and my customers is unique and special - some of the pieces we'll create will be only a few of a kind, or maybe one of a kind. The style and size will be standardized for the line, but the fabrics - oh, the gorgeous fabrics - will be very rare indeed. How cool is that?

-Eden

First patterns and fittings!

Hey all!

I came back a few days ago from a VERY exciting fabric buying trip in NYC, and today I had the first fitting of a block with the patternmaker. Very exciting to see it moving forward, inch by inch, and know what beautiful fabrics I have in store for you all!

Now I know it looks a hot mess right now, but it's kind of like jazz; a little science, a little invention, and a little arbitrary detail zhuzhing. Please don't ask me how to spell that one right. But it's the basic shape of a big girl with many, many curves, and it's the building block for everything else to come. More to come!!

-Eden

percolation

As I mentioned previously, I'm new to the world of blogging, but I realized in a dream last night (also involving Galaga spacecraft, for no important reason) that it's also a great way to let you all in on what new developments are percolating.

Last night I attended a pitch practice session at 151 Locust, an entrepreneur fostering workshop space in Avondale Estates.  Now admittedly, most of the folks who seem to attend these things are in the IT/tech world. They talk about B2B and workforce management and a whole lot of other stuff that's relatively alien to me.  Maybe that's where the Galaga dream came from?  But the reason I go is to get practice telling people about Cabiria, and about how to ask for what I need to make it a beautiful reality.

I've been working hard on getting together images, materials, and information so I can go on Kickstarter or IndieGoGo and really make people sit up and notice.  I've been trying to build out the Cabiriastyle website so the site can be live at least as a potential show space before I have product.  And I've been researching the best options for integrating this blog here, an e-commerce space that looks as high quality as my clothing, and hosting support.  So much to do just to get the dress samples made in the first place!

The one thing I know is that all the years I've spent designing and making beautiful clothes, shopping for other people and trying to find perfect shapes for bodies similar to my own means Cabiria will be gorgeous.    The hurdle of financing the first samples is small, if you really look at it in perspective, and it can be done with a little help from my friends.

Looking forward to updating you all soon, hopefully with news that a crowdsource funding site is live and waiting for you!

                                        -Eden