Big end of season Sale through Saturday morning!

Hi friends,

Just a quick note for you all - Cabiria is having a huge end of season sale at Zulily through Saturday morning.  The items you've been coveting for months are going to be gone if you don't grab them in the next few days!  They even ship internationally.

Zulily Cabiria direct link

We're doing this because in about a month, we're going to be getting all the new Cabiria collection items in, as well as the new La Strada per CABIRIA line.  There's just only so much room!

In the meantime, here's a shot from some of the new fabrics for a future collection I've just found on a fabric hunt.  So fantastic, even if the shot is a bit blurry...

All my best, 

Eden

Overwhelming response and a few teasers

Hello friends,

Thank everyone for sitting up and paying attention about the Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week event! A little information on that:

- Some people who were invited have told me in private IM's and emails that they did not receive an email. Please check your email filters for anything from The Fashion Law Institute or Fashion GPS around August 22nd. That's the group that's presenting Cabiria. RSVP right away, please!

- This is a group show and we had a very limited number of invites allowed to us. Please, please, from the bottom of my heart, do not take offense if you aren't able to attend. I had to make some difficult choices that would create the most amount of resonance in the industry with the small allotment I had.

- The show will be at Lincoln Center's The Box off 62nd Street. An interesting cultural side note is that there is an assumption that we all know where The Box is, as the invite company did not include the address. Since we plus size girls have never been invited to the party, many of us didn't know where The Box was.

To whet your appetites, here are 4 teasers of what's going down the runway.

Now that that's covered, let's get on to the holy moly press response across the globe! The avalanche started like this:

I had been interviewed several weeks ago by Tyler McCall at Fashionista.com's article on plus women's shopping dilemmas. Right as that happened, I was asked to participate in NYFW in the main venue, and it was quickly discovered that that had never happened before for a plus size line. Fashionista then added me to another article with Tim Gunn discussing the "repugnant choices" plus women have in major department stores currently [his words]. Then, a few days ago, Fashionista published their big scoop, that Cabiria would be the first plus designer featured at NYFW.

My social media feeds blew up. I do know a lot of people in the fashion world, but didn't realize how big this was going to get... until the next day, when The Daily Mail in the UK picked up the story on their news feed.

Then Refinery 29's article hit;

another hugely influential fashion site posted about me and from there, the world. Literally. So far, I've been contacted by press from all over the US, the UK, Australia,Brazil, Belgium, The Netherlands, Indonesia, and Qatar. Please forgive my not posting images from each one, but there is a clickable link to each article with each listing.

Enjoy the reading list, which is in no order other than where I typed it, and I'll update you all again soon!

All the best, Eden

Fashionista

Daily Mail UK

Refinery29

StyleList

De Morgen (Netherlands & Belgium)

Glam

Analogue Chic

Abbey Post

HLN (Belgium)

Fashiontographer

Hello Beautiful

Fashion Times

Fashion n' Style

Daily Venus Diva

Grazia (UK)

Total Beauty

More of Me To Love

Caras (Brazil)

Global Noiz

Plus Model Mag

Internet Nachrichtenagentur (Germany)

Misstop (UK)

Famosas & Fotos (Brazil)

Debora Fernandes Plus (Brazil)

Okezone (Indonesia)

Newsstand 24/7

Cosmopolitan . net

Fashion Lately

Fashion Courier

Beauty Advices

My Fashion Life

The Cabiria Online Store is now OPEN!

Hello friends,

Happy President's Day! Or for you folks in other countries, Happy Monday! In celebration of having an extra day to play and romp, and because it means Spring is around the corner, I am thrilled to announce that the Cabiria online store is now open. Thank you all for helping make this a reality!



You can reach the store through the main Cabiria website in "Shop Collections" or "Collections", or you can go directly to the storefront. Either way, everything is now available to you.

Additionally, Madison Plus Select is featuring a curated group of Cabiria clothing not available in our online store, and Bombshell Boutique in St. Paul, MN should have Cabiria on the shelves any day now.

If you are a retailer, or know someone who might like to carry Cabiria in their shop, please let me know, and I can send them info on wholesale resources online.

I'm so thrilled - thank you and now GO SHOP!

- Eden

Cabiria now in stores!

Hello friends!

Yesterday was a fantastic, red letter day for us: Madison Plus Select launched their first dress from the Cabiria exclusive collection online. Check it out here: http://www.madisonplusselect.com/collections/cabiria

They ordered a number of pieces from us, and are featuring them in a roll out with other brands, but we're up and running!

We are also going to be landing on the racks at the beautiful Bombshell Boutique in St. Paul, MN in the next few weeks. The owner Denise Alden has exquisite taste, and is a real treasure for you in the Twin Cities region.

As of this weekend, I should be done entering inventory onto the online store as well, and will be opening up the Cabiria Store online for direct sales as well. So many exciting things afoot! Hooray!

Eden

Happy Holidays

Hello friends,

As the year winds down, I want to thank everyone for being part of such an extraordinary adventure with me. I am so pleased that on a professional and personal level I've gotten to become part of a larger group of communities as an entrepreneur, a successful crowdsource marketer, a plus size advocate, and as a creative designer seeing my dreams become fruitful. Thank you for being part of that.

I wish you all the most extraordinary luck, love, hope, wonder, and prosperity in the new year. Happy holidays of every stripe, and enjoy ringing in the New Year. Now go out there are open up some presents!

All the best, Eden

Factory updates!

Hello friends,

I've been very busy since the Kickstarter campaign ended, and been a little lax in my public blog posts. I am now going to correct that.

By the time you read this post, ALL of the incentive packages for Kickstarter backers will have been mailed out, minus the dresses from the line. As mentioned earlier, those folks will receive their swag now, then when the factory is done and everything is double checked, they'll receive their dresses in a separate shipment.

More good news: all the fabrics and stuff that goes into making garments are in the factory, and in the process of being cut. I dropped by yesterday, and it's really exciting to see all the bundles of fabrics and cut pattern pieces ready to go to the next step, sewing. I love these surreal moments!

In the next few days, I will be reissuing swatch cards to reflect the real fabrics per real styles being offered in the Spring/Summer 2013 line. It will be different than what you may be accustomed to seeing, as there will be limited quantities of each item per fabric. I will update that in the Cabiria Store as well as specifically letting my retailers know what they can order. It's coming together, folks!

In the meantime, I hope you have a wonderful holiday season, and much peace, health and prosperity in the coming year.

All the best, Eden

this is the beginning of packing up all the incentive boxes with our dressform standing watch:

and this is another beautiful silk jersey fabric that will be in the line. Surprise!:

The Last Day of the Campaign

Hello, friends!

I want to thank everyone who ran with the banner of the Kickstarter campaign while I was called away. Thank you for the kind words and letters of condolence that you sent, and thank you for not letting the Cabiria campaign fade away so I have great things to look forward to very soon.

My mom had great style in the 70's, and everyone said she looked like a Jewish Sofia Loren. More importantly, she was an incredibly smart woman who fully took up causes relating to women's rights and feminism, and taught me that with diligence, I could become anything I wanted to, regardless of gender. That tenacity and iconoclasm is her legacy to me, and I am a richer person for it.

This photo is me, my mom, and my brother just after my 7th birthday. This is how I remember her best: sitting with her kids, waiting for us to touch one of the animals at the petting zoo, and delighting at our peals of laughter.

The Cabiria campaign is the culmination of my mom teaching me strength and tenacity, and you have shown your support of my dream. Thank you for that, and if there's anyone who hasn't heard about Cabiria's campaign on Kickstarter, please let them know - it's the last 24 hours, and this last push will take us into new, untold heights.

All the best,
Eden

Final week of Kickstarter Campaign and a Call to Action!

Hello, friends!

We are four leaf clovers and unicorns! The incredible blog Envynde, which advocates for emerging designers across all size ranges (fantastic yeoman's work) has written an article about us stating that the rarity of a great, high quality, fashionable plus size line such as Cabiria is like finding four leaf clovers and unicorns. Pretty fantastic! They also wanted to write the article in advance of completion of our Kickstarter campaign so they could brag about the scoop. Well done!

Our Kickstarter campaign was also mentioned quite flatteringly in the "Links:Shopping" on the fantastic DIY design blog Not Martha. She really liked our coloring book incentive as well as the dresses! Her blog makes my home decorating, craft-making fingers itch.

We are now in the final stretch of the Kickstarter campaign. With a little over a week to go, we will be reminding you (again) to make those backing pledges which will bump up our popularity on the Kickstarter website. Kickstarter themselves need to be reminded that our numbers prove that we are a worthwhile project, and they should put their considerable marketing force behind us as well. So far, an astounding 81% of backing has come from word of mouth from friends and allies, known to me and new friends, and only 19% from Kickstarter generated links. Thank you for that, you guys! But the power of a strong platform like Kickstarter is that if they believe that the project is worth boosting in the feed, they can make people pay attention. So I ask you two things:

1. if you have not already backed the project, now is a great time to do it. We have 7 days left and every dollar creates a bump of interest across the platform and
2. write to Kickstarter on their webpage. You will need to scroll to the bottom of the page to the "Contact" link in the footer, but then let them know that you think this is a great project and you want to see it gain recognition in the Kickstarter public arena (their Staff picks, their blog posts, and their emailer to backers internationally. Feel free to point out that we are the MOST SUCCESSFUL plus size project EVER on Kickstarter, and why you think we're worth promoting.

Let's make this a record breaker together!

All the best, Eden

WE ARE FUNDED ON DAY 8!!! now onto Stretch Goals!!

OH MY GOODNESS! Yes, I'm shouting! And shaking, although it might also be because I've been drinking a lot of coffee today. But WE ARE FUNDED at 100% now!!!!!

Day 8! 88 Backers! $8,000! I know my new favorite number!

Every single person who has donated or put out a good word has pushed this project into the stratosphere. The person who gave the pledge that knocked us into 100% was a woman who gave me my first job in television nearly 20 years ago. The first person who donated was my wonderful brother and his incredible family. But in between there have been strangers with indecipherable screennames, new friends I wouldn't have met other than through this channel, and old dear friends who have believed in me for a lifetime. I am so incredibly honored that you chose to back me.

Now I move forward with the stretch goals. As I mentioned in previous updates and the FAQ, each one is a mile marker, not an aggregate, so each amount pledged from now on goes towards making those stages a reality as well. We are still 22 days from the end of the campaign, and there are still many opportunities to get the word out.

In the meantime, Thank You So Incredibly Much! Once I stop shaking, I'll start working on the hang tags and stickers again.

xoxo, Eden

below is Eddra Gale from Fellini's "8 1/2" in about the same state I feel like right now

New Cabiria FAQ (and we've got power)

Hi friends,

Just a quick update tonight. It's quite late, and the eye of the hurricane has passed over us, but there will still be another wave hitting Long Island Sound within the hour, so we'll see if we keep our power.

While I've been up watching the storm and checking the light switches, I've had time to put together a new FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) on Kickstarter. There's been quite a lot of hubbub where some things got misconstrued, and I hope this information clears up those misunderstandings. It will also allow me to concentrate on designing the stickers and thank you cards and everything else that goes with a Kickstarter campaign's successful funding, as well as new fabric pattern design and general doodling.

I totally intended to be lazy and watch Blonde Venus again. Didn't happen. Wrote a FAQ instead.

Please forward this around to whomever you like in the Plus Size Fashion community. I hope you are all safe, sound, dry, warm, cozy, happy, well loved and well fed tonight and every night.

In the meantime, here's a photo of me wearing Francesca in Feathers, posing with Gregory's coffee (our $100 swag) which will need sticker labels.

All the best,

Eden

86% Funded, New Stores and Stretch Goals!

Hi everyone,

I hope all of you in the Northeast are battening down the hatches in prep for the crazy storm headed our way! I'm trying to think what I can do offline to work on Cabiria if the power goes out. I know it's a little geeky, but I love patternmaking and textile development, so if there's no internet, I might play with Illustrator and Photoshoot to work on new textile artwork for a future printing. If there's no power at all, I might work on some new patterns for Fall/Winter and keep moving forward. I don't sit still well.

We're on Day 5, and we're 86% funded! Thank you so much! There's been activity on the networking front; I went to a great event put on by The Big Girl Blog, and met some wonderfully positive, effusive plus size women, then got and email from Gussied Up, a new plus size boutique in Toronto, and another from Bombshell Boutique in St. Paul, MN interested in potentially carrying the line in their stores. So exciting to possibly have things in brick and mortar independently owned shops!

Several people have pointed out that with the campaign doing so well, I should put out some Stretch Goals. Things that can make Cabiria really fly. I've come up with quite a few, but keep in mind this is not an aggregate total - this is the cost of EACH THING, and they are pretty conservative estimates.:

With $900 I can buy the most amazing Bemberg lining that's in limited supply, but could become a signature look for the company, especially as a finishing trim or full lining.
With $1000 I can buy ad space in Plus Model Magazine, Skorch Magazine, DailyVenusDiva, Just As Beautiful, and a few other plus size fashion online magazines to promote pre-sales and encourage retailer and direct customer interest.
With $1250 I can work with The Apparel Agency or Indie Design Association to streamline production delivery and make sure it's all done according to industry expectations.
With $1750 per location, I can do a trunk show with models and refreshments at a plus size boutique interested in doing pre-sales, for instance in New Orleans, St. Paul, Toronto, and Chicago. (this pays for flight, meals, hotel, car, models, refreshments, signage, gear, etc.)
With $4000 I can pay the models, photographer, locations, makeup artist, hair stylist, and additional crew to shoot a Fall/Winter photoshoot, and for digital photo cleanup.
With $6000 I can hire a part time assistant during the production and delivery cycle.
With $7000 I can expand the product development and include sizes 24 - 30. With $8000 I can rent booth space and show at Women's Wear in Nevada (WWIN)or Pool/Magic Expo trade shows which could potentially get us into large department stores and boost us to the next level.
With $9000 I can have 500 yards of custom printed silk jersey made so there would be no sold out fabric patterns (well, per design) ever again.
With $15,000 I can develop the Fall/Winter 2013/14, and purchase fabrics for production of the second season.

That's only $65,550. We can pull that off, easy! Right? Am I right?

the amazing Bemberg lining I've wanted for ages. I know what shelf it's on and how many yards are waiting for me, quivering with anticipation.:

Every step costs money, and every step is one closer towards making Cabiria something that thrives on it's own. Thank you for believing in this project and pushing it out of the nest.

-Eden

More great news (69% funded!) and an explanation for some critics

Hi friends,

Today was another great day for Cabiria's Kickstarter campaign moving ahead. We're 69% funded on Day 4! Thank you! First thing this morning I met with a lawyer from the Fashion Law Institute Clinic from Fordham University. Yes, there is something as specific as a Fashion Lawyer. Although the woman who runs the program is smartly dressed, it's regarding the specific laws around contracture for sales, licensing, labeling laws, indemnity, delivery, as well as intellectual property protection and trademarks, etc. for a business where garments are knocked off all the time, and designs are difficult to protect.

This may sound cutthroat and not in the spirit of starting a creative project, but as an artist it's also important to think like a businesswoman. Upshot is that I got some great pointers and referrals. Yay!

here I am heading out to a networking event last night in Flaminia in Black Cherries. Tiny Empire State Building in the hazy background.

Afterwards, I found out that we'd been mentioned by The Brickhouse of Style and Skorch Magazine on their social media platforms, and the store Wells & Verne in Portland, OR and Nina Blakemore in London, UK are interested in carrying Cabiria as well! We're international, baby. (hey - the new James Bond is coming out. I can't resist a little Austin Powers impression.)

Then off to the patternmaker, Michael Bevins at 4 Seasons Fashion, right down the street from swag provider Gregory's Coffee to do some final pattern tweaks before being ready for grading and production.

In the past few days, I've gotten a lot of compliments and kudos from people really seeing the value of this line. But, being in a public forum, I've gotten a few critics on one specific question, and I'd like to address that.

Why don't you make higher than a size 24?
The implication in this question - actually it's been outright stated - is that I am becoming part of the problem that excludes plus size consumers greater than a size 24. Since I stop at a size 24, I suppose it's a valid accusation. However, it's unfair to lay the ills of an entire industry at the feet of one small designer simply because I'm accessible with a face and an email address. Succinctly, it becomes a financial decision that I had to make to have any solvency ever.

It took me 2 years to get this project up on Kickstarter, after years of just mulling it over in my head. I worked several jobs, didn't go out and play too much, and saved my money in order to pay for the development and initial launch of the line. I called in a lot of favors, but some things are still costly and set as a fee, such as use of people's factories or services. They in turn have spent money to keep their doors open, much in the same way that many of the indie boutiques Cabiria wants to be in are self financed and run with a very narrow margin of error.

Pattern development and fittings cost money. Each size that you add to a line adds development and grading costs to the line, which is why numbered sizes tend to fit truer than 1x, 2x, 3x, etc. But it's money, which I'm on Kickstarter to help supply.

a long article on grading and pricing

a long article on what's involved in developing a line with a patternmaker and samplemaker

Also, most brick and mortar plus size boutiques carry up to a 24. Yes, it perpetrates a difficult cycle, but why should a tiny business absorb more risk on top of all the inherent risks already in place? Again, I have a face so I am on the block, but there are LOTS of people with more money than I have who can take the financial risks and change the system. For instance, Marc Jacobs talking about having a plus line, but where is it? And Oscar de la Renta making "plus size" up to a 16. And Ralph Lauren saying they're using the first "plus size model (she's a 12)", when I clearly remember Guess? using Anna Nicole Smith at a size 16 in the 1980s and my dad showing it to me. Just three off the top of my head with much deeper pockets and false promises to the plus community.

I am one woman doing what I can within parameters that will allow slow and steady growth and survival. I am also very proud of trying to forge a path with a very unique line in beautiful fabrics and fabrications, and that's why I'm on Kickstarter.

All the best, Eden

Below are first fitting muslins for a master pattern, taken in 2010, when I first started working on this project.

Astounding and Fantastic!

What an astounding day so far! The Kickstarter project went live just after midnight last night, and was on Facebook and Twitter and all sorts of other platforms as of this morning. It's unbelievable to see how supportive and wonderful everyone has been, and how quickly word spreads!

I have been very fortunate to have one Super Secret Backer that has told me that if we get over the $6,000 level in pledges on Kickstarter, that SSB will be a guarantor to get us funded for sure! Huge news! Of course I'd like to raise more than 100% - I'd like to be one of those amazing success stories like my friend Roman Mars, whose 99% Invisible radio show was the most funded journalism project of all time on this site, or another friend Andrew Plotkin, whose Hadean Lands interactive fiction adventure was fully funded in the first 24 hours, then went on to become wildly successful. What can I say? I keep company with winners!

Another great boost was that Jaclyn McCabe of Voluptuous Vixen boutique in New Orleans became a backer. The reason this is so special is because she is also a Retailer of Plus Size clothing, someone whose store I want Cabiria to be in, and someone who is a tastemaker for this market. She believes in Cabiria enough to put her money where her mouth is, and cross post it on her store's Facebook page as well. That's walking the walk, and I love it.

Every backer on this project is helping, no matter big or small, and every dollar is a dollar closer to the goal of getting funded. If you have any ideas for me to cross promote the campaign or the brand, I am listening and very enthusiastic. Please let me know, and keep telling people about us!

Thank you and talk soon.

-Eden

Kickstarter Campaign is LIVE! Raising funds for swag!

Hello friends,

What a great day! In addition to launching the line and getting huge amounts of wonderful feedback and interest on social media platforms, we got approved for our Kickstarter Project! It's called Get Cabiria Plus Size SS13 Collection Into Stores and that's exactly what we plan to do.

The web address is http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cabiriastyle/get-cabiria-plus-size-ss13-collection-into-stores. Click on any of the links in this post or copy that link into your browser to be taking to Kickstarter's Project page.

We have until November 21st - the day before Thanksgiving - at 5:08pm EST to raise $8,000 or we get nothing at all. What a challenge, but one I know we can meet. The $8,000 is to pay for grading (sizing up and down) costs for each pattern, factory productions fees (higher here in the US than abroad, but so important to keep skilled jobs local), shipping costs, website development, and marketing to let the buyers know about our SS13 line.

This is what the front page of the campaign looks like, including our URL:http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cabiriastyle/get-cabiria-plus-size-ss13-collection-into-stores

If we raise more than $8,000, I have big plans, including expanding production abilities, printing our own fabrics, showing the line at trade shows, upgrading our website and e-store, expanding into new markets, and paying photographers, models, assistants and web developers, etc. a fair wage for their services.

I NEED YOUR HELP TO ACHIEVE THIS GOAL!!! Please donate what you can; we have great incentives in the offer starting at ridiculously low pledge amounts, so that little drop in the bucket plus others makes for a huge flood. And even if you don't choose to contribute, please boost the signal by passing along the message to all your pals. Anyone who believes in equality entitlement, or body pride, or American small business entrepreneurship, or just beautiful clothes. Every ripple outward helps.

I can't wait to see what's in store this month, and I am already so thankful!

- Eden

Crack the Champagne, it's Opening Day!

OPENING DAY! It's here, it's here! After many months of hard work, today is launch day for the new website, the e-store for presales and wholesale, the unveiling of the SS13 Lookbook, Collection in catalog view, and the Behind the Scenes video, which shows the making of our lookbook, and is an important part of our Fundraising Campaign.

Currently we are waiting final approval from Kickstarter to launch that campaign, which means that while there are links to the campaign on our Incentives page and our Thank You page, they are not yet functioning links. I know this already, so no worries! As soon as that campaign goes live, I will let you all know, for sure.

We are also listed as "Coming Soon" on all the items in our Online Store. This is to give an opportunity to Plus Size boutiques to order for delivery in late winter so you can all have access up close and personal with our sumptuous clothes. Once we cover presales, I will open the store up at a retail level for online direct to you ordering.

Thank you again for following this amazing adventure and believing in Cabiria so wholeheartedly! If you have any suggestions for better site functionality that either I can achieve or you know specifically how to implement, please let me know immediately and I will try my best to put it into action. Also, please Subscribe to our newsletter which will help cut down on redundant cross posting, and "Like" us on Facebook, which will help as well.

For Press and Publicity inquiries, please email press@cabiriastyle.com.
For Wholesale Access to Linesheets, Terms and Order Forms, please email wholesale@cabiriastyle.com (you will need a password).
For all other inquiries, please email info@cabiriastyle.com and I'll respond as quickly as possible. Thank you again, and stay tuned for the Kickstarter campaign!

Let's crack some champagne on this hull!

xoxo, Eden