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

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

Next round, coming up - this time with finesse!

Hi folks!

I know I've been very slow to post and report lately, but there's been movement on the Cabiria front, I promise.

As you saw before, dear readers, I hit a bit of a snag with my plans in Bangkok. When I came back to New York, the extraordinarily talented Michael David Bevins extended technical help my way through his company 4 Seasons Fashion. I'm diligently working away on patterns now, with a real class act providing the art of finesse. Such heartening news!

In the meantime, I leave you with this image from "Mad Men", returning to television in a few weeks. I am obsessed with border prints and the magic that they can do for any figure, slim or plus. Discuss.

Here's to new updates faster, sooner, and with more new dresses!

-Eden

Moving forward, one step at a time

Hello friends!

I'm going to be leaving for Thailand in about a week, so I'll be the errant blogger again. However, I am definitely having patterns and first samples made in Bangkok, and I'm extremely thrilled about that. Finally!

I've also been getting extraordinary tips and guidance from wonderful folks who've been in fashion longer than I have. The talented Michael Bevins has been kind enough to steer me towards his team of patternmakers and production facilities here in New York, and both Carl Goldberg of Cego Custom Shirts and Carelli Costumes have also chipped in brain power and resources. I'm a lucky designer indeed!

I'm still trying to figure out how to format a MailChimp newsletter, which they SAY is easy, but it's not my great skill. If anyone wants to help me with that, I'd be ever so grateful. Let me know!

One other great boon about doing all the samples and patterns now is that I'll be putting together both the Spring/Summer samples and Fall/Winter samples, so there's no lag time. Thinking ahead!

Plus, I get to wear pretty dresses this winter, too, like this one:

Everything is coming together, slowly, slowly, then BOOM! It all happens!

-Eden

Bangkok bound!

Hi all,

I have been an errant blogger, I know. So many things were happening in PersonalLand, that it made it hard to stay on top of the demands of a hungry blog audience. I am back now, though!

So the current news is that I will be going to Thailand in December and January, and while there, I'll be working with a wonderful Thai costume shop called Siam Costumes to build my patterns and first samples. They have experience working with vintage clothing cut for modern bodies, and a backstock of period fabrics as well. I'm really excited!

I still plan to manufacture the production line in the US, but there's just no way I could resist master cutters working on my samples while I ride elephants and give monkeys cocoanuts. Truly.

In other news, I'm also going to work on the Fall Winter 12/13 patterns and samples at the same time. This way, no matter what season we end up launching, Cabiria will be ready to go running into production. How exciting!

With that in mind, here's a dress, sans fabric, from the FW12/13 collection. You, my readers, are the first to see it!

There are many changes afoot, and I think the new approach will better serve my vendors and customers in the long run. Making plans then completely remodeling them seems to be in the air lately, but it's all good stuff!

Let me know what you all think, and I'll try to be more diligent on that blog posting thing!

-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

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

Big steps forward!

Hey everyone,

This week has been a huge leap forward for Cabiria coming to fruition! The bids came through for the patternmaker, and she's off and running. I met with my web development guys, and gave the go ahead, so soon I'll have the Phase I website up and running. I found some great fit models and photo shoot models, I borrowed a video camera so I can make a video to show you all what I'm up to, and I attributed style numbers and determined the first line. THE FIRST LINE!!! I know that's nothing to those who aren't fashiony and all, but for a fashion company, determining exactly what I'll be offering as a collection for the very first season of production is ENORMOUS!

I even got samples in of my swag for donors, and have a very sexy bistro mug about to go into production.

I'm insanely excited that this is moving forward - I know it seems like it's taking forever, and in some ways it is, but I'm Going Big here, so I'm trying to cover all the bases. In the meantime, I have a buying trip in New York scheduled this coming week, too. Fabrics are calling to me!

Happy Spring, everyone! I hope it's as productive and fruitful as mine is so far!

-Eden