Today we’d like to introduce you to Abbey Glass.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I own an eponymous women’s fashion brand based in the heart of Atlanta. My background is in fashion design and have always had a love for vintage clothing, textiles, art and getting dressed up. I honed my art and design skills at Central Saint Martin’s in London and Rhode Island School of Design. Abbey Glass (the brand) is eight years old and was born from a custom dressmaking business where I handmade patterns and dresses out of a small studio on Bennett Street. Our mission is to help women feel self-assured in their femininity from the inside out. We lend playful elegance to women’s wardrobes and help them explore the art of dressing up. Fast forward to 2023, the brand has a national wholesale presence, strong e-commerce following and a 3,000-square-foot flagship store and HQ in Buckhead Village District, Atlanta.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
My entrepreneurial and creative road has been filled with ups and downs. It’s been more like a game of chutes and ladders than a straight road! I started my business with very little expertise on how to run one, but a lot of passion, creativity and determination. Many of the learning opportunities were in how you can maintain your “it factor”, understand your market, and commercialize your vision so it’s financially supporting the lifestyle you want to live. Rather than mistakes, I did many “experiments” over the last eight years. I’d rather call them experiments in which the outcome could teach me something. I just had to make sure the risk didn’t outweigh the reward. I also want to mention even if you don’t make mistakes or have experiments go awry, it’s hard to grow a creative business!
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Abbey Glass is known for designing approachable luxury fashion for women that’s playful, timeless, and elegant at the same time. Women come to me for pieces that make them smile and evoke a little nostalgia. We work with designer fabric mills and a lot of thought goes into print design and color stories so that our customers can wear our pieces at least three seasons out of the year. I pride myself on a more-is-less mentality, something that’s opposite to many apparel businesses. Simplicity, materials and proportion are all key in making something that will stand the test of time and trend. We have incredible customer loyalty because of this, and women come back time and time again for special pieces for the special celebrations in their life.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
I learned so much weathering the storm of COVID-19. Our business was impacted significantly and we had to really look inward to determine why the brand existed. I asked myself a lot of questions: Am I the best at what I do? If so, why? What is the one thing that’s different about my brand that sets us apart? How do we become a “need to have” rather than a “nice to have”? Who is our true core customer? What problem are we solving? Where do we see ourselves in 5 years?
Sometimes when you’re in the hustle of running a growing business, you forget to hone the answers to these questions. 2020 and 2021 were the hardest years for me professionally but yielded the most growth.
I also want to mention how fortunate I was to be accepted to the Tory Burch Foundation Fellowship program in June of 2020 alongside 49 other amazing female-owned businesses across all categories, across the US. This was the most formal business education I had been exposed to. I soaked up every minute and still use the incredible resources they offer on a daily basis. I’m constantly inspired and cheered on by the peers and mentors from this fellowship.
Pricing:
- Apparel $120-398
- Handbags $50-145
- Earrings $30-50
Contact Info:
- Website: https://abbey-glass.com/
- Instagram: @SHOPABBEYGLASS
Image Credits
Abbey Glass
