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Designer Notes

Remembering Kaye – An Ivey Abitz Master Tailor

We have some sad news to share with our dear clients.

Kaye, one of our longtime master tailors and friends, died peacefully in her home last week.

We know most of you were not able to officially meet her in person, but you knew her through her fine sewing. She worked for Ivey Abitz from 2009-2020, and she has sewn thousands of bespoke garments for us. If you have several Ivey Abitz garments in your closet, then you most likely have special one-of-a-kind garments that were sewn by Kaye. 

Our other dear and incredibly talented tailors have also learned from Kaye over the years, and thankfully her legacy carries on through them with their attention to detail and dedication to mastering my challenging and intricate designs. 

I will miss working with Kaye in her impressive Brooklyn sewing studio she dedicated to Ivey Abitz since 2009. I will miss her dozens of calls while she was working on projects for us from her sewing studio and I was in my design studio. Phone calls were her versions of texts and emails — she was proudly “old school.” I’d put her on speaker phone, and we’d go over things together. Our dogs know Kaye by the sound of her voice; they knew her as Auntie Kaye. She knew how to stop Artie from barking. She knew how to turn Harry’s head by singing an impromptu Broadway tune. She knew how to spread love and joy through everything she did — especially through a sewing project. 

Her sudden death has admittedly shaken me to my core, and it will take awhile to process the enormous loss. I truly loved Kaye. She wasn’t just a coworker. She was a friend. She was part of our family. I will miss her quirkiness, talent, and love. But I have to trust, just as she believed, that she isn’t gone—she’s just gone on before. She’s now with her dear dog/daughter Mandy who died in 2009. She mentioned her often, and she missed her so much. The thought of this brings a smile to my face and gives me peace. 

— Cynthia Ivey Abitz 

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Media and Press

Philosophy of Clothing Design in the Ivey Abitz Limited Edition 2016 Collection

Bespoke Clothier Ivey Abitz Designs Philosophy into Dresses and Frocks in Latest Collection

Look No. 1 from the Limited Edition Collection, 2016.
Look No. 1 from the Limited Edition Collection, 2016.

Clothing designer Ivey Abitz has introduced her 2016 Limited Edition Collection titled “Endless Bloom.” The title’s eternal implication makes this seem like an unlikely name for a short lived Limited Edition Collection. But the designer invokes the juxtaposition with purpose.

The latest Ivey Abitz collection title refers to the inspiring bloom of the hydrangea, a favourite of the designer that lasts all through summer and well into autumn.

The designer expands on the concept in her artist statement:

“Endless Bloom refers to our collective being. Despite our temporal humanness, we have something inside all of us that is in endless bloom. Our garment designs seek to embody a glimpse of this eternal flourishing and blooming.”

This begs the question: how does a clothing designer get a glimpse of the eternal – something many of us just ponder?

Quite simply, it is the artist’s connection to the inspiration of Beauty. Some call it religion, others call it self-knowledge. Ivey Abitz calls it “a connection to our Creator that manifests itself when design elements come together to satisfy the desire for Beauty.”

The Ivey Abitz Limited Edition look book is available at the designer’s website IveyAbitz.com. Garments are made as they are ordered after clients choose from over 100 designs and a palette of seasonable fabrics.

In its more than ten years of business, Ivey Abitz has established a reputation for high quality garment construction which is all done in the USA.

Ivey Abitz says that a successful combination of form and function in clothing brings an internal peace that is expressed outwardly on the body.

Ivey Abitz believes that when we can experience peace here on Earth, we gain perspective, and we can see beyond the pain and sorrow of this world into the hope of Eternity.

This collection is a microcosm of the larger Ivey Abitz philosophy, as described by the designer, Cynthia Ivey Abitz:

“Ivey Abitz designs serve our temporal selves, embracing us with substance whilst representing the mysterious – yet intuitively Beautiful – space beyond time.”

Through that search for substance beyond time, Ivey Abitz hopes to help wearers discover their “Endless Bloom.”

Find the latest collection of Ivey Abitz clothing at IveyAbitz.com.

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Karen from British Columbia

Ivey Abitz from the Inside Out

I’ve discovered that I’m coming to prefer just about everything on a smaller, more intimate scale. Our own food supply is one thing. A small community and personal service is another. Handmade, timeless clothing from limited runs of speechlessly beautiful fabric and with loving, well-placed details is yet another. Prior to every ivey abitz order I placed, there was an event coming up for which I’d purchased each piece. (That’s the official story, anyway. It was a convenient excuse to buy the pieces I loved.) Each time, comically, the event was either indefinitely postponed or cancelled entirely. Sometimes it was weather-related, sometimes not. 

In the meantime, they instantly became the most stunning members of my closet, eclipsing even my formerly most prized and flattering pieces. The day I wore my black sueded silk Bartholdi skirt into town (not exactly the ceremony for which it had been purchased, but she had a good sense of humour about it), my husband kept gushing about how much he liked it and how well it suited me, and even the postmaster raced out from behind the counter to stroke the silk (she’s a woman, it was OK) and admire the wild, elegant design that I like to call controlled chaos. More than any of the compliments, though, it felt so good to wear, and instantly elevated my mood and reminded me of the transformative power of a well-conceived, beautifully handcrafted article of clothing that was literally made just for me. I was reminded of my powerful desire to both create and be surrounded by beauty, and what it does for me from the inside out.