Meet_ Abito
Catherine and Eve Anne, the Abito team
Tell us how you met, and about the idea for Abito?
Eve Anne: We met on the first day in college. We’d both chosen History of art, Archaeology, and Italian - despite me not having a word of it! Fast forward a few decades Catherine had an idea for a new kind of gardening jacket. And we were both at a stage of wanting to do something new and creative. Someone reminded me we had worked together once before - a stall at the Friday campus market selling bags we’d made!
Catherine: We’d had different work lives - I was working freelance doing interiors, and EveAnne was working on big cultural and architectural projects. I stopped working when I had two boys. Then I'd an itch to do something new: I was home based and found it tiresome getting in and out of old clothes for gardening - then changing to go out of the house! So, I made a mockup of what I thought would work. Naturally I began talking to Eve Anne about it and we began making versions of it. A seed of an idea to do something together evolved.
And why Abito?
Eve Anne: We were talking, walking in 5km lockdown circles. About the design, what to call it (as it wasn’t a straightforward jacket) and what to call ourselves. ‘Overall’ - as you throw it on over all your clothes. And ‘Abito’ because of utility.
Catherine, whose family live in Rome, knew Abito means “habit, suit, uniform” and it also means “I live’. We loved that double meaning - because we wanted to make things not just to put on, but things to work and live in.
How did you get started?
Catherine: That first year was all about testing, making, “let’s just see what happens.” Prototypes made by a brilliant local seamstress. We tried different design details, wore them ourselves, and sold a few. Our first customers were friends and family - amazing support.
A pal in manufacturing helped us get a tech pack. And he introduced us to his partner, a family business in Delhi. So by December 2022 we had a handful ready. No way we could have done any of that without him.
Our first customers were friends and family - amazing support. Slowly, batch by batch, we found our rhythm.
— Catherine & Eve Anne, Abito
Eve Anne: Great pals offered their home for a get together preview. It was really to spread the word that we were now Abito. Not only did people show up that snowy Sunday and try on the overalls. They bought them for themselves, or as a special Christmas gift! We were thrilled.
That was the point we decided to go for it. We’d learned lots from those first customers wearing them gardening, making, working with animals. Without calling it “wear testing” we now know that’s what it was.
Then what?
Catherine: By June we were launching Abito at Bloom. That was the first real test of what the gardening community, the press, and the public thought! From there, each step funded the next. Friends and family first sales had paid for a photoshoot. Bloom paid for the Horse Show. Slowly, batch by batch, we found our rhythm.
Then we got to Delhi to visit our manufacturing partners. We’d been working together remotely, to and fro on design details and fabric samples back and forth. Seeing the craft in person - everything under one roof, so beautifully made - was extraordinary.
Why small batch? And how did you evolve into bags and aprons?
Eve Anne: It was practical. But it was also the point. We never wanted to be fast fashion. Making in small batches means we use great quality ‘deadstock’ fabrics, test, tweak, and listen. It also limits shipping to a few times a year.
The overall was first because it was something different. It was such a buzz when we got the design registered. And then we wanted more people to have something Abito.
Catherine: We had some canvas fabric that we’d selected in Delhi. And we thought it would work best for a heavy duty apron - a classic piece of workwear. We’d made a few other prototype designs. But the apron felt like a natural next step. To add something else to our range for makers, potters, gardeners who were interested in what we were making.
And then the Tolfa bag. It’s an iconic Italian bag designed originally for farmers in the 16thC in Tolfa. I knew it as a 1970s student bag. So we found the family in Tolfa, north of Rome, who were still making the bags by hand in natural leathers. They liked what we were doing in Abito. It felt like the natural companion to the overall, and something we loved.
Favourite moments so far?
Eve Anne: Lots. The first photoshoot. Catherine’s kitchen, having roped in family and friends to model, photographer Aisling McCoy, and the guys in Detail who were working on our brand design. It was a great day. Another is being with the makers in Delhi, and in Tolfa - really special.
Catherine: I just love seeing people wearing the overall - it gives me a kick every time.
Lastly, where do you draw your inspiration from?
People who are doing their own thing in craft, food, gardening, and new places like Throwing Shapes in our local D8. The people we meet, and inspirational talks at events we’re at. Like the new Festival of Gardens and Nature.
When thinking about our Abito brand we made scrapbooks of inspiring people, brands, and interesting small design businesses doing things in new ways. Like Paynter, who make garments in batches with advance customer preorders. Shops like Indigo & Cloth and Toast who find things all over the world, brilliantly made.
We’re drawn to things that are useful, and well designed.
And we’ve always loved markets. Vintage stalls in Rome, and shops like M’apazza+ Via dei Banchi Vecchi. The textiles and skills of the people we met in India. Places where you stumble across something useful, well-made, and full of character.
I just love seeing people wear the overall. It gives me a kick every time.
— Catherine
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We started this Journal series to feature people we’ve met through Abito — like Rosanna of Samsú who has been interviewing those people for us. So, Rosanna thought it was time to share our story here! Thanks for the chat.
And thank you for reading.
Catherine & Eve Anne