A clothing company for elegance & adventure because life gets more beautiful when you dress up for it.
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We’d love you to watch the video above! Please note: sizes will be collected by survey towards the end of campaign, and if you don’t see your country listed for shipping options just send a message and we’ll add it!
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Let’s begin.
The story of this company begins with my family’s love of entrepreneurship, my grandfather’s work as a fashion designer, and a belief that beautiful dresses shouldn’t be so hard to find.
And through the many friends I’ve met in my work as a photographer, I realized I wasn’t the only one who felt this way.
We want clothes that make us feel confident and graceful. I’m drawn to classic silhouettes that are simple and versatile for everyday wear, but pretty enough to feel special. To find both of these together is no easy job. And after enough frustrations with shopping and encouragement to move forward, the Virginia Dare Dress Company was born!
After googling “how to start a fashion business” one evening, I have spent the last few years learning about design, production, pattern making, and fabric sourcing, while also learning about what we as women want to say about ourselves.
I’ve built this idea slowly of a company that inspires others to their more beautiful potential. The clothes we wear have a significant effect on us and help form our identity and community.
I’ve worked with expert sample and patternmakers in New York and Washington DC, and now we’re ready to launch. This campaign was created to pre-sell the Signature collection to fund the production run to create these dresses, start the online store, design a larger next collection, and continue working to make this dream a reality.
The Emma is a heavy-weight knit dress, with a just-right fabric blend that is stretchy and comfortable to wear but substantial enough for a polished fit and drape.
It’s a teal-green color with half sleeves and pockets. Easily dressed up or down and happily, machine washable!
The Camilla is a floral print reminiscent of an artist’s sketchbook and old world toile. It’s our own iconic print and is printed on a stretch cotton.
The dress has a delicate scoop neckline in the front and back, side seam pockets, a ruffle on the sleeve and ties in the back for a perfect fit. (And also machine-washable!)
The Samantha is a wrap dress with gathers at the shoulders, a longer take on short sleeves, and a voluminous skirt that wraps entirely around itself.
The fabric is a rayon + silk blend that has good weight and incredible lightness and drape all at once. Handwash.
If you haven’t used Kickstarter before, I’d love for us to be your first!
You start by choosing the reward you want, and if we successfully reach our goal of $60,000 then the funds are transferred and we get to work. We’ll begin production, and your rewards are delivered as soon as they’re completed.
Follow along at INSTAGRAM, PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, TWITTER or for updates + stories by EMAIL!
For the dresses, we estimate a February delivery. It could be sooner, but we’d rather you be pleasantly surprised! This campaign will finish mid-October, then all the fabric will be ordered from mills and shipped to our factory in Central America for manufacturing. We will give updates throughout the process and have some fun events for everyone too!
Yes! Just message us what country you’re in and we’ll add the option. International backers are responsible for paying customs fees.
In the late 1500s, Eleanor & Ananias Dare left England with a group of settlers bound for the New World. They landed in Roanoke Colony and soon after arriving their daughter was born – the first Englishwoman born in this country. They named her Virginia Dare, and the spirit of optimism and courage of her life is the inspiration for all that we’re building.
Photos by Victoria Heer + Jessica LaRue, music by Dale Clay, calligraphy by Shrimp Salad Circus.
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Manufacturing is a large project with many variables. Much work has already been done on our samples and patterns and confirming our fabrics and meeting with suppliers, but every process can still have unexpected road blockss. Thankfully we can work to be as transparent and consistent with updates so our backers could be kept aware of any developments, and our work to keep moving forward!