Our Brands

Babette

Babette’s sense of design owes a debt to late 20 th century modernist architecture, industrial and graphic design. Throughout her career, her work has been distinguished by the use of sophisticated colors and strong geometric shapes. Her modernist sensibilities dictate that embellishment is kept to a minimum and that any detail must have a useful function. She launched her first signature clothing line in 1968 boutiques within contemporary design stores.

In the early 1980’s she launched a coat collection putting her training in this area at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technolgy to use. This line was sold through better specialty stores and department stores around the United States.

In the mid 1980’s she began experiment with various forms of manipulating fabric to create different textures and surfaces. One direct result of this experimentation lead to the creation of a pleated raincoat, still her best-known item today. When Henri Bendel opened their new Fifth Avenue store in 1991 the entire coat department was festooned with Babette’s neon colored pleated coats made specifically for the occasion.

The success of the pleated raincoat spurred more experimentation with different kinds of pleating for other uses. Babette’s Pleated Sportswear was launched in 1990 and has since become the mainstay of the business. Finding the right fabric was a challenge that proved elusive. In one of those serendipitous moments that change things forever, a fabric salesmen showed her a piece of “new” fabric called micro fiber that none of his other customers could find a use for. For Babette this new family of fabrics became the basis for an entirely new direction for the company.

In 1995 she and her business partner, husband Steven Pinsky bought the pleating factory that was producing the Babette line. This gave her the ability to make a stronger connection between desing and manufacturing which has led to even greater commercial acceptance. The company recently moved to a new 25,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Oakland.

The company continues to thrive as a creative incubator for new talent and ideas. In recent years Babette and her Co-Designer, JosephineTchang have expanded the company’s offerings to create and entire sportswear collection that is a life-style solution for discerning women.

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