While some designers study structured tailoring or intricate draping techniques, Talia Abbe taps into inflatable pool float technology. Abbe’s New York City-based namesake label T’Abbe is known for its made-to-order bubble dresses, colorful blow-up designs that come with their own miniature inflators. (Think “Bubble Boy,” but make it high fashion.) However, T’Abbe’s signature balloon-like designs represent more than just a cheerful experiment; they’re physical manifestations of Abbe’s mental health struggle.
“I wanted to be able to give other people a voice and for them to know that they’re not the only people who felt [depressed],” Abbe tells Fashionista. “No one really talks about it or how brutal it is to actually feel alone and anxious all the time and confined, and so I wanted to make a space where people felt like they could talk about it.”
Photo: Christopher Davila/Courtesy of T'Abbe
During the pandemic, Abbe felt increasingly isolated in her tiny apartment at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Rather than translating her darkest emotions into a doom-and-gloom color palette, Abbe kept imagining a human in a bubble who was protected from both the outside world and themselves. Actually bringing the human bubble concept to life, however, proved to be quite the endeavor.
Abbe began experimenting with various materials, including leather and vinyl, before landing on latex. The only snag? She knew next to nothing about latex. “Everything that I learned about how to put latex together came from online tutorials,” she shares. It took plenty of trial and error, but Abbe gradually perfected her process of creating oversized, squiggly patterns out of the elastic material. To inflate the bubble-shaped silhouettes, Abbe researched pool float valves and translated the rubber nozzles onto her own blow-up garments.
After graduating with a textile and fashion design degree from UW–Madison, Abbe returned to New York to pursue a master’s in fashion design at the Fashion Institute of Technology. “I really feel like I found myself in my master’s,” she says. “It was just a really good experience. It was all about research and it really just helped me build the foundation of this brand.” Although the designer first began establishing her brand codes in college, Abbe officially founded T’Abbe in 2025 and recently unveiled her label’s Spring 2027 collection during New York Fashion Week.
T’Abbe Spring 2027.
Photo: Bahadir Gurel/Courtesy of T'Abbe
Titled “It Runs in the Family,” T’Abbe’s latest collection explores inheritance and memory by spotlighting all the women who have come before Abbe. Her grandmother served as the catalyst for this 19-look collection, as she sent Abbe multiple sketches of a raincoat she previously designed. “I really wanted to find a way to put her vision into my collection,” Abbe explains. Of course, she still added her signature T’Abbe spin: The resulting Nancy Raincoat is a canary yellow jacket accented by a multicolored Peter Pan collar, curving button clasps and matching cuffs.
Across a candy-coded color palette of pastel pinks, wine reds, lemon meringue and powder blue, the collection also features voluminous bubble skirts, pillow-y shift dresses and wearable matching sets. “I really feel like this collection is the T’Abbe girl all grown up,” Abbe adds.
T’Abbe Spring 2027.
Photo: Bahadir Gurel/Courtesy of T'Abbe
For Spring 2027, T’Abbe continued its partnership with Bring Change to Mind (BC2M), a nonprofit working to end mental health stigma through youth advocacy, by hosting a nationwide competition that selected a student design to become a custom print in the collection. The winning design — a vibrant artwork by Joanna Yong-An Chen that explores emotions that can be difficult to express — was incorporated into a zip-up shirt, a mesh tank top, a puffy tiered dress and the aforementioned raincoat.
Within the past two seasons, T’Abbe made a strategic push into ready-to-wear by translating her joyful aesthetic into more casual styles like barrel leg pants, frilly tops and cozy sweaters. T’Abbe’s playful brand codes continue into these designs, including the signature “T’Abbe wave” that comes from Abbe’s own electroencephalogram (EEG) scan, or a test measuring electrical activity in the brain. These wavy details can be spotted in hemlines, plackets and seams, further emphasizing the brand’s tie to mental health advocacy.
Photo: Bahadir Gurel/Courtesy of T'Abbe
“I love the editorial pieces and I feel like they’re so creative and they really show my creativity, but I wanted T’Abbe to not only be for the special occasion, I wanted it to be for our every day T’Abbe girl,” Abbe says.
And who is the T’Abbe girl? To Abbe, she’s “someone who’s bold, but warm and fearless.” The T’Abbe customer is a “cool girl” in her own right, marching to the beat of her own drum rather than donning the latest drops from luxury’s top players. Although T’Abbe’s made-to-order model isn’t going away (its custom bubble dresses range from $1,750 to $2,400), the label’s expanding ready-to-wear and accessory offerings give customers an easier entry point. Take its Mini Stuffy Pod Purse ($280), for example: The padded, cloud-shaped tote delivers T’Abbe’s signature cheerful aesthetic for the shopper who still wants a touch of whimsy sans a personal inflator.
Photo: Christopher Davila/Courtesy of T'Abbe
While mainly operating via its direct-to-consumer website, T’Abbe is currently stocked at Great Stuff, a contemporary women’s fashion boutique in New York and Connecticut. “I love the specialty stores so much,” Abbe says. “I think they’re such great partners, and I love the close relationship that they have to their clients.” But, T’Abbe isn’t ruling larger retail partners out. The designer notes that she would love to work with major department stores as the label continues to grow its retail presence. Plus, T’Abbe is eyeing possible international expansion, specifically to tap into its “strong clientele” in Asia.
“We are really just trying to expand in every direction to get the brand to be a little bit more well known and to get people [to be] a part of our community,” Abbe says.
Please note: Occasionally, we use affiliate links on our site. This in no way affects our editorial decision-making.
Fonte: Fashionista
