The Inside Scoop on EBay's Fashion-Forward Holiday Collective
We talked with the seven designers who teamed up with the internet giant to create a collection of adorable (and affordable) giftable goodies.
by Julia Rubin, Teen Vogue
To make the upcoming season's gift-giving as easy and stylish as possible, eBay linked up with seven designers for the eBay Holiday Collective. Comprised of more than 40 items, the collection spans a variety of categories, from clothing to jewelry to tech accessories and more. All of the highly giftable pieces are priced between $50 and $100, and they will be available on eBay's Fashion Vault beginning Nov. 12.
We caught up with the Holiday Collective crew--Chris Benz, Dana Lorenz of Fallon, Amy Smilovic of Tibi, Claude and Brian of Ruffian, Billy Reid, Jonathan Adler, and Steven Alan--at a party celebrating the collaboration last week. Read on to get the first look at their designs, and to get the dish on their greatest gifts and best eBay steals.
CHRIS BENZ
Tell us about what you designed for the collection.
Our whole thing was about travel and little things that you love when you're traveling. I travel so much for work and for pleasure! We narrowed it down to silk pajamas for boys and girls, little pouches because everyone loves things to put other things in. We did a cashmere T-shirt, which is really cute. We did a cashmere scarf and stationery, so you can wear your silk pajamas and write love letters!
What is the best gift you've ever received?
I think the best gift of all time, which is such an infrequent thing but something really special, is when you get a handwritten note in the mail. I feel like it's a little bit of a lost art, but people are getting back into it, the art of writing letters.
What has been your favorite eBay find?
I've bought so much on eBay! Anything from out-of-print books to research samples, and things to decorate my whole studio and my apartment. Plus, I just like getting stuff in the mail every day.
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DANA LORENZ OF FALLON
Tell us about what you designed for the collection.
I really wanted it to stay within the voice of Fallon. I did a lot of classic IDs and the hardware that we always use, like the microspikes and the pyramid studs with a lot of crystals because it was holiday. To me it's the perfect combination of Fallon because what I do is really a punk princess look anyway, so the girl wants the hard and the pretty all in one.
What is the best gift you've ever received?
Art, I think. A friend of mine gave me an Alice Neel lithograph.
What has been your favorite eBay find?
I buy a lot of vintage, like old Chanel bags and stuff from the '80s, vintage Hermès, and a lot of stuff for the home, too.
AMY SMILOVIC OF TIBI
Tell us about what you designed for the collection.
We designed a collection that was at a really great price point and that people would want to buy for themselves or for a best friend or spouse at the holiday time. We looked at it as it's got to have our DNA. It's got to be really fun, something that would make you want to reach out and press the buy button.
What is the best gift you've ever received?
I love jewelry, like this little knuckle ring I'm wearing. That was a good one. I love jewelry, any jewelry!
What has been your favorite eBay find?
Probably a great Hermès cuff that's bright blue. I love it.
BRIAN WOLK AND CLAUDE MORAIS OF RUFFIAN
Tell us about what you designed for the collection.
Brian: We wanted something that was really playful, but we wanted to keep it prestige and luxury. Everything we did was in silk, and eBay really supported that. What we did was take a signature detail of ours, which is the "ruff" collar, but we wanted to make it more fun and playful by turning it into a scarf. We also wanted to do something for boys, so we did ties.
Claude: We started our business with neckwear, and we thought it was great to bring back the brocade for New Year's Eve and the logo tie. We were more in a New Year's party mode than Christmas.
What is the best gift you've ever received?
Claude: My best is actually from eBay. It's my record player that I hope I can go to my grave with. It's a beautiful, portable, white suitcase from 1965. Brian gave it to me for Christmas.
Brian: That is a really good gift! I have a collection of bathrobes, so I've gotten a lot of those. Claude got me a great 1950 smoking jacket, a robe from Oxford. It's like standard issue uniform--navy blue with white piping and a big embroidered Oxford crest on it.
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BILLY REID
Tell us about what you designed for the collection.
There's a canvas we use in a lot of denim products, from jeans to outerwear jackets. It was used to make army tents back in the 1800s, and it's still in development today for a lot of reenactments. We use it in garments, and we've always wanted to use it in a bag but never really tried it. So we said, "Hey, let's try this." It's domestically-made fabric, and we made the bags in the United States as well, so the whole product is all made in the U.S.A.
What is the best gift you've ever received?
I could probably be very philosophical about that. You know, any gift is a great gift. My last gift I got was a Green Egg [grill] that my wife gave me for Father's day. It was a huge upgrade from my rusted-out Weber that I had!
JONATHAN ADLER
Tell us about what you designed for the collection.
I designed a suite of sweet giftables that features my ceramics in white and silver, including a peace [sign] studded box, salt and pepper shakers, picture frames, ornaments, and a coaster set. My inspiration is the glitz, glam, and twinkle of the holidays mixed with a little edge and punk.
What is the best gift you've ever received?
When Simon [Doonan] and I got married, our friend Ruben Toledo painted a super groovy marriage certificate for us. That's probably the best gift we've ever gotten!
What has been your favorite eBay find?
I got a gigantic Bjorn Wiinblad bowl that should have been $2,500 for about $200, and it was all because his name was misspelled. So my "Aha!" moment was that you should always misspell things when searching on eBay. Bjorn Wiinblad is spelled with two I's, and I typed in one.
STEVEN ALAN
Tell us about what you designed for the collection.
They're things that I wanted. I like to doodle but I also want to carry my iPad. I didn't want to have two cases, so I wanted a case that can carry an iPad and a composition book. Then I felt like girls should be able to carry their iPhone without carrying their purse, so making the little iPhone carrying case was another thing. I like to carry cash in a money clip, but I don't really like carrying extra weight, so I did a leather money clip. Another item was for my camera, because I couldn't find a nice case for it.
What is the best gift you've ever received?
My son always draws things for me, so that's always nice.
What has been your favorite eBay find?
My car! I bought a car on eBay. An old Volvo, a 1989 Volvo. It only had 80,000 miles!
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