Abbode Can Make Embroidery Dreams Come True – Just Check Out the Suits on Gabby Thomas and Toni Breidinger

A broken machine and a failing store led to the start of Abigail Price's booming business.

SI Staff

Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, Abigail Price always knew she wanted to own her own business and follow suit. As far as what exactly, she was not sure. After working at a beauty PR firm doing their events, the New Yorker found a passion in making dry floral arrangements, which she then started to sell on the side during graduate school at Parsons. Once she graduated, she opened Abbode in 2021.

Initially, the brick & mortar on Elizabeth Street in NYC was solely a place for those custom arrangements, but then by a fluke it has now become an embroidery mecca in Manhattan that has worked with SI Swimsuit for bathing suits worn by Toni Breidinger and Gabby Thomas, L.L. Bean, J.Crew, Madison Square Garden and more. “I bought an embroidery machine and randomly did a little embroidery,” Price says. “In March, April 2023, it just took off, and now the whole business is all focused-on embroidery, custom embroidery, making our own products and things like that. It’s more than throwing initials or throwing a name on something. It's a personal touch that requires a human element of thinking it through, thinking abstractly and pushing the boundaries.” 

Toni Breidinger is worth the wait in an Abbode embroidered suit / SI Staff

The company has expanded to 25 people with its office in Chinatown and store in SoHo. Recently, it launched a website where people from all over can create and purchase unique gifts. For Valentine’s Day, customers could have their lips embroidered on clothing for that special someone.

Keep reading to learn more about Price’s journey including why COVID gave her the opportunity to go for it and what she hopes to conquer next.

Was embroidery something you had experience with?

"Not at all. I had seen an influencer post something that was embroidered, and I was like, ‘Oh, that's cute.’ I thought maybe it would be a good addition to my store. After almost a year of [the embroidery machine] barely being used and kept in the basement, the impetus for the whole thing was when it broke and needed to get serviced. Around that time, the store was not doing well. It wasn't like I needed to close any day, but it was looking like a big change needed to happen or else it just wasn't going to survive anymore. It was fortunate timing and lucky that it all worked out the way that it did."

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You created the brand in early 2020 and then store in May 2021. How did the pandemic impact your business during that time?

"It was honestly more of a little hobby when I first started and was gaining some traction then it all got wiped out with COVID. At the same time, I never would have been where I am today. I was able to negotiate a lease that was one month long and one month security deposit directly with the landlord, no attorney. I was able to do that for about six months of just extending that one lease before I signed a five-year lease. COVID was bad for me making dry floral arrangements out of my apartment, but it was amazing for the trajectory of my life and my career."

Your business is really unique in that you work with both B2B and B2C. How do you manage and balance both of those? 

"It's really a hard balance because I always want to say yes to any businesses that I come by, but I also want to say yes, always, to my customers. Our customers are the basis of our entire business, so it's a tough balance, but we try to prioritize them and set rules around our turnaround times and when we accept things."

Can you tell me about some of the custom work that you've done with SI Swimsuit?

"That was such an incredible project, and I feel so honored and lucky to even be thought of for that. We can take whatever the ethos and the vibes are of whatever it is and turn it into art and turn it into embroidery. With SI Swimsuit, we wrote out every single model, researched and even asked Chat GPT for anything we could find that was a unique detail or something special to them. Then we adapted that for each individual person, whether they had a certain number of medals or achievements. We were able to translate that into [the embroidery] on the bathing suit."

Toni Breidinger in a bathing suit embroidered by Abbode / SI Staff

Would you say that's what sets Abbode apart from other custom embroidery brands?

"The way we approach this uniqueness is so specific. I don't think we've ever done a traditional monogram. We don't even offer that as a style because it's so much more than that. For Valentine's Day, we have our custom lip boxers. For that, it's putting lipstick on and kissing a piece of paper, and we lift the exact lip print off that piece of paper and embroider it."

What would you say has been the most rewarding aspect of running the business so far?

"It has been being a part of our customers’ special moments, whether that's weddings or someone came in and embroidered a bandana for their dog that said, ‘I'm a big brother’ because they were announcing to their partner that they were pregnant. We had someone propose on a tote bag that we made. We take handwriting from loved ones and embroider their exact handwriting, their exact notes onto things whether that's on a handkerchief for a wedding if maybe one of your parents can't be there or a grandparent. What’s popular right now is a tea towel with a recipe. It's being able to do thoughtful gestures."

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And then on the flip side, what's been the most challenging? 

"The scaling and growth. At the moment, we do 80 to 90 percent of our production in Manhattan, which is so expensive. The reality of work in the U.S. in general is so expensive, so how do we scale a custom business in such an expensive day and age and city without losing the personal and special touch. Our team makes sure every order is perfect; our quality control is extremely thorough. If it comes out not perfect, we'll just recycle it and do it again."

Have you run into imposter syndrome at all since you've been a business owner?

"Having a strong team around me really helps because I look to them to help lift me up. It's really leaning on the team around me because you’re always your hardest critic."

What advice do you have for other women who are looking to start a business?

"I would say you have to be prepared to work really hard. It took me almost four years to get to a place where I'm like, wow, I actually have something here. You can feel like it's not going to work or change, but you have to just lean into it. If you see something working, don't be afraid to go all in and get rid of the rest. With whatever you’re doing, try to have a uniqueness to it or fill some sort of gap in a market. When I first opened the store, it worked because there wasn't a home decor vintage store like this in Manhattan. They were only really in Brooklyn. And then when we pivoted to embroidery that worked because no one's doing embroidery like we are. Look for a niche that hasn't been disrupted or have a unique point of view."

Gabby Thomas in a custom Abbode bathing suit / SI Staff

What has changed the most with since you created Abbode? 

"The biggest change is more so behind the scenes – the growth, the team and the strategy. I started it completely by myself, and now I have this team that can help me. Before when we did a photo shoot, it would be me styling the shoot, taking the photos, potentially modeling as well. We had to shoot the other day, and I just arrived because my team handled everything [before]." 

What are your goals for this year?

"I'm just looking forward to more growth. I'm looking forward to getting to a place (which I think we will be very soon) to employ more people, give our team raises and just be able to thrive. I'm really looking forward to that and refining our brand. We’re finally getting to a point where we have a little bit to play around with that we're investing in brand building. I was never able to hire someone to come on for social media full time. I'm looking forward to being able to invest in those and to continue to create a great product that's at an affordable price for people."

Is there any dream client that you have in mind? 

"Everyone we've worked with thus far is honestly my dream client. It's just taking that relationship one step further, and I'd love to work with some more super high fashion brands."