SWEET TREAT
Fraser Valley fashionista turns stylish profit with Cake For Breakfast
Q When and why did you start Cake for Breakfast?
A Cake For Breakfast started almost three years ago when I was working in the finance industry and going to university for marketing. CFB started as a jewelry line. I had made a few bracelets and necklaces for myself, and after an overwhelming response, I decided to open up a little Etsy shop. In the spring of 2013 we launched our first graphic tee — the ampersand tee. Since then we have continued to create gorgeous, feminine pieces, that are always designed in Vancouver, crafted in Los Angeles, and made with oh-so much love. Q Did you have a background in fashion or was this all sort of new to you?
A It was all definitely very new to me. As soon as I graduated high school I started working at a bank, after doing that for a few years I decided to go back to school and take the marketing program at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. I never actually even finished my program. I feel a lot of business knowledge, entrepreneurial skills and basically anything to do with managing your own business are better learned through the tangible act of seeing and doing.
Q You have both a fashion blog and an e-shop by the same name. How do you keep the two separate?
A I recently changed the name of my blog because I wanted to keep them a little more separate. Cake For Breakfast is a very branded line and as I grow as a person I wanted to be able to show not only my CFB side but other sides and styles of me as well. I didn’t want to feel I was restricted to a certain style, which is why I have been in the process of rebranding my blog to Tessa Lindsay Garcia.
Q What do you sell in the CFB store?
A Cake For Breakfast is a locally designed and printed graphic T-shirt line for the feminine woman. We’ve always said that our tees are made to make women f eel gorgeous, they should want to make you kick up your heels, throw confetti and pop champagne.
Q Who is your target customer?
A Our target customer is women age 17 to 35, but really it’s all women. Our goal is to make you feel gorgeous and wonderful, no matter who or what age you are.
Q Do you create all the designs for your tees? They’re so cute. A Thank you! All of our designs are done by myself. Sometimes we collaborate with other artists to do exclusive pieces but it’s always a collaboration between myself and the artist.
Q Where are your products made?
A Our products are designed here in Vancouver, manufactured in Los Angeles and printed in Vancouver as well.
Q You also recently launched another e-commerce website shopMACCS.com. What can shoppers expect to find there?
A MACCS is definitely a great focus for me right now. It’s an e-commerce retail shop bringing women fashions from around the world. The shop was created by my sister and I in hopes of bringing new and different styles to the Vancouver market. The premise of MACCS is to bring in pieces different from any other shop in Vancouver, almost all of the styles we carry, we’re their only retailer in Canada — which we pride ourselves on.