Cleobella is a California-based lifestyle and fashion brand blending luxury aesthetics with slow fashion values, ethical production, and a distinct wanderlust spirit. Best known for their bohemian dresses, artisanal leather bags, jewelry, and accessories, each piece is hand-crafted by skilled artisans, ensuring sustainability, cultural preservation, and truly unique designs. The label is a certified B Corp, recognized worldwide for its conscious creation and celebration of female empowerment and global discovery.
How Does It Work?
Artisan Collaboration: All Cleobella products are ethically handmade, predominantly in Bali, India, and Morocco, in partnership with generational artisan families. The brand prioritizes fair wages, sustainable practice, and zero-waste project pilots—producing collections with 100% organic or natural fibers and low-impact production techniques. Globally Inspired Design: Each season’s collection begins with creative director and co-founder Angela O’Brien’s travel journals and deep appreciation for multicultural artistry. Woodblock print dresses (like the Magdalena), signature hand-tooled handbags (such as the…
Mexicana clutch), and delicate eyelet and embroidery work reflect their core ethos in everything. “With every new design, we start with global inspiration and our Cleobella woman as our muse,” says O’Brien.
“My love for one-of-a-kind sustainable textiles was born and has grown into the foundation of what Cleobella is today.” Origin Story & Founders Founded in 2006 by Angela O’Brien and her husband Jim O’Brien (after a year-long global adventure through Southeast Asia, Africa, and Australia), Cleobella was born from the couple’s desire to honor the artisans and cultures they encountered.
What began with recycled sari wrap skirts and hand-tooled clutch bags at the Maui farmers’ market blossomed into an internationally recognized lifestyle line.
They split their time between Seal Beach, California, and Bali, continually seeking inspiration, deepening artisan partnerships, and raising their family with the same spirit of adventure. At the end of our trip, I could see Cleobella sparkling on the horizon…
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