New evening wear store opening in Birmingham

Anna Castaldi, owner of Roma Sposa Couture Bridal in Birmingham, is expanding and opening a designer evening wear store on Maple Road called House of Castaldi, which will also include her own unique custom line of cocktail and evening wear dresses.

House of Castaldi will open in March at 245 W. Maple in the former location of The Home & Garden Shop, next to Optik Eyeware, near high-end international designer shops Tender and Linda Dresner.

“For me, it's locating onto Maple near Tender and Linda Dresner; it's creating a greater relationship, greater synergy for the customer,” Castaldi said. She said House of Castaldi will not feature any daywear, only cocktail dresses and evening wear.

Castaldi first opened Roma Sposa 23 years ago at 708 N. Old Woodward, as a luxury bridal and evening wear atelier. She carries bridal lines from Vera Wang, Monique Lhuillier, Inbal Dror, Ines Di Santo, Galia Lahav, Naeem Kahn, Zuhair Murad, Romona Keveza and others. Over the years, she expanded into adjacent space with Roma Notte, an evening wear boutique, which is now closed.

House of Castaldi will feature designers exclusive to the store, she said, “and we keep a list of who is buying each list. If you're making an appearance at the Detroit Institute of Arts gala, I'll make sure you'll be the only one in that dress.”

Castaldi said she is going to house a wide variety of designers from New York, Paris, Milan and Tel Aviv, including Romona Keveza, Tony Ward and others exclusive to the store, as well as custom designs from the Anna Castaldi line.

“I make my own things,” she said. Further, she and her staff are fashion stylists who can help women discover what looks best on them and find their best potential.

Each month, a weekend will be devoted to a designer's preview collection in the store. “You're going to see it and buy it before anyone else,” she said. “You're going to see it prior to any stores having their collections. They're sexy, different, from all over the world. We are going to be Bergdorf Goodman's for Michigan.”