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Rachel Comey

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American fashion designer

Rachel Comey is an American independent fashion designer based in New York City. She is the founder of Rachel Comey, a clothing, shoes, and accessories brand known for its "intellectual, arts-and-crafts aesthetic."

Early life

Comey was born outside of Hartford, Connecticut. In 1994, she graduated from the University of Vermont, where she focused on Asian studies, printmaking, and sculpture.

Career and brand

After college, Comey worked at an art gallery in Vermont and designed a line of novelty underwear. In 1997, she moved to New York, where she worked as a freelance production assistant and later as a design consultant at Theory. During that time she began making costumes for her then-boyfriend Eugene Hutz's band, Gogol Bordello. In 2001, after her designs caught the eye of a stylist friend, Comey was commissioned to make two hand-painted shirts for musician David Bowie. She charged him $100 per shirt. Soon after, Comey was fired from Theory for performing outside work.

In September 2001, Comey presented her first menswear collection. In 2004, Comey expanded her brand to include womenswear. Of her Spring-Summer 2004 ready-to-wear collection, Vogue published, "The overall mood was pure summer, and the collection full of confident, easy clothes for cool customers with discerning eyes."

In 2009, Comey was inducted into Council of Fashion Designers of America.

Her clothes have been worn by celebrities and artists including Miranda July, Rashida Jones, Lady Gaga and more.

Fashion shows

Comey's first official fashion show took place in September 2001, days before 9/11, near her studio in Tribeca. The ad-hoc, menswear-only show was held on the street and featured models including Waris Ahluwalia and Devendra Banhart.

To present her Spring-Summer 2014 ready-to-wear collection, Comey hosted a sit-down dinner at Pioneer Works in Red Hook, Brooklyn featuring a performance by Justin Vivian Bond. Thus began a series of untraditional presentations taking place at venues including Hauser Wirth & Schimmel in Los Angeles, CA. To celebrate the brand's fifteenth anniversary in 2016, Comey presented her Spring-Summer 2017 ready-to-wear collection on the sidewalk of Crosby Street in New York City, a nod to her first-ever fashion show in 2001.

In addition to choosing unconventional venues, Comey is also known for casting unconventional models in her fashion shows. For her Spring-Summer 2016 ready-to-wear show, Comey included "artists, eccentrics, dancers, and businesswomen" in addition to professional models.

Unisex line

In March 2017, Comey introduced a line of unisex clothing – "because clothes are for everyone."

Pop culture

In 2002, Comey appeared in a documentary short about Gogol Bordello.

In 2014, Comey played herself in the "Rachel" episode of the web series High Maintenance.

Personal life

Comey lives with her husband, Sean Carmody, and two children in New York's SoHo neighborhood.

References

  1. "Rachel Comey Goes West". The Business of Fashion. February 2, 2016. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
  2. "Rachel Comey - About". www.rachelcomey.com. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
  3. ^ Vermont, University of. "Vermont Quarterly : University of Vermont". www.uvm.edu. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
  4. "Fashion Week Questionnaire: Rachel Comey". Interview Magazine. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  5. ^ Aleksander, Irina (November 13, 2013). "Rachel Comey Aims for a Bigger Slice of Fashion's Pie". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
  6. ^ "How Rachel Comey Turned Two Shirts For David Bowie Into One Of New York's Coolest Brands". BuzzFeed. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
  7. "Rachel Comey Shoes Designer - Career Advice". Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  8. ^ Hyland, Véronique. "Rachel Comey Has What Every Indie Designer Hopes For". The Cut. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
  9. ^ Borrelli-Persson, Laird. "Rachel Comey Spring 2004 Ready-to-Wear Fashion Show". Vogue. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
  10. "Rachel Comey Pictures and Photos | Getty Images". www.gettyimages.com. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  11. "Rachel Comey - Backstage - September 2016 - New York Fashion Week Photos and Images | Getty Images". www.gettyimages.com. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  12. "8 Outfits That Prove Celebrities Dress for the Season They Want, Not the Season They're in". August 3, 2017.
  13. Ashlock, Jesse (September 5, 2013). "Rachel Comey's Intimate Dinner to Kick Off Fashion Week". T Magazine. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  14. WWD, Marcy Medina | (December 23, 2016). "Rachel Comey to present her fall 2017 line in L.A." Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  15. Singer, Maya. "Rachel Comey Spring 2017 Ready-to-Wear Fashion Show". Vogue. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  16. ^ "One Of Fashion Week's Biggest Show Had 2 Yoga Teachers, 13 Dancers, & Only 7 Models". September 10, 2015. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  17. "Rachel Comey - Unisex". www.rachelcomey.com. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
  18. "Rachel Comey on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
  19. Comey, Rachel; Donaldson, Susan; Ferguson, Eliot; Hushion, Ryan (June 9, 2002), Gogol Bordello Documentary, retrieved March 13, 2017
  20. Sinclair, Ben; Blichfeld, Katja; Stevens, Dan; Comey, Rachel (March 26, 2014), Rachel, retrieved March 13, 2017
  21. Harris, Elizabeth A. (June 17, 2010). "Rachel Comey Buys SoHo Loft". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 12, 2017.

External links

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