{{Short description|American fashion designer}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}} '''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."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/news-analysis/rachel-comey-goes-west|title=Rachel Comey Goes West|date=2016-02-02|work=The Business of Fashion|access-date=2017-03-12|language=en-GB}}</ref>
== Early life == Comey was born outside of Hartford, Connecticut.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rachelcomey.com/about|title=Rachel Comey - About|website=www.rachelcomey.com|language=en|access-date=2017-03-12|archive-date=March 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170314062746/https://www.rachelcomey.com/about|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1994, she graduated from the University of Vermont,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.uvm.edu/vq/?Page=news&storyID=12598&category=vq-2011|title=Vermont Quarterly : University of Vermont|last=Vermont|first=University of|website=www.uvm.edu|language=en|access-date=2017-03-12}}</ref> where she focused on Asian studies, printmaking, and sculpture.<ref name=":0" />
== Career and brand == After college, Comey worked at an art gallery in Vermont and designed a line of novelty underwear.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.interviewmagazine.com/fashion/fashion-week-questionnaire-rachel-comey#_|title=Fashion Week Questionnaire: Rachel Comey|work=Interview Magazine|access-date=2017-03-13}}</ref> In 1997, she moved to New York, where she worked as a freelance production assistant and later as a design consultant at Theory.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/14/fashion/rachel-comey-aims-for-a-bigger-slice-of-fashions-pie.html|title=Rachel Comey Aims for a Bigger Slice of Fashion's Pie|last=Aleksander|first=Irina|date=2013-11-13|work=The New York Times|access-date=2017-03-12|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> During that time she began making costumes for her then-boyfriend Eugene Hutz's band, Gogol Bordello.<ref name=":5"/> 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.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/amyodell/how-rachel-comey-turned-two-shirts-for-david-bowie-into-one|title=How Rachel Comey Turned Two Shirts For David Bowie Into One Of New York's Coolest Brands|work=BuzzFeed|access-date=2017-03-12|language=en}}</ref> She charged him $100 per shirt.<ref name=":2" /> Soon after, Comey was fired from Theory for performing outside work.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.refinery29.com/49821|title=Rachel Comey Shoes Designer - Career Advice|access-date=2017-03-13|archive-date=March 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170314152510/http://www.refinery29.com/49821|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=":5" />
In September 2001, Comey presented her first menswear collection.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|url=http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/09/rachel-comey-celebrates-her-15th-anniversary.html|title=Rachel Comey Has What Every Indie Designer Hopes For|last=Hyland|first=Véronique|work=The Cut|access-date=2017-03-12|language=en}}</ref> In 2004, Comey expanded her brand to include womenswear.<ref name=":5"/><ref name=":4">{{Cite news|url=http://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/spring-2004-ready-to-wear/rachel-comey|title=Rachel Comey Spring 2004 Ready-to-Wear Fashion Show|last=Borrelli-Persson|first=Laird|work=Vogue|access-date=2017-03-12|language=en}}</ref> 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."<ref name=":4" />
In 2009, Comey was inducted into Council of Fashion Designers of America.<ref name=":5"/>
Her clothes have been worn by celebrities and artists including Miranda July,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gettyimages.com/photos/rachel-comey?excludenudity=true&sort=mostpopular&mediatype=photography&phrase=rachel%20comey&family=editorial|title=Rachel Comey Pictures and Photos {{!}} Getty Images|website=www.gettyimages.com|language=en-us|access-date=2017-03-13}}</ref> Rashida Jones,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gettyimages.com/event/rachel-comey-backstage-september-2016-new-york-fashion-week-665842283#designer-rachel-comey-and-actress-rashida-jones-pose-at-the-rachel-picture-id600036156|title=Rachel Comey - Backstage - September 2016 - New York Fashion Week Photos and Images {{!}} Getty Images|website=www.gettyimages.com|language=en-us|access-date=2017-03-13}}</ref> Lady Gaga <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.glamour.com/story/celebrities-wearing-fall-clothes-in-summer-outfits|title = 8 Outfits That Prove Celebrities Dress for the Season They Want, Not the Season They're in|date = 3 August 2017}}</ref> and more.
=== Fashion shows === Comey's first official fashion show took place in September 2001, days before 9/11, near her studio in Tribeca.<ref name=":3" /> The ad-hoc, menswear-only show was held on the street and featured models including Waris Ahluwalia and Devendra Banhart.<ref name=":3" />
To present her Spring-Summer 2014 ready-to-wear collection, Comey hosted a sit-down dinner at Pioneer Works in Red Hook, Brooklyn<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/05/about-last-night-rachel-comeys-intimate-dinner-to-kick-off-fashion-week/|title=Rachel Comey's Intimate Dinner to Kick Off Fashion Week|last=Ashlock|first=Jesse|website=T Magazine|date=5 September 2013|access-date=2017-03-13}}</ref> featuring a performance by Justin Vivian Bond.<ref name=":3" /> Thus began a series of untraditional presentations taking place at venues including Hauser Wirth & Schimmel in Los Angeles, CA.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/fashion/la-ig-wwd-rachel-comey-fall-2017-los-angeles-20161223-story.html|title=Rachel Comey to present her fall 2017 line in L.A.|last=WWD|first=Marcy Medina {{!}}|date=2016-12-23|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=2017-03-13|language=en-US|issn=0458-3035}}</ref> 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,<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/spring-2017-ready-to-wear/rachel-comey|title=Rachel Comey Spring 2017 Ready-to-Wear Fashion Show|last=Singer|first=Maya|work=Vogue|access-date=2017-03-13|language=en}}</ref> a nod to her first-ever fashion show in 2001.<ref name=":3" />
In addition to choosing unconventional venues, Comey is also known for casting unconventional models in her fashion shows.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web|url=http://www.refinery29.com/2015/09/93758/rachel-comey-models-fashion-week-spring-2016-runway-show|title=One Of Fashion Week's Biggest Show Had 2 Yoga Teachers, 13 Dancers, & Only 7 Models|date=10 September 2015 |access-date=2017-03-13}}</ref> For her Spring-Summer 2016 ready-to-wear show, Comey included "artists, eccentrics, dancers, and businesswomen" in addition to professional models.<ref name=":6" />
=== Unisex line === In March 2017, Comey introduced a line of unisex clothing<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rachelcomey.com/shop/unisex.html|title=Rachel Comey - Unisex|website=www.rachelcomey.com|language=en|access-date=2017-03-12|archive-date=March 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170314063541/https://www.rachelcomey.com/shop/unisex.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> – "because clothes are for everyone."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://twitter.com/rachel_comey/status/840310782676090880|title=Rachel Comey on Twitter|work=Twitter|access-date=2017-03-12|language=en}}</ref>
== Pop culture == In 2002, Comey appeared in a documentary short about Gogol Bordello.<ref>{{Citation|last1=Comey|first1=Rachel|title=Gogol Bordello Documentary|date=2002-06-09|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3515380/?ref_=nm_flmg_slf_2|last2=Donaldson|last3=Ferguson|last4=Hushion|first2=Susan|first3=Eliot|first4=Ryan|accessdate=2017-03-13}}</ref>
In 2014, Comey played herself in the "Rachel" episode of the web series ''High Maintenance''.<ref>{{Citation|last1=Sinclair|first1=Ben|title=Rachel|date=2014-03-26|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3620386/?ref_=ttep_ep13|last2=Blichfeld|last3=Stevens|last4=Comey|first2=Katja|first3=Dan|first4=Rachel|accessdate=2017-03-13}}</ref>
== Personal life == Comey lives with her husband, Sean Carmody,<ref name=":5"/> and two children in New York's SoHo neighborhood.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/realestate/20deal3.html|title=Rachel Comey Buys SoHo Loft|last=Harris|first=Elizabeth A.|date=2010-06-17|work=The New York Times|access-date=2017-03-12|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist|30em}}
== External links == * {{Official website|https://rachelcomey.com/}} * [https://www.instagram.com/rachelcomey/ Rachel Comey] on Instagram * Refinery29's "Unstyled" Podcast, [http://www.refinery29.com/2017/01/134563/unstyled-podcast-rachel-comey Episode: Rachel Comey] * [https://voguepatterns.mccall.com/designer/rachel-comey Rachel Comey] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170314063500/https://voguepatterns.mccall.com/designer/rachel-comey |date=March 14, 2017 }}, Vogue Patterns
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Comey, Rachel}} Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:American businesspeople in fashion Category:American fashion designers Category:American women fashion designers Category:Artists from Hartford, Connecticut Category:University of Vermont alumni Category:21st-century American businesswomen Category:21st-century American businesspeople