Rachel Comey’s showroom was busy with buyers writing orders. All those gloom and doom stories about retailers opting out of New York Fashion Week that we were hearing—they didn’t apply here.
Maybe that’s because Comey designs for the real-life needs of her customers in a changing environment—meaning not just the ways in which we work and how we dress for them, but also shifting weather issues. Considering the primary role that climate plays in our clothing choices, you’d think designers would be talking about record-breaking heat and atmospheric rivers all the time. “Am I the only one?” she laughed, when altered to her one-of-one status. From other designers you tend to hear empty pronouncements about “my woman” and eye roll-inducing nonsense about “independence and strength,” as if those are rare qualities among womankind.
Comey doesn’t bother herself with that kind of talk. Instead she said was thinking about how the summer humidity extended into fall here in New York last year, and about all the rain we got after that, as she was designing. She made adjustments accordingly, adding both sheer puckered separates (for staying cool) and waxed cotton outerwear (for remaining dry) to her seasonal mix. She’s also using more water-resistant moleskin than in the past. With a new store in San Francisco, she has even more weather and clothing considerations to address; for instance, the way the locals wear down puffers in the summer (see Mark Twain, if you’re confused).
If all this makes Comey sound serious or boring, that’s the wrong impression, as the flower bedecked party pants in the look above make clear. Also fun: a flower print dress pleated Fortuny-style and a black and white fringed chubby jacket that makes a legit alternative to something we’ve already seen too much of this season: faux fur.
