Rachel Comey

If you are drawn to intentional, slightly offbeat silhouettes, Rachel Comey tends to deliver pieces with real personality rather than basics. Many of her cuts run roomy or oversized by design, so it is worth checking each item against the brand's size guide before committing. Buy the pieces that speak to the relaxed, downtown aesthetic; that is where the brand shines.

Rachel Comey footwear sits in the elevated-but-wearable lane, prized for distinctive shapes you do not see everywhere. Shoppers often compare the Mars styles and clogs to other designer options and find them more individual and sculptural while still meant for real life on the go. If you want a shoe that reads as a design choice rather than a default, the brand is a strong pick.

The footwear is the most iconic gateway, especially the Mars boots and mules, which are known for their distinctive shape. The clogs are also a signature, blending an artisanal feel with statement styling. Starting with a shoe lets you test the brand's aesthetic before investing in the more sculptural ready-to-wear.

The brand is known for an intellectual, arts-and-crafts aesthetic, which shows up in unexpected proportions and a downtown New York sensibility. Comey's own art background, including printmaking and sculpture, feeds into that hand-made, considered feel. The result is clothing that looks designed rather than trend-chased.

Rachel Comey is an American independent fashion designer based in New York City and the founder of the label that carries her name. She was born outside Hartford, Connecticut, and graduated from the University of Vermont in 1994, where she focused on Asian studies, printmaking and sculpture. She still runs the brand as an independent designer rather than as part of a larger group.

After moving to New York in 1997, Comey worked as a design consultant at Theory while making costumes for her then-boyfriend Eugene Hutz's band, Gogol Bordello. In 2001 a stylist friend's connection led her to make two hand-painted shirts for David Bowie, charging him $100 each. She presented her first menswear collection in September 2001 and expanded into womenswear in 2004.

She began with menswear in 2001 before adding womenswear in 2004, and in March 2017 she introduced a line of unisex clothing, with the reasoning that clothes are for everyone. So while the brand is best known for womenswear today, that gender-fluid, art-school spirit has been there from the very first collection.

Yes. Comey was inducted into the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 2009, a meaningful industry recognition. Her early work also drew praise from Vogue, which described one ready-to-wear collection as full of confident, easy clothes for cool customers with discerning eyes. That critical standing underpins the brand's cult following.

Her clothes have been worn by celebrities and artists including Miranda July, Rashida Jones and Lady Gaga, among others. The brand's fan base skews toward the creative, art-and-culture crowd, which fits its downtown identity. That word-of-mouth among artists has been a big driver of its reputation.

Comey is known for staging presentations in unexpected places and casting unconventional models. Her first show in September 2001 was an ad-hoc, menswear-only event held on the street in Tribeca, and for the brand's fifteenth anniversary in 2016 she presented on the sidewalk of Crosby Street as a nod back to that debut. She has also used venues like Pioneer Works in Red Hook and Hauser Wirth & Schimmel in Los Angeles.