“I can pull ideas from anywhere, but the most inspiring place for me is going to music shows and seeing what people are wearing. I love people watching and seeing what they feel confident in.” - Rachel Anne Rainwater, Designer
Fashion Designer: Rachel Anne Rainwater Designer Label: TBD www.behance.net/rachelannerainwater
Q:
Q: How long have you been a designer, and how did you get your career started? RACHEL ANNE RAINWATER:
What led me to my career was the experience I had right after my pregnancy with my daughter Shekaih. After I had her, I discovered my spine wasn’t fused together, and so I was going paralyzed and didn’t even know it. I had to have this major surgery and wasn’t even guaranteed I would walk afterwards. So, all of that was a big wake up call. I felt like I got a second chance in life, and I made a decision to do what I’ve always wanted to do. I called FIDM, enrolled and booked my first paying job within a year of being in design school. I’ve been designing fashion for the past four years now. Q: When designing a collection, what or whom do you turn to for inspiration? RR: I feel like sometimes I’m a sponge. I go and sponge
everything I’m around. I’m extremely inspired by architecture and photography in general. I can pull ideas from anywhere, but the most inspiring place for me is going to music shows and seeing what people are wearing. I love people watching and seeing what they feel confident in. Q: What separates you from the other designers? RR: I’m a very outside the box thinker. I love to watch
trends, but I don’t chase them. I would rather make a trend or design something unique that has risks involved. Q: Taylor Swift just wore one of your designs while shopping in Los Angeles. As a newer designer, how does it feel to have a celebrity wear one of your designs? RR: I was excited, especially because she’s a musician. The
dress she wore had that feminine edge. (It was available from Black Swan Clothing on-line at Nordstrom.) The coolest part for me is that she is a musician and a singer-songwriter, because I am a musician, too. It was also a very surreal moment. Q: Who are some of your favorite fashion designers? RR: My all time favorite is Alexander McQueen. There was no
box with that man. No rules with his tailoring. The whole idea of him was amazing. He made art and that’s how I think about fashion—as art. I love John Galliano and Christian Dior too. Q: What is the message that you want to send through your clothes to the women who wear them? RR: To be unpredictably distinct, and I want women to feel
beautiful. There is so much pressure on women to be skinny, to be all these things. So the message I want to give them is to give them something that makes them feel special. I want to give them lots of options and lots of pieces that are unique that make them feel special the second they put them on. Q: As a designer, what do you think every woman should have in their wardrobe? RR: Definitely a leather jacket or a faux leather of any color.
That is my favorite piece, but jackets in general are pieces I love. Q: What advice can you give aspiring fashion designers who want to build their own brand? RR: Just to be themselves. I had a professor tell me after I
left school to forget everything they told me and to go back to where I was before I ever learned anything, to let myself live outside the box where the energy was coming from and before I learned any rules, put it all out the window, go back to what you are and use it to create from your soul. Q: What’s next for Rachel Anne Rainwater? RR: I’m in the process of developing my own brand.
HAIR BY: Niki Kolb MAKEUP BY: Colby Tanguay
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Everything is aligning together. It’s a huge project, but that’s what I’ve wanted for a long time. My brand is going to have a women’s line that is very distinct; still feminine but with that refined yet edgy punk style. I haven’t chosen the name of my new line yet, but you can check my website for updates.