Ready for the Runway

The streets of SoHo were uncharacteristically vacant last week during the Republican Convention. The occasional fashionista strutted by in her homemade protest T-shirt written in black Sharpie ink. It was so quiet you could hear her trendy, high-heeled flip-flops strike the pavement.For young designers Mara Hoffman, 27, and Rachel Comey, 32 – whose public relations agency, People’s Revolution, is in a Grand Street loft – the emptied streets were a welcome antidote to the frenzied hustle of the days leading up to their fashion shows.Both designers are showing their Spring 2005 collections at New York Fashion Week.Ms. Hoffman, whose bright, daring clothes are popular with celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Jennifer Lopez, will show her new collection at StyleLounge, an alternative venue to Bryant Park.Ms. Comey, whose detailed, vintage inspired designs have been sported by musicians such as Beck and Courtney Love and actresses such as Maggie Gyllenhaal, is preparing for her first show at the Bryant Park tents on Saturday night.By last Wednesday the rooms of People’s Revolution had been transformed into a nest of showrooms, casting offices, and general hub for the firm’s designers. The telephones rang constantly, cigarettes were lit one after the other. Publicity agents toiled at a cluster of Apple computers, checking in on the latest RSVPs and tracking down editors and buyers.“I haven’t slept in days,” declared Ms. Hoffman, who had just returned to the office from a bike trip to Midtown checking up on the state of her samples, still in production.A lithe former dancer with cascades of shiny, wavy blond hair, a nose ring, and tattooed calves, Ms. Hoffman is the perfect advertisement for her handcrafted, clingy clothes. It’s no wonder her dresses and bikinis sell swiftly in Los Angeles, where revealed skin and colorful cling is a prerequisite to glamour. Beyonce Knowles, Nicole Kidman, Cameron Diaz, Heather Graham, Pink, Nicole Ritchie, Bijou Phillips, and Brandy are among her celebrity clients.Ms. Hoffman showed off some of her characteristic theater-inspired creations from last season: a hand-painted, leopard-print jumpsuit; hand-dyed wrap dresses; cobra-themed tops; batik balloon pants, and bikinis.“In my new collection, the Gypsy girl will grow up,” she explained. “I am moving away from costuming into tailored, Flamenco-inspired looks.”Not one of the 40 looks – a large number, especially for such a young designer with limited resources – is being unveiled before the show, a rarity in the days when buyers and editors expect early peeks.Ms. Hoffman seems to possess the necessary combination of talent and luck; those 40 looks – which cost about $25,000 to produce and showcase – are likely to prove a good investment.After completing studies at Parsons School of Design in 1999, including a semester at Central St. Martin’s, in London, and an apprenticeship in Paris with Xuly bet, an originator of deconstructed clothing, Ms. Hoffman was stopped on the street by designer and stylist Patricia Field.Quite simply, Ms. Field liked the way Ms. Hoffman looked. Ms. Field bought all of Ms. Hoffman’s samples and immediately offered them up for sale at her eponymous, trend-setting shop in New York. Ms. Hoffman quickly built up a base of loyal, high-profile customers.Ms. Hoffman’s fashion shows have been both lauded and ridiculed for their theatrics: her previous four shows all featured live drumming accompanied by dancers dressed as warrior women performing choreography in allegorical costumes. Last season, a green-and-gold-clad “snake charmer” writhed onstage alongside a bare-chested, skirted “kali” who was painted black with body paint.This week we can expect to see a more traditional runway show – cast with professional models acting like models. Though the allegorical creations are backstage for now, Ms. Hoffman plans to continue creating one-of-a-kind garments in the cheery, tribal style that launched her label.“Though I am reaching out to a more refined, less revealing look, I am not going to abandon my fans,” she said. “My clothes will continue to be feminine and sexy.”What will they look like? Here’s a hint: high-waisted skirts and pants, tuxedo-inspired tailoring, embroidery, button closures, and caplets.Ms. Hoffman may be known for her theatrics and celebrity clients, but it was Ms. Comey who got her start designing costumes and sets for the stage.Her collaboration with the punk cabaret act Gogol Bordello was included in the 2002 Whitney Biennial.Ms. Comey, who has worked as a sculptor and curator, has also teamed up with experimental theater groups including the Ridge Theatre and, recently, in the off-off Broadway staging of comix artist Ben Katchor’s opera “Carbon Copy Building.”After leaving a job designing women’s wear for the Theory label, Ms. Comey started making one-off men’s garments, mostly for her male friends.As the story goes, a stylist spotted one of her shirts and gave it to David Bowie, who wore it for a David Letterman appearance. Requests by musicians Courtney Love and Beck followed, and the Rachel Comey label was launched.In only six collections, Ms. Comey has managed to distinguish herself as a designer of both men’s and, more recently, women’s clothing. She’s the goto for trousers, button-down shirts, funky windbreakers, and tight sweatshirts, all with an urban-vintage feel.Whether picking up on the looks of Brighton Beach immigrants or those of former Lower East Side squatters, with Ms. Comey the thrill is in the details: the lining of collars, cuffs, the embroidery and piping, unique buttons, the ever-so-slightly askew tailoring.Two years ago, before Ms. Comey had created a substantial women’s line, Barneys fashion director Julie Gilheart liked her men’s clothing so much that she ordered them in extra-small sizes to sell to her female customers. Since then, celebrities such as Kirstin Dunst, Annabella Sciorra, and Maggie Gyllenhaal have become fans of her womens’ wear designs.What’s it like to start off in menswear and merge into women’s wear?“The more time and the more seasons go by, the more distinct and separate they become,” Ms. Comey said as she unpacked a dress from her Spring 2005 collection. The black silk georgette knee-length dress features constellations of colored signatures that can only be identified up close.Ms. Comey has a story behind all those signatures: “I collected them gradually, asking whoever came by my studio – the FedEx man, mailman, friends – to contribute their signatures.”The chest of the dress is framed by transparent, mesh silk, but can be worn day or night: “I designed a collection of undergarments to be layered under the mesh,” she explained.Ms. Comey was confident that everything was on schedule for her fashion show. “The prints require a lot of advanced production, so I am in good shape this week,” she added, but then quickly crouched down to knock on wood floorboards. “With the exception of crochet tops coming from Peru, my samples have been ready for quite some time.”

Ready for the Runway

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