Earlier this fall, Rachel Comey’s social media manager posted videos of women at the designer’s annual sample sale showing off their prizes. Coming across the images on Instagram, what was striking was not just the diversity of her shoppers—young and not-so-young, uptown and down—but also their purchases. There’s a cult of Rachel Comey, and what it comes down to is that she’s made a virtue of being most things to most women. She’s the designer you go to for a quirky shoe, an elegant printed dress with a vintage feel, hard-working but easy-wearing chinos, retro-ish bathing suits—the list goes on—and all at prices that are aspirational, but within reach for most professionals. So many other brands have priced themselves out of the realm of possibility.
Comey’s pre-fall is organized according to this expansive principle. At a showroom appointment she showed off a group of sturdy canvas apron tops and generously sized tool bags “for women who work with their hands” and more corporate-ready monochrome knit sets, for example. Of course, all of us, whether we’re indoor people or outdoor people, are interested in clothes with a breezy, playful sensibility at the height of summer; that’s why you’ll find little crochet ensembles, a pair of printed harem pants, and a slip dress made special by a bejeweled bodice and contrast seam piping.
