Who

Rachel Comey designs men's and women's clothes with a vintagey, rock 'n' roll feel.

Backstory

Born in Hartford, Conn., Comey studied sculpture at the University of Vermont before moving to New York, where she dabbled in costume design and worked as a designer for Theory. She was eventually fired, and turned her focus to creating her own one-off men's pieces. When her costumes for the Ukrainian-gypsy-punk band Gogol Bordello were shown at the 2002 Whitney Biennial, things took off: David Bowie wore one of her shirts for a David Letterman appearance, which created a rush of orders from the likes of Beck and Courtney Love. Comey has also introduced a range of women's shoes with her signature idiosyncratic detailing such as ankle cuffs, studs and cone heels.

Of note

Comey's women's clothes tend to be boxy and voluminous, while her men's lines always have at least one skin-tight item—Barneys actually stocked her first men's collection in extra small to sell to women. That's okay with celebrity followers like Maggie Gyllenhaal, Kirsten Dunst, and Adrien Brody, who've all been spotted wearing Comey's designs, which are sold at Steven Alan and Opening Ceremony.

On the side

She's the founder of a progressive art gallery in Burlington, Vermont called Exquisite Corpse Artsite.

Personal

Comey lives in an apartment on the Lower East Side with MTV ad whiz Clay Weiner, who has produced sketches for some of her shows. The couple also has a converted loft on Long Island, in the town of Greenport, which they bought for $640,000 in 2006.