RACHEL COMEY

It all started with David Bowie. After leaving a job at Theory and going it alone in menswear — basically, designing one-off's for her gentleman friends — Rachel Comey hit the fashion jackpot when Bowie wore one of her shirts during an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. Now, several collections and a womenswear line later, Comey's label has grown far beyond hunky-dory. The Look: Vintage inspired streetwear with an eye for detail — much like seventies rock icons with an affinity for eyeshadow. Comey's love of detail first sated itself with a sculpting degree from the University of Vermont. From there, the native New Englander opened the progressive art gallery, Exquisite Corpse; costume designed the off-off-Broadway comic-book opera The Carbon Copy Building; landed and left her first fashion industry job at Theory; and collaborated as costume maker with the band Gogol Bordello for a work in the 2002 Whitney Biennial.