Meryl Streep and Anna Wintour Are Vogue’s May Cover Stars! | PLUS Rachel Comey Celebrates 25 Years

Summary

The Run-Through with Vogue

Episode: Meryl Streep and Anna Wintour Are Vogue’s May Cover Stars! PLUS Rachel Comey Celebrates 25 Years

Release Date: April 7, 2026

Hosts: Chloe Malle, Virginia Smith, Nicole Phelps

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Run-Through with Vogue is packed with exclusive behind-the-scenes insights into the making of Vogue’s highly anticipated and top-secret May cover, featuring Meryl Streep and Anna Wintour—both icons in their own right—shot by Annie Leibovitz and styled by Grace Coddington. The hosts, Chloe Malle and Virginia Smith, recap the intense secrecy, creative process, and star-studded collaboration that went into producing the historic cover and its poignant interview, including the involvement of director Greta Gerwig. Later, Nicole Phelps sits down with designer Rachel Comey to celebrate the 25th anniversary of her influential, quietly game-changing brand. The conversation explores Comey’s path, creative independence, and what it means to have lasting impact in American fashion.

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I. Vogue’s May Cover: Meryl Streep & Anna Wintour

A. The Biggest, Most Secretive Cover Yet

[01:34-03:50]

• The May cover was guarded with a secrecy typically reserved for national security. Few people were aware, and logistics were a challenge due to confidentiality.
• Chloe jokes, “Anna Wintour has made the Pentagon papers look like Richard Scarry books. I feel like no one's gonna know my Busytown reference...” (01:45, Chloe Malle).
• Cover was produced by a “power in numbers” team all born in the same year: Meryl Streep, Anna Wintour, Annie Leibovitz (all 76), and Grace Coddington, who is “a few years ahead."
  • “It was quite, you know, a logistical nightmare for Grace because Anna felt that having Grace here, she didn't want any suspicion... So we had. I had to hide Grace and get her into, like, a little area of a fitting room without anyone seeing her.” (04:42, Virginia Smith)

B. High-Stakes Fashion Decisions

[03:50-07:51]

• Both women wore custom Prada for the cover. Inside image: Anna wears custom Chanel and her own McQueen (to appear in “next year’s vintage sale”), while Meryl dons Dolce & Gabbana and Loro Piana. Video images feature Meryl in Givenchy.
  • Iconic exchange:
    • “So, two devils.” (05:57, Chloe Malle)
    • “Two Pradas.” (05:57, Virginia Smith)
• The secrecy extended to vague communication with PR and designers, and much of the process involved “out and out lies” to maintain discretion (05:09, Virginia Smith).
• "I remember taking my 89-year-old mother to get her hair done... and having to go into the car and have a conversation with Annie and Grace ... about the length of Anna's dress." (06:13, Virginia Smith)

C. The Cover’s Origin Story

[07:51-11:31]

• The idea had floated around, but "Anna's never done a cover" before. Ultimately, it was Meryl who convinced Anna to share the spotlight.
  • "Clearly Meryl asked her and it was a different answer. So we see who has the power of persuasion with certain people." (08:46, Chloe Malle)
• They wanted to channel Miranda Priestly (Streep’s “Devil Wears Prada” character) but in a Vogue way—with new couture rather than a carbon copy wardrobe.

D. The Interview: Power, Age, and Legacy

[11:31-12:16]

• Meryl requested an in-depth interview, co-done with Anna, and facilitated by Greta Gerwig.
• Greta was enthusiastic: "It's rare that two women at this age are in the full of their power... it's exciting to talk to them about what that looks like today." (11:59, Chloe Malle paraphrasing Greta Gerwig)

Memorable Quotes:

• Greta Gerwig (as Anna Wintour): “I feel as alive and excited and aware and like to learn all the time... Age is actually an advantage.” (12:16, Greta Gerwig for Anna Wintour)
• On balancing grandmotherhood and careers, Meryl quips she’s “probably more present than some of her children would like” with six grandkids under six.

E. Playful Parallels & On-Set Moments

[12:51-15:19]

• Anecdote about both women arriving in matching yellow scarves on a freezing New York day—“matching sunshine yellow scarves... Anna was so excited.” (13:10, Chloe Malle)
• Fitting Room Humor:
  • Meryl: “Ooh, I love coats because they hide everything.”
  • Anna: Famous for loving a coat (as is Miranda Priestly).
• The two were asked what would daunt them most about the other’s job:
  • Anna: “I am a terrible actor and that would terrify me.”
  • Meryl: “I would just dread the shoes every day. Wow. To pull it together.” (15:01, Meryl Streep)
• Grace Coddington insisted on more coats; secretive Prada shopping ensued.

F. The Photoshoot

[16:15-17:42]

• Shot in a Red Hook studio, they drove a car inside for the back-of-car image.
• Chloe observes Meryl’s transformation into character upon arrival: “You could tell when she walked in, it was already a different vibe.”
• Streep recounted needing to distance herself from castmates during “Devil Wears Prada” filming to maintain Miranda’s intimidation aura.

Notable Quote:

• Meryl Streep (about Anna Wintour): “I just felt honestly like not in the same even league as Anna... I don’t know anybody that anyone else has done honestly in any corporation, media, anything... You’re always breaking the waves and with the prow of your ship... we’re not done yet.” (17:44, Meryl Streep)

G. “Two Dancing Queens” – The Video

[19:31]

• The video promo featured ABBA as elevator music; Anna supported the silliness: “The sillier the better."
  • “I mean, two dancing queens.” (19:31, Virginia Smith)

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II. Rachel Comey: Quiet Power, 25 Years In

A. Anniversaries and Reflections

[21:11-23:05]

• Rachel Comey feels “you blink and five years go by.”
• She sees milestone anniversaries as a “media thing,” but values using them for “team and our own milestones."
• "Some of that has been fun... I dig up one, and that reminds me of another one... there’s a lot of kind of wisdoms in there and a lot of, I guess, story building that we've done." (22:26, Rachel Comey)

B. The Design Archive – Personal History

[23:05-24:57]

• Still owns patterns and shirts from 2001—the label’s start.
• Notable piece: The “Legion jeans,” inspired by her mother letting out hems for growing children—a detail she commemorated in her design.
  • “As we were studying denim... we decided to kind of memorialize that moment with that, and it was fun.” (23:56, Rachel Comey)

C. Independence and Slow Growth

[25:34-26:02]

• On knockoffs: “I don’t think about it so much... we have a million more ideas, so we don’t worry about that.”
• “I can’t manufacture that quickly. I’m a much slower manufacturer. We work very closely with all of our partners.” (25:41, Rachel Comey)

D. A New Store and Community

[26:02-27:46]

• Opening new Manhattan store on Christopher Street, “the Way West Village.” All her stores are single-story, creating a “charm” and intimacy.
• Stores are “more than just shops... a third place... where you go for companionship, friendship, dialogue, discourse, community.” (27:07, Rachel Comey paraphrasing her retail director)

E. The Origin Story: 9/11, David Bowie, and Persistence

[27:55-34:19]

• Her first show was days before 9/11; she lost her job at Theory soon after due to a press feature (with Andrew Rosen encouraging her).
• Supported herself via extended unemployment benefits and credit cards for six years, until breaking even.
• Early fans included David Bowie, who bought Comey’s handmade stage shirts. “She called me, she said, okay, David Bowie wants to buy those three shirts... I was like, charge for them?... $200?” (34:12, Rachel Comey)

F. Cultivating an Audience Without Vogue’s Early Blessing

[34:38-40:05]

• Strongly associated with a creative, Gen X clientele (e.g., Maggie Gyllenhaal, Miranda July, Zadie Smith): “All independent minded, creative Gen Xers like myself.”
• On being a slow-burn success without Vogue’s early coverage: “I knock on wood here, but I always thought that not being in Vogue was actually a good thing for my career." (38:47, Rachel Comey)
• Focused on building community, creative autonomy, and “design as service” to her clients.

G. Fashion, Retail Evolution, and Values

[42:02-46:20]

• Plans for the anniversary: Bringing back “memory pieces” through preorder and celebrating with a new store.
• The collapse of the traditional wholesale model: No longer selling to big department stores, now focusing on relationships with small, women-owned boutiques nationwide.
  • “Slow and steady is how we've grown and how we've survived, I guess, and I just stay focused on that.” (45:22, Rachel Comey)
  • “We are buying fabric from the same places that the luxury brands buy fabric... it garners respect and appreciation from our clients.” (45:46, Rachel Comey)

H. Age Representation, Diversity, and Nonconformity

[46:20-50:59]

• Stephanie Cavalli, the “middle-aged” model who starred for Chanel, has been a staple Rachel Comey runway muse.
• “Your runways, I think, reflect real life in a way... fashion has caught up to you a little bit.” (47:06, Interviewer)
• Comey wants to see greater diversity and unique beauty, beyond global homogenization: “I hope that we can kind of move beyond that sometime.” (48:24, Rachel Comey)
• Her independence is practical and ideological: “If I'm not following my own instincts, then I don’t really feel grounded... I think I would lose my footing if I was following some other path of somebody else.” (48:57, Rachel Comey)

I. Creative Process & Inspiration

[50:59-53:00]

• Her design process is driven by “lived experience,” playful needs (“important lunch sweater”), and a deep intuition for her customer’s real life.
• Willingness to incorporate unexpected and youthful influences, including her own teenage daughter’s trends (“tooth gems”).

J. Pop Culture and Staying Real

[53:00-54:38]

• Recounts her cameo on HBO’s High Maintenance after bonding with the creators as a fan.

K. Advice to Emerging Designers

[54:50-56:11]

• On giving advice: “I'm always scared to give advice to young people because they really know what they should be doing... It's okay to be unconventional.”
• Reflects on her mother’s advice—“forgive yourself”—and the importance of going easy on oneself.
• “Keep learning. Learning's the best, most important thing. Of course. Always at every age, young and old.” (56:04, Rachel Comey)

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Notable Quotes

• Virginia Smith (04:42): “Anna felt that having Grace here, she didn't want any suspicion, would be suspicious. So we had. I had to hide Grace and get her into, like, a little area of a fitting room without anyone seeing her.”
• Chloe Malle (08:46): “Clearly Meryl asked her and it was a different answer. So we see who has the power of persuasion with certain people.”
• Greta Gerwig (12:16): “I feel as alive and excited and aware and like to learn all the time... I feel age is actually an advantage.”
• Meryl Streep (15:01): “I would just dread the shoes every day. Wow. To pull it together.”
• Rachel Comey (25:41): “I can’t manufacture that quickly. I’m a much slower manufacturer. We work very closely with all of our partners.”
• Rachel Comey (38:47): “I knock on wood here, but I always thought that not being in Vogue was actually a good thing for my career.”
• Rachel Comey (48:57): “If I'm not following my own instincts, then I don't really feel grounded in knowing what I'm doing.”
• Rachel Comey (56:04): “Keep learning. Learning's the best, most important thing. Of course. Always at every age, young and old.”

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:34] – Vogue May Cover reveal and secrecy logistics
• [05:50] – What Anna and Meryl wore on the cover
• [11:31] – Interview process and Greta Gerwig’s involvement
• [15:01] – Meryl and Anna on swapping roles
• [16:15] – Red Hook photoshoot details
• [19:31] – ABBA in the Vogue cover video
• [21:11] – Rachel Comey joins to discuss her 25th anniversary
• [23:56] – Legion jeans inspiration story
• [26:18] – Opening a new Christopher Street store
• [27:55] – Rachel Comey’s first show and early adversity
• [34:19] – David Bowie as an early Comey fan
• [38:47] – Reflection on Vogue coverage and finding community
• [46:20] – Stephanie Cavalli and age diversity on the runway
• [48:57] – The importance of creative independence
• [54:50] – Advice for the next generation

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Tone & Atmosphere

The episode strikes a tone of warmth, candor, gentle irreverence, and deep respect among creative peers. Chloe and Virginia’s tight-lipped, conspiratorial recapping of the cover is both humorous and endearing. Rachel Comey’s interview is marked by humility, honesty, and a thoughtful, self-deprecating wisdom about longevity and slow-building success in fashion.

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For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

This episode is essential for anyone interested in fashion’s inner workings, especially those curious about magazine cover secrets, female power and legacy, and authentic creative careers. The Vogue cover segment is a rare peek into how historical covers are made, with larger-than-life personalities showing humility and humor. Rachel Comey’s portion is relatable and quietly inspiring, offering a rare vantage point into what it truly takes to build and maintain a beloved brand while staying true to yourself. Her advice—go easy on yourself and never stop learning—resonates well beyond fashion.

Transcript

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[Virginia Smith]

Hi, y', all.

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[Chloe Mal]

This is the run through. I'm Chloe Mal. On today's episode, Nicole Phelps spoke with designer Rachel Comey. Rachel is celebrating the brand's 25th anniversary and I feel like she is such a New York institution and icon, such a if you know, you know, person in the fashion New York fashion community. She has a new store on Christopher street in Manhattan and it was really fun to hear Nicole talking to her about her sort of slow burn success. But before that, I am here in the pod studio with our very own Virginia Smith. Virginia, can you please introduce yourself?

[Virginia Smith]

Hi, Chloe, I'm Virginia Smith and I head up the global fashion network for Vogue and happy to be here today.

[Chloe Mal]

Well, Virginia and I have been working under cloak and dagger for several months on the top secrets may cover of Vogue which has been treated by one Anna Wintour, has made the Pentagon papers look like Richard Scarry books. I feel like no one's Gonna know my Busytown reference, but that's because I read children's books. But anyway, this was very top secret.

[Virginia Smith]

It was very top secret. I'm actually still nervous to actually form the words coming out of my mouth in the next few minutes about this project because I've been so paranoid that something will happen and the secret will escape. It has been a stress level, as you know, Chloe, from going through most of it with me, that was extremely, extremely high. But here we are.

[Chloe Mal]

So, Virginia, our very special May cover launched today, this morning, and it is Meryl Streep and Anna Wintour. You were a huge part of making this happen. A lot of people, not a lot of people, actually very few people worked very hard to make this happen. This was photographed by Annie Leibovitz and styled by Grace Coddington. One of my favorite parts about this is that Meryl, Anna and Annie were all born the same year and are all 76 years old, and Grace Coddington is a few years ahead of them. So it was a real power in numbers crew making this shoot happen. You were the.

[Virginia Smith]

I was basically the assistant on the. I was gladly the assistant on set, age wise, just barely, Chloe. But I really went back to my beginning here because, you know, Grace has a very specific way of working, mainly not doing email at all. So everything has to be a conversation or a text. And then because of the confidentiality of this project, I was the only one who was calling in any of these clothes. Grace is, like, known for wanting to be work with her clothes. She needs her clothes on a rack. It was always a joke in the past that, you know, Grace would need the clothes for weeks. And this was something that I couldn't even get Grace inside the office to look at the clothes.

[Chloe Mal]

Oh, my God.

[Virginia Smith]

It was quite, you know, a logistical nightmare for her because Anna felt that having Grace here, she didn't want any suspicion, would be suspicious. So we had. I had to hide Grace and get her into, like a little area of a fitting room without anyone seeing her.

[Chloe Mal]

Were you emailing PR being like, we have a secret thing or how did that work?

[Virginia Smith]

Well, it was sort of dependent on what we needed and what we could say. It was a puzzle of sort of vague references to shoots and then out and out lies and then a little bit of like, I'm working on something that I just cannot tell you. So it was a mix of basically lies and trying to just have people trust me.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

That's truths. Yes.

[Virginia Smith]

With. Listen, we've worked together a long time. I need you to pull These clothes in a size for me and no questions asked on your part. But it was when we started, obviously with Prada and. And Mrs. Prada had some conversations back and forth because it was not only Meryl's clothes, it was Anna's clothes too.

[Chloe Mal]

So what are both ladies wearing?

[Virginia Smith]

Both ladies are wearing Prada on the COVID Okay. As well they should be.

[Arden Fanning Andrews]

Okay.

[Virginia Smith]

And so two devils.

[Chloe Mal]

Two Pradas.

[Virginia Smith]

Two devils, Two Pradas. And they are both custom.

[Rachel Comey]

Okay.

[Virginia Smith]

And so that was some back and forth. And with obviously Anna weighing in, Grace weighing in, Annie Leibowitz weighing in.

[Chloe Mal]

Wow, what a crew of cooks in the kitchen.

[Virginia Smith]

It was quite something. I remember taking my 89 year old mother to get her hair done in upstate New York and having to go into the car and have a conversation with Annie and Grace.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

Oh my God.

[Virginia Smith]

About, I mean, hours long conversation about the length of Anna's dress that Annie was really fixated on at that point.

[Chloe Mal]

Annie thought it was too long or too short.

[Virginia Smith]

It hadn't even been created yet. Chloe. It was the what could be, what could happen and how it needed to be. And that's what makes her the photographer she is. It was also about minus 3 degrees outside. So, you know, it was a lot of fun, actually. It was a lot of fun because it was quite a cast of women, as you've pointed out, and a lot of opinions, but and a lot of

[Chloe Mal]

prep work for only two images. In the end, I mean, very. A lot of focus on creating two perfect images. So the COVID image, they're both in Prada. The inside image, which I love, which is the two of them sort of legs up in the back of a car.

[Virginia Smith]

They're having fun.

[Chloe Mal]

They're having fun. What are they wearing inside?

[Virginia Smith]

Inside? Anna has on a custom Chanel and Meryl has on amazing Dolce coat and a Loro piana pant. And then actually there is a third image that's for the video. A third look, I should say.

[Chloe Mal]

And that Anna told me was her own McQueen.

[Virginia Smith]

That was her own McQueen. And then she said it'll be in

[Chloe Mal]

next year's vintage sale.

[Virginia Smith]

Someone should get a piece of history on that one. And then Meryl's wearing an amazing Givenchy suit. And they were so nice to come through for us, you know, not knowing what they were coming through for. But they were great. And I was very happy. It paid off.

[Chloe Mal]

I can't wait for everyone to see this. But let's first talk about where this idea came from and when we knew this was gonna be the COVID How did you first hear about this?

[Virginia Smith]

It was sort of like rumblings about it. And clearly I know that you had asked Anna before if she would be on a cover. I think it's been floated around a couple of times and she's never done that before.

[Chloe Mal]

For me, it really started before I was in this new position in the middle of the summer. I was put into a DWP2 meeting and. And I said, what does that mean? And now looking back, I can't imagine what else it could mean. But at the time I was. Did not know what that acronym stood for. We had this meeting, we were like, what is our plan gonna be? How are we gonna really own this moment? We had just had Anne Hathaway on the August cover, so it didn't make sense to do Anne Hathaway again. Emily Blunt was. Had her own covers planned. Meryl. It felt like an automatic no. She didn't want to do a cover. Meryl. In fact, the first time she ever was on the COVID of Vogue was the year after I started here in 2012. She was 62. She was the oldest cover girl for Vogue at that time. And that was a very different cover. That was her quite natural on a rock on the beach. Taney styled it and then she was on the COVID again in 2017 when she played K. Graham in the Post. And that was also Annie Lubovitz and styled a second time by Tawny Goodman. And I really wasn't sure how Anna was going to convince her to do this cover again. I remember in Paris in October, remember very clearly sitting in Anna's car with her on our way to a Balenciaga preview. We're talking about early 2026 covers. And I said, well, Anna, you know, it would be kind of amazing to do you and Meryl on the COVID And she said, well, Chloe, that's very flattering, but it's just not my style. And then clearly Meryl asked her and it was a different answer. So we see who has the power of persuasion with certain people.

[Virginia Smith]

I mean, I will say, I mean it was. It was quite an experience. I have been around a lot of people in my 20 something years here. But that one day, particularly the fitting, I mean, I was really nervous that, you know, I was where was. Was at the Crosby Hotel.

[Chloe Mal]

Oh, that was right after our interview.

[Virginia Smith]

Yes, exactly. And you know, we were in a sort of a. It's looking back, we were. It's sort of an interesting thing that we were trying to do because we, you know, we didn't we were portraying Meryl as her character, but almost like the Vogue version of her character, because otherwise we just would have used the exact same clothes that she wore in the Devil Potter ii, which is not what we did. So we wanted the character to be have, you know, the essence of that, but be a little bit of the Vogue version of that. So it was an interesting sort of line to draw. And Grace is so brilliant at that. And we were. And we had so much fun. It was amazing working with Grace again, I have to say. I mean, you know, she has been such a mentor and icon to me during my career, and I so loved working with her. We actually had a really fun time. So we're already, you know, in walks Anna and Meryl because they'd done. In Chloe, they'd done the interview before, but, I mean, when she walked in and she spent a lot of time with us, you know, like. And she doesn't come with a big crew or anything like that. She came along. Yeah, she's just. And wants to make it work and has great input. It was really actually so fun. But I did take a moment to think, wow, like, even this for Vogue is something.

[Chloe Mal]

One of Meryl's requests was that the interview not only the COVID be shared with Anna, but the interview be an interview with Anna. And Meryl requested that Greta Gerwig, who had directed her in Little Women, conduct the interview. So Greta and I had a few phone calls where we came up with a question list. And of course, Anna had a lot of input on this, and we batted it back and forth, and we, Greta and I, were excited to talk to these two women who, as Greta said, it's rare that two women at this age are in the full of their power and that it was exciting to talk to them about what that looked like today. And also looking back, I like my age.

[Greta Gerwig]

Think of it as a being older or I feel as alive and excited and aware and like to learn all the time. And, yes, I learn from my children, from Chloe, from, you know, my teams around the world. You know, with experience, you have a sense of balance and proportion, and you know that life is not perfect and that things will go wrong and you're going to give it your best shot. But if it doesn't work, you have to move on. And I feel age is actually an advantage.

[Sponsor Voiceover (Odoo/Blueland)]

Yes.

[Chloe Mal]

And I. Greta said that people are always asking women, professional women, what it's like to balance motherhood and careers, and Greta was really excited to talk to them about balancing grandmotherhood and careers. And Meryl was very funny talking about she has six grandkids under six, literally six, five, four, three, two, one. And she said she's very present, probably more present than some of her children would like. Um, but it was fun to hear their two different takes on that and how much they value family. And it. It's interesting to see people who do seem quite different on paper have these very important similarities that really connect them. And Anna was delighted that when it was one of those frigid New York days this winter and completely sort of bleak and gray out, and when Anna and Meryl walked into the suite at the Crosby Hotel, they were both wearing matching sunshine yellow scarves. And Anna was so excited. She's like, you have to take a picture. So we took a picture of them in their matching scarves. And it was so much fun to sort of sit there and hear the two of them chatting and Greta just sort of gently leading the conversation with them. And, you know, as you said, Virginia, you were doing the fitting right after the interview, but there were a few coats that Meryl was going to try in the suite we were in. And Meryl said, ooh, I love coats because they hide everything and you can just slip them on and off. And Anna famously loves a coat, and Miranda Priestly famously loves a coat. So that felt like a full circle fashion moment. And it was fun asking Meryl and Anna what would be most daunting about the other one's jobs.

[Rachel Comey]

What would be the thing that would be most exciting, and what would be the thing that you would think, I can't do that. I'd hate it. I can't act. I have no gifts.

[Greta Gerwig]

I have absolutely no gifts at all. You know, I can't speak, I can't

[Rachel Comey]

dance, I can't act.

[Greta Gerwig]

I music with my hands.

[Rachel Comey]

I can't cook.

[Greta Gerwig]

I would be terrified.

[Chloe Mal]

Anna said that she is a terrible actor and that that would completely terrify her. And Meryl said, I would just dread

[Meryl Streep]

the shoes

[Rachel Comey]

every day.

[Meryl Streep]

Wow. To pull it together.

[Greta Gerwig]

Is there anything.

[Virginia Smith]

I think Anna proved that wrong on the Academy Awards. She acted her way very well on that little gig. And Meryl wore her Prada shoes very well.

[Chloe Mal]

Well, there you go.

[Virginia Smith]

Speaking of coats, Grace wasn't happy with all. We needed more coats, according to Grace. So Grace was here. We snuck her in to a fitting room, and we were going through the clothes together. And then she decided that we needed more coats. So we call Prada and say, guess what? We're stopping by the Prada store. Meet you there in Five minutes. Thank you, Nick. And we went to the Prada store to pull some coats for Grace. And, you know, we got five more Prada coats from the store. We also made a trip to Driesman Noton, where somehow I ended up getting a suit for myself. In the midst of all this, what's

[Chloe Mal]

one of my favorite outfits Virginia's ever worn?

[Virginia Smith]

It's. You know, it's not twisting my arm to buy clothes from Dries Van Noten for myself, but in the end, we didn't use any for this particular shoot. But thank you again for letting us there.

[Chloe Mal]

The shoot took place in Red Hook.

[Virginia Smith]

The shoot took place in Red Hook in a studio.

[Chloe Mal]

Did they drive a car into the studio?

[Virginia Smith]

Yes. I did not see that until the way out. But then when we were going down to shoot the video, I saw where they had driven the car in. And it was very funny because I noticed, obviously, I was there unpacking, you know, by myself with the steamer. Oh, my gosh. Oh, Sammy Tapper did help me. And we were getting everything prepared, and Anna was there already. Annie was there. And then in walks Meryl. And she was in, you know, character, basically. She'd had her hair and makeup done. She was in that character. And you could tell when she walked in, it was already a different vibe. Interesting than how she was at our fitting. It was very interesting.

[Chloe Mal]

Well, actually, that was something she talked about in the interview. Apparently, on the first film. She started by hanging out with Anne and Stanley and Emily when they weren't filming. And she loves them and had a great time with them. But then she noticed that they weren't afraid of her enough when they were back in character. So she had to retreat and really just sort of be more of a lone wolf and stay. Have an arm's length so that they respected the Miranda character when they were filming. And so clearly, that switch happened when the wig went on.

[Virginia Smith]

The wig went on. She walked on set.

[Rachel Comey]

There was.

[Virginia Smith]

She was getting down to business in

[Meryl Streep]

terms of the Miranda coming back to that character 20 years later. I just felt honestly like not in the same even league as Anna. And I feel that you have achieved something. I don't know anybody that anyone else has done honestly in any corporation, media, anything. So as a woman and absolutely working at the top of. And pulling the strings in the right way, it seems to me from a distance, it seems pretty amazing. You're always breaking the waves and with the prow of your ship until go back into the harbor and we're not done. You know, we're not done yet. That's something that it was fun to explore and to imagine because I actually don't know what that's like. I really don't. And I only see it from afar. But I'm in awe. I am.

[Rachel Comey]

Thank you, Meryl.

[Meryl Streep]

It's true.

[Chloe Mal]

So it was fun because as we've said a few times, this was a very tightly kept secret among very few people on a need to know basis. But the video, which I think is very funny of Meryl and Anna in elevator was fun to sort of go through the different iterations of that. I watched an early cut with Anna and Thespy in Anna's office and it was before there was elevator music. And Thespe sort of jokingly said I was looking into getting ABBA to have be the elevator music, but it's probably too silly. And Anna and I both said no, that's great. The sillier the better. So it was fun to sort of workshop that as a group.

[Virginia Smith]

I mean, two dancing queens. Two dancing queens.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

That is so funny.

[Virginia Smith]

I can't wait to see it. I haven't seen the video yet

[Meryl Streep]

and

[Chloe Mal]

the Run through will be back with Rachel Comey.

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[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

Rachel Comey, welcome to the Run through.

[Rachel Comey]

Thank you. Thanks for having me.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

I'm very happy to have you here. You are celebrating an important milestone this year. I feel like we were just talking about your 20th anniversary, but here we are it is the 25th anniversary of the Rachel Comey brand.

[Rachel Comey]

Yeah.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

What does it feel like?

[Rachel Comey]

Well, it feels like you blink and five years go by. I was thinking about it that, like, you don't necessarily reflect on a writer's 25th year or an artist or a nurse or a teacher. So why are we talking about it? And in some ways, I guess we just need it as a tool for the team and for the talking points to. I don't know, I guess it's a media thing more than anything. Like. Or for our own. Our own team and our own milestones. I think.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

Well, I feel like being a middle aged person, I think about landmarks like this a lot. Like I just came across over my 20th anniversary [e-mail], and Vogue Runway.

[Rachel Comey]

Congrats.

[Virginia Smith]

Thank you.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

And it feels, you know, it does sort of make you think about, like, what have I done in the last.

[Rachel Comey]

Some of that has been fun. Especially I have new team members and I think, oh, let me show you some of the things we've done. And I have to dig them up. And I dig up one, and that reminds me of another one. And that reminds me of another one. And there's all these different little stories or little moments or little things that we did or products that we made that had their own moment and own life. And so that is fun. Yeah. There's a lot of kind of wisdoms in there and a lot of, I guess, story building that we've done that in the day to day. I don't think about it, you know, obviously, but, you know, when you hit a milestone, it's. It's good to reflect for a minute.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

How old is the oldest piece of Rachel Comey clothing in your own closet? Do you have something that goes all the way Back to.

[Rachel Comey]

I am 2001. I'm sure, I'm sure. I bet I have a few of the first patterns and shirts. Cause it was such a hurdle to define what those first pieces were the first couple seasons that I think I, you know, I labored over every little detail. So I still, I definitely have those. I'm a bit of a hoarder.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

Well, I have a pair of. Is it the Legion jeans? Yes, the Legion jeans of circa 2015, I think maybe.

[Rachel Comey]

Yeah.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

Yeah. That are in my closet. So that's my oldest piece of.

[Rachel Comey]

Rachel called me. I still have those.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

Thank you. I'm not sure we get they will fit.

[Rachel Comey]

Requests for revisiting those. Yeah, that was in our early denim development days. Just like learning about development, you know, all the things that go into the qualities. You know, I'm very fabric materials focused. So that was a lot of exploration there. And the rationale behind those legions was that when I was a kid, my mom would hem all of our corduroys and jeans because we were all on the shorter side. And as you grew, you had to take out the hem and let it out, you know, to keep fitting the pants. And I remember being so embarrassed that they would have the crease line, you know, from. From the wear. And so as we were Studying denim in 2015, we started thinking about all the memories and the stories that they hold and all of those things. So we decided to kind of memorialize that moment with that, and it was fun. And that was also a time when I was thinking about. You had mentioned something about, like, fashion at those times. Like, that was a very big time for street style photography.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

Yes.

[Rachel Comey]

You know, that was like, at the beginning of Tomy Tan and all that sartorialist, and everyone was capturing you and all the editors and buyers and their streets going to the shows. And that was very novel and early. And you were wearing those denim with some great shoes, and it was, like, easy to capture these little zoom in moments. And, yeah, it was like a feeding frezzy for those types of images and little items and stuff. It was fun.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

Yeah. Well, the jean. Those jeans in particular, are very definitive. Right. And they. They have spurred a lot of knockoffs. Like, sometimes I see other. Other brands doing that.

[Rachel Comey]

Yeah, I think it did have a moment after that, but.

[Arden Fanning Andrews]

Yeah.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

How does that feel when you see something of yours get knocked off by a. By a different brand?

[Rachel Comey]

I mean, I don't think about it so much. I really don't. I mean, I can't manufacture that quickly. I'm a much slower manufacturer. We work very closely with all of our partners. It takes me a long time to get things made and the quality that I want it to be made. So, I mean, there's. We have a million more ideas, so we don't worry about that.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

Well, speaking of new ideas, you are opening your second store in Manhattan.

[Rachel Comey]

Yeah.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

This year. So we're not gonna talk about a date since it's a little bit of a moving target. But you have chosen an unexpected location.

[Rachel Comey]

Yes. Yeah. Yep. It's opening. It's on Christopher street between Washington and the west side highway, which I'm calling the Way West. The Way West Village, because it's very far, you know, towards the river. It's kind of quiet, but it has a little bit of A destination feeling to it. It's a little one story. Building all my stores except for our one in Brooklyn is one story. I don't know. So now whenever I see a one story, I think, oh, we gotta look at that. It's got a special kind of little charm it holds. I think that feels fresh for us.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

Well, my. My longtime colleague Maya Singer interviewed you for the. For the April issue, and she mentioned that it won't be a place just to buy Rachel Comey clothes. There might be.

[Rachel Comey]

Yeah, we're still working on all of those details, but in all of our stores, you know, they are more than just shops in some ways. You know, I. So my retail director from California says that their store in Melrose Place is their customers or their clients. Third place, she calls it. So home, work, and then this other place where you go for, you know, companionship, friendship, dialogue, discourse, community. So that's nice. So I like that she's so tight with the community there in LA, which is wonderful.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

So let's go back to 2001. You did a show just a few days before 9 11, is that right?

[Chloe Mal]

Yeah.

[Rachel Comey]

On the street in Tribeca.

[Chloe Mal]

Yeah.

[Rachel Comey]

Crazy.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

So how did you get through that hurdle to that Tribeca street?

[Rachel Comey]

I had a friend. I mean, I didn't start my company till I was much older, 28. I think I found the Matt still young. Yeah, well, nowadays the young people, you know, want to be professionalized in high school. Very young. Yeah. So I was looking around through all different types of arts and, you know, styling costumes, all different types of things through the galleries to figure out what I would want to do. And I never studied clothing design, but I always loved it, or I always loved how people communicate through their clothes. I like how it made. It had the capacity to make you feel something, to communicate something. So there's all sorts of things that I loved around the culture of clothing. So it took me a while to also understand that manufacturing and all these other elements are so fascinating and challenging, to say the least. So I decided to give it a shot. In that. That year, I had been making some stage things for. You know, there were a lot of men that I knew at that time because it was a menswear label that were on stage and really peacocking around New York City. And I just thought it was a really nice place to start and learn. So it was primarily men's shirts. So it was really just about tailoring. I found this manufacturer in New Jersey who did custom shirts, and I spent time with him and I just. It was a real educational learning process on the development side. And then on the face, I guess it was a bit just fun experiment with like, all my friends were the models. And we just did a show, what we thought was a show. And, you know, there was. Didn't seem much divide between the audience and the. And the people on the Runway. You know, they were all kind of one. And then, yeah, Stella Ishii, I remember she came up to me after the show. I don't know how she got there, like a friend of a friend and said, oh, I love to represent you. And she was. Had a showroom.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

The news.

[Rachel Comey]

The news that sold primarily to Japan. So the next day she's like, where's your line sheet? I'm like, what's a line sheet? How do you want to praise these? I don't know. She helped me through all of that. We had one day, like this show was on maybe Saturday or something. We had one day of sales on Monday, and it was mostly her customers in Japan got a bunch of orders. And then Tuesday was 9 11. You know, that was a crazy moment, of course. And I was on unemployment at the time. Cause I got fired from my job at Theory.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

What made you get fired?

[Rachel Comey]

Well, this show, like, I mean, I was. Andrew Rosen was very, very respectful to me. And great. He would call me into all these meetings, and I was totally fish out of water in that situation because I'd never been in a fashion building company or anything. I'd always kind of been in the arts and in studios and things like that. So he had, you know, one person like this. Somebody else was like, oh, they have these new brands to watch kind of thing. And there was a Timeout magazine, and I thought there'd be a little postage stamp photo, but it turned out to be like a whole page photo of new collections to watch. And I don't think I assumed we couldn't have a. Anyway, I went into work that morning and somebody photocopied that thing and put it on the desks. All over the studio, people were coming up to me. Congrats, congrats. I'm like, what are people talking about? Congrats. And then Andrew came into my office and he's like, why didn't you tell me? I could have helped you. And I was like, what? I don't know. I was just like an art project on the side. Like, I didn't have a big business plan. So he's like, I have to fire you. And I was like, okay, here we go. My girlfriend's Pulled up in their car. I had my box with all my desk stuff and pick me up. And that was the start. But then I had the unemployment. And then because of 9 11, I got extended unemployment. And at that time, too, people would send you credit cards, you know, 0 APR for six months, credit cards. So for six years, basically, I transferred all my production funding from credit card to credit card to credit card. And then I got out of debt at six years, which is crazy. I also freelanced here and there. Like, I freelanced, I remember, for the Gap for Louise Trotter for a little

[Virginia Smith]

bit, which is really fun.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

You start now at Bottega Venida.

[Rachel Comey]

Yeah. And I would like, make photocopies to make mood boards, like on a photocopy machine. And then secretly kind of call my interns and be like, hey, can you pick up that fabric from Mr. Chen, bring it over to Inny. You know, we kept the thing going, going, going. And then at six years, I got out of debt and I hired my first employee, Michelle, who still works for me.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

Wow.

[Rachel Comey]

And she lives in LA and runs all my denim production. So then that was like the start of profitability and. But I mean, all those six years was long. And I mean, it's all been kind of long if you actually start to reflect on it. But yeah, lots of learning along the way and lots of little mini stories.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

Is it true that David Bowie wore your T shirts on stage?

[Rachel Comey]

That was in the early. Like, before I started. It was like corresponded to the Timeout magazine. I had my friend Avina. I remember this Avena Gallagher, who's a great stylist to this day. She was styling him. She called me and I had been making these stage costumes. They were like shirts that were hand painted and whatever and, you know, altered vintage type of things. And she called me and she borrowed the things and he wore them bunch of stuff on the tour. He loves them. She called me, she said, okay, David Bowie wants to buy those three shirts for you. What do you want to charge him? And I was like, charge for them. I thought, I don't know. And she's like, charge whatever you want. It's David Bowie. And I was like, $200? She was like, 200? And I'm like, yeah. It felt like it was a real lot. And she was like, yeah, okay, you know, I'll bring you the cash tomorrow. And I was like, okay. So, yeah, there's just super naive stuff. Not like kids today, I guess they're much more savvy than I was.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

Well, we didn't have ebay and all of those things teaching us the value of stuff.

[Rachel Comey]

Yeah, right.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

We were going to Salvation army and

[Rachel Comey]

Goodwill and buying, digging, buying by the pound.

[Osea Brand Representative]

Yes.

[Rachel Comey]

Domsies.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

And like vintage slips from the 30s were like $1.75 or something. I know, the good old days.

[Rachel Comey]

Beautiful stuff.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

So you have always attracted a very cool kind of celebrity contingent. I'm thinking back to the, the show dinners you did at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn and, you know, sitting with Maggie Gyllenhaal or Miranda July or, or Zadie Smith. How have you cultivated those kind of clients?

[Rachel Comey]

I feel that those women, if I were to put them in a group of some kind, are all independent minded, creative Gen Xers like myself. I feel like, Jen, this is like a topic somehow lately, like Gen X and even among my peers and like, you know, of Gen X and how we relate to our other generations. And I was thinking about this too, this idea about the. When you were called Rachel, called me Brand, I'm like, ugh, I've always hated that word brand. You know, it's like never sat well with me. And I think about now, everything has to be like, every person has to be a brand. Like, tweens are brands. And when we were coming up in our young years, that was not a good thing. The good thing was to be an independent, creative, autonomous, not commercial. And I think that all of those women that you mentioned kind of have their very own strong points of view, have, I don't know, an intellectual, creative sides to them. I don't know, I think it's just maybe mutual respect. And I feel that that's something we really focus on as a company in general, like, and as our purpose and what we do as designers. I really think about design kind of as a service to the client and making sure that they're feeling the things they want to feel in the rooms that they want to go into. And so I think it's kind of some kind of mutual respect relationship. If I was to guess what are

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

the, you know, what are the words you hear your customers saying or what do you think? How do you want to feel when you're making a new collection?

[Rachel Comey]

Well, we do spend a lot of time listening to what's going on in their lives. And, you know, that's, I guess, one of the things I bring them up to you when you come in because I feel like I'm constantly observing the changes and evolutions in our client's life and that to the political world, to the, you know, climate, to their journeys as they age and their bodies and there's just right when you think you figured it out, like, there's like a new experience. You know, life is complicated. And so I feel in my job as a designer is almost like this service to what's going on with them. So I have to really listen, like, yes. Are they going to the award? What kind of award? Who are they? What. What do they want to convey? Because this person and that person are wanting to convey different things or, you know, some women don't even like clothes. You know, they just want to do their work. They just want to be heard. What do they need to be heard and be respected in their. In their careers or in the rooms they're in. So. And then counter to that, like, how do you feel? Cared for or vulnerable or softer? You know, like, those are also real challenges, I think, in the modern life.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

You know, I liked our last meeting. You surprised me. And you said you had a new category. You had the sweater you buy for your husband, but you're actually gonna wear yourself, which I could relate to.

[Arden Fanning Andrews]

Yeah.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

When I assigned Maya this story, you know, I was struck by the fact that, you know, you had coming up on your 25th anniversary and rarely had you been in the pages of Vogue. And so there, there is a quality, an aspect of you, you know, coming up and being really hugely successful without a lot of the sort of props and the assistance that a lot of other designers of your generation and generations younger than you have received.

[Rachel Comey]

True. I mean, I do say that. I mean, I knock on wood here, but I always thought that not being in Vogue was actually a good thing for my career. I mean, I don't hate to say it, it's kind of true. It gave me an opportunity to learn and grow. And there was a lot of mistakes along the way, and I'm glad that I was able to kind of recover from those. And the stakes weren't as high as they could have been if we were in some other, like, you know, financial media storm. You know, that can happen with the young, young, new financed brands. I mean, you know, we're independent, so it was just. Yeah, I mean, there were early days I was bummed that Anna didn't come to my shows. And then I kind of recovered from that eventually and found my audience, you know, but it's like all these years I've. You find your community or people, I don't know, and people find you, I think. Yeah, that's one of the great things about the fashion in general is that it's very big and broad and it's different things to different people and there's lots of versions of it and there's a, you know, everybody's getting dressed every day.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

We'll be right back with Rachel Comey after the break.

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[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

Beyond opening this store, how will you sort of acknowledge the 25th anniversary? What are you thinking?

[Rachel Comey]

I want to bring some old, you know, old products back in some kind of new way. Like a pre order thing of, of coveted pieces. Because sometimes I have pieces that I do bring back and I wear and that people ask me about them and I'm like okay, maybe I should put that in the line again. And I go to put it in the line and then somehow my whole my team doesn't buy it or, or something happens because it's not like of the moment that doesn't. And then still people ask me for It. So now I'm like, okay, I'm gonna make some products of some of these memory pieces and yeah, open the new store. I mean, that's the amazing thing about this business is that there's always a ton to do. So beyond, you know, opening the store and having the show, there's a new collection, there's new products we're trying, there's new fabrics and new technologies within the fabrications and you know, each one of the relationships on the manufacturing sides needs to be nurtured and cared for in order for it to be fruitful and productive and good for both of us. And there's a lot of changes all the time, just, you know, navigating tariffs and now with the war and how that's going to affect gas and transportation for all of that product. So there's a lot of nuances that happen on a daily basis.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

Does the sort of collapse of the wholesale model impact you as well? The trouble that's happening at Saks and more broadly speaking in retail stores?

[Rachel Comey]

I mean, it has been slow. Like yes, it has impacted us over time. I mean, during COVID when Bergdorf's went bankrupt, they didn't want to pay us for the product that they had. And then we had all they wanted us to still ship the order, you know, for what they had to order, but they weren't going to pay for what they owed us. So that as a small business, you know, I can't get my head around that kind of thing. And then that's how we ended up opening that store in Brooklyn, because we had the merchandise that was supposed to go to Bergdorf's, basically because we're a small manufacturer, we don't manufacture, we don't over manufacture. We try not to. So it's like keeping everything tight, keeping, you know, realistic. So yeah, like, okay, so we don't sell to any big department stores right now, which, so that's a good thing in a way because we survived it. And now we've refocused our relationships with our smaller, you know, owner operated localized boutiques around the country that are amazing. And when I go visit them when I can find the time, each one of them, they're owned by amazing women that have communities. They're going out in the world buying stuff for all their women. It's like they're similar to what I feel like I'm doing. We have a shared mission and that is often happening in a small business model. I mean, slow and steady is how we've grown and how we've Survived, I guess, and I just stay focused on that. But every year, things get more complicated because everything's getting more expensive all the time. And I try to keep our prices, you know, very fair, although sometimes they feel expensive for me, you know, but if you look at manufacturing prices, cost of living, you know, shipping duties, they go up. So. But we are buying fabric from the same places that the luxury brands buy fabric. I have my mills in France, in Italy, in, you know, all over, also sell to the finest luxury brands. So it's just kind of margin choices and. Yeah. Makes us have maybe less cash for elaborate other things, but it's great for our. I feel like it garners respect and appreciation from our clients, which is the most important thing.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

One thing that Maya made a point to talk about in her piece about you is that Stephanie Cavalli, the model who was very, very much in the media after opening the Chanel couture show in January, and, you know, everyone made a big deal about her middle ageness and the graying, you know, the graying hair and the idea that, you know, you can have women of all generations on. On a high fashion Runway. She has been a regular Rachel Comey model for. For some time.

[Rachel Comey]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. She's great. I have so many fantastic models, and she's beautiful and fun to work with and lovely human.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

Your runways, I think, reflect real life in a way that. In an uncomplicated way, in not a strategic way. It's just, you know, what you do. And there is a sense that fashion has caught up to you a little bit.

[Rachel Comey]

I appreciate that. Thank you.

[Meryl Streep]

Yeah.

[Rachel Comey]

Well, let's see what I can do next. I guess I'm excited to see women of all ages on the Runway, and the more that we see it then on those runways in Paris, then the more visibility and opportunities there are for middle age and older women for modeling. And that makes the pool bigger for me because right now, sometimes I have to, you know, convince people that aren't models to come and model, you know, in their older ages. So I'd be excited to see the representation across age and all the things, you know, and also, like, unique beauties, you know, like unusual and different takes, and to see how, you know, all of that evolves and changes and doesn't homogenize, you know, I do think there's, like, a bit of a global homogenization problem right now, and I hope that we can kind of move beyond that sometime.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

That is. I'm so glad you brought up this idea of homogenization because of course, you know, fashion, I think, falls. Falls prey to that so often. Like, how would you. You're probably going to resist this question, but, like, where does sort of the courage to go your own way come from? I think a lot of other designers, you know, wouldn't admit this, but there is sort of a safety in, you know, doing like everyone else does.

[Rachel Comey]

I think it's just opportunity. I mean, I don't. I don't think I had a choice in a way, you know, So I think I had to, you know, and I still do. Like, if I'm not following my own instincts, then I don't really feel grounded in knowing what I'm doing. And then I can't really explore the things that I want to explore. And then I. Yeah, I think I would lose my footing if I was following some other path of somebody else. Like, I don't think I would know. It's like, it's like being a person that went to the gym when I was younger, I feel like at that situation, I become like, I have a. I feel like, okay, I'm gonna try to be one of these people that does step aerobics or whatever the things are. And then I would have, like. That was my earliest memory of this in college. And I remember kind of have an out of body and being like, okay, who is this person? That is not. That's not you. Like, you gotta get out of this situation and go figure out what's you. Because we're so, I think, so focused on our client and the purpose there. I think it makes my team, on my design and development side, very independent in some ways, because they know too, the purpose and so they can design in for this woman because they're thinking about her in the same way that I am. And we're all having a very strong dialogue about where she's going, what she's doing, what she's wearing. And then we can all bring the influences from each other's lives. And that's separately a really great thing about the fashion business is because there's a lot of different types of people in the room, you know, and my team is so diverse culturally. People from all over the world, you know, and they all found their way to New York. And we're all in the room, we're all focused on the design and we all know who she is, but they're all coming from different points of view. So we can say, oh, this is, you know, I have a very diverse team right now. And I always love that too. It's like, makes the room more interesting. It makes the work fresh because there's different points of view, but we're still focused on her.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

So what are some of the inputs now that are sort of, you know, adding interest to the stew? I mean, like, are you going on a trip that you're looking forward to? Are you reading something that feels like it's.

[Rachel Comey]

Yeah, we focus a lot on experiences. You know, I have, like, a little list of going of, like. Like, things important. Lunch sweater was one thing. Like, sometimes it's hard to wear tailoring indoors. Right. But you're going to an important lunch, so you need an important lunch sweater. So starting there at that, and then it seems silly, but, like, it's not silly ultimately. It's like, how's that fitting the body? What's the yarn? How's the shoulder? How's the thing? You know, so it's a lot of experiences, I think, that we kind of collect based on the season and the delivery, you know, and then. So that's kind of the input in some ways, the experiences on one hand, and then there's a whole material input and a whole kind of. We let a fantasy role, like, a little bit, like, can be anything. Pirates can be, like, some weird trend that somebody's daughter is following, and you're like, that's crazy. All the girls are into, like, what you know, and then explore it, you know, because it's interesting. Tooth gems. We were literally talking about that last week. So there's, like, all the stuff. It could be from anywhere. It could be from someone's daughter.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

Your daughter's almost a teenager. Is that right?

[Rachel Comey]

She's a teenager.

[Arden Fanning Andrews]

She's a teenager.

[Rachel Comey]

Tooth gems.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

What's. What did you tell her?

[Rachel Comey]

Well, I'll do it with her. That sounds fun.

[Virginia Smith]

Does she still want to do it

[Rachel Comey]

now that you want? I know, I know. That's exactly what my mom would did to me. I remember because I was like, at her age, I wanted to go to tattoo, and my mom was like, great, let's go. I'll go with you. I want one. And I was like, what? No way. I'm not getting a tattoo with you. But no, my daughter's game for it. So we'll see if you see me in September.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

I'm thinking back to before the pandemic, when you entered the popular culture in that show, High maintenance.

[Rachel Comey]

Wasn't that fun?

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

Yeah, it was a great HBO show, and he was back in the news lately. But you or one of the characters in that show was gonna wear Something of yours, Dan. And then you actually were in. In it, right?

[Rachel Comey]

Oh, yeah. So how that happened is one of the gals on my team was like, rachel, you're gonna love this show. And she sent it to me. And at that time, it was just a little Vimeo series. And I fell in love with it because it's little snippets about New York life that were just so priceless. And I felt like not being captured anywhere else. You know, like crazy little scenarios where people are living in giant lofts and Airbnb, like the one bedroom and just all the stuff it takes to live in New York. And so I wrote to them, I was like, oh, my God, I love this show. I just. And just as a fan, well done. Love it. And then they wrote back, oh, my God, we're fans of yours. And then, like, a couple weeks later, months later, we had an idea. We want to pitch it to you. And so they came and they pitched it, and it was about. It was so cute. It was about a couple. And when the woman was at work, the husband was cross dressing in his wife's closet. And it was really adorable, cute, fun thing. And, yeah, they filmed me in my studio, and some people on my team were in it, and we just. Just for fun, you know, I love doing those things.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

So we always ask this question of designers. What advice do you have for young people who want to be the Rachel Comey of 25 years from now?

[Rachel Comey]

I'm always scared to give advice to young people because they really know what they should be doing. I have experience with that with my daughter, but my path was unconventional. So I think that everybody's path. It's okay to be unconventional. Yeah. My mom's advice for me, she said, forgive yourself. And I was like, what is she talking about? But I think she's kind of talking about me working all the time and not being there and not for my kids or something like that, but I'm not sure. But, you know, it's just like, go easy on yourself. I don't know. Like, enjoy the exploration. Maybe. It takes a long time. I don't even feel like I feel. In some ways, I'm just getting started. Like, I feel like there's ton for me to learn and do. That's the weird thing about being in your 50s is being like, whoa, okay, do I have to stop and be like, I know the stuff, or can I keep going? And being like, oh, there's still a lot for me to learn and grow? And as you know, I think Yes, I think, yes. There's still a lot to learn and grow, so I think. Yeah, I don't know. Is that solid advice? Go easy.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

Keep learning.

[Rachel Comey]

Keep learning. Learning's the best, most important thing. Of course. Always at every age, young and old.

[Interviewer (possibly Maya Singer or another Vogue staff)]

Well, I learn when I talk to you. So thank you. Thank you for coming on the podcast.

[Rachel Comey]

Thank you. You're very nice and generous. Thank you for your patience with my rambles. The run through with Vogue is produced

[Greta Gerwig]

by Chelsea Daniel, Alex De Palma, and Alex John Burns, with help from Emily Elias.

[Virginia Smith]

The show is engineered by Bran Bandy and mixed by Mike Kutchman.

[Osea Brand Representative]

Bye.

[Virginia Smith]

From prx.