Samantha Pleet is one New Yorker with a lot on her plate. On top of designing her own line (which debuted while she was still in college), Pleet has recently teamed up with Urban Outfitters to produce an exclusive collaboration entitled Rapscallion. The collection, true to its name, features adorable button-downed jumpers, feminized tuxedo shirts and military-esque jackets and capes. "I was so excited when found out that I would have the opportunity to work with them on designing a line...I grew up shopping at Urban Outfitters". Rapscallion will debut in October and house a total of six new collections--one delivering every other month. A pop-up shop will also be erected in Los Angeles, stocking the designer's full range for Urban Outfitters, her ready to wear line, and other design endeavors, including Pleet's eco-friendly line, Bodkin.

For Bodkin (worthy of its own post), Pleet collaborates with studio-mate Eviana Hartman--a freelance writer and former features editor at Nylon. The line, which started out as a weekend experiment transforming dusty clothes into handbags, offers an monochrome collection of edgy separates not without their own delicate softness. Bodkin is made entirely out of recycled and organic fabrics.

To read our review of Pleet's Fall 08 collection, click here. Below, our interview with the designer and below that, the Rapscallion look book.

Can you give us some background on your Samantha Pleet Fall '08 collection and the mugshots you used to depict the collection?
The Fall 08 collection reflects a madcap array of inspirations. From Dickensian urchins to vintage black-and-white police mug shots to sharp-dressed sixties rock bands— and marks the introduction of a small menswear line, Patrick Pleet...We started collecting vintage police mug shots some were from the turn of the century. We found them at flea markets and image libraries. Each shot told a story and some of people in them had a really inspiring style, a few of them looked crazy those were usually the best ones.It was a great way for me to incorporate real people that found inspiring and asked them to let me "arrest them".

You seem to draw inspirations from lots of different places like music, literature and art. What is your process for narrowing this down to a story and from there into actual clothes?
This process happens very organically for me. My subconscious seams to be able to blend everything together. I do a lot of image gathering, thinking, sewing, sketching, and sourcing. It is not until I start to put a few of the samples together that I begin to see the collection take shape. This is a never ending story because I have to keep designing.

What is a typical day in the studio?
I only live 10 minutes away, so I walk to work get coffee at Oslo with Patrick. I usually have to go to the garment district during the day for a fitting at my sample maker. I now work with my friend Dusting McSwane, he does my technical design, which is amazing. I usually distract my studio mates Susan (designer of Dirty Librarian Chains) and Eviana (writer and Bodkin partner) with new samples to show them. We all try them on to see how they fit. It is a wonderful and inspiring place to work.

What do you enjoy doing on your days outside of the studio?
My life is my work so even when im not in the studio I like to gather inspiration. I love to wonder around the city. My perfect day would be to have brunch at Diner walk over the Williamsburg bridge, wander into shops in the Lower east side, walk over to 9th street in the East Village get coffee, and then over to Soho check out some more shops--go to an art exhibition or two on the journey. Later to go see a concert and then join friends in the evening, which usually turns into talking about doing another project. Finally I would go home and watch a film or read a book and listen to music.

Do you have any personal favorites from the Rapscallion collection?
I love everything in the line but my favorite is the Cape dress. It's a wool dress with a detachable cape, I will be wearing this a
lot. I also love the high wasted jeans, the banner dress.

What do you have in store for curating the pop-up shop for Urban Outfitters?
It doesn't open until November in LA. We still have a lot of planning to do. Patrick, my husband who is an architect, will be working with them on the space. It will carry the first two Rapscallion collections, my Fall 08 collection, Bodkin, and I will be curating some vintage clothing, gifts, and jewelry, and other curiosities.

For our girl porn photo shoot, we've featured a few brands that all have (at least) one thing in common. Namely, all are represented by New York showroom Archetype. Every showroom has it's own personality, cultivated by everything from whom they represent, to the space they occupy, to the state of their toilet and the condition of the their sample closet. As a designer, choosing (or being chosen by) a showroom can play a great deal of importance in your image and success. After all, this is how those precious collections get picked up by buyers or pulled for press.


Archetype, who reps, among others, Corpus, Fremont, Samantha Pleet, The Cast, and Surface to Air is a showroom with a relaxed vibe and a handsome staff. In a space with huge windows and wooden floors sit May Kwok and Steven Rojas, press representatives for Womens and Menswear respectively. The two give off the air of being the cool brother and sister team you used to chill with when you were little. Indeed, while they finish each others sentences, you begin the understand that Archetype is not as disjointed as other operations and that, because of the showroom's history and the personality of the lines they represent, they've a unique strength and purpose.


Archetype, just a few years old, cultivates that appeal by way of their penchant for friendship. Where both Kwok and Rojas have been with the showroom since it's inception (Rojas previously worked with the founder, Audrey Gingras) the showroom also represents brands that have connections outside of Archetype. The Los Angeles based designers of Fremont and Corpus, for instance, have been friends for years. This was, pointedly, the first thing Kwok told us when we asked her about the showroom.


Why is this good? This is good because the press and buyers respond to the cohesion. Simply put, if Corpus is a brand that suits your boutique, chances are Fremont will too. If you're featuring Samantha Pleet in a photo shoot, there's porbably a Jenny Yuen handbag to suit the look. Although other showrooms strive for this sense of lifestyle, Archetype pulls it off earnestly and and successfully.


For more on Archetype, check out our quick interview with May Kwok below, and, to see the Archetype cohesion in action, take a peek at our girl porn photo shoot.


What attitude or personality best describes Archetype and the lines that you represent?
The lines we represent all have a strong connection in the art, cinema, music, and fashion world.


Is this identity ever misunderstood or misrepresented by the press? If so, how do you strive to correct misrepresentations?
No. We are never misunderstood. We make sure each publication, website, client, and fashionista understands what Archetype Showroom is and does!


What are some of the differences between working with the larger publications versus smaller ones or websites?
We are reaching different demographic of people from the uptown fashionista to the downtown fashion icon.


What is your average day at the showroom like?
The showroom has such a great & relaxed environment! I come in, answer emails, work on product/editorial requests and stylist pulls, developing new, creative ways to promote the brands and garnish larger feature pieces. Brainstorm publicity opportunities for the brands. Play with our showroom mascot, Sullivan (The cutest dog ever!) There is always something for me to do.. It never ends.


What is the most stressful part of your job?
I have to admit – I have a love and hate relationship with events. There are so much entailed in producing events and fashion shows… but you know, I'm fine after a few cocktails!


And, your favorite part of your job?
My daily communication with the wonderful people I work with in all the different publications, stylists, the designers and the joy I get when I see them represented in a magazine… Its great! Oh and the free clothes isn't bad either.

New York designer, Samantha Pleet skips the 'lively model hopping into cab' look book, in favor of a more direct aesthetic. This season, her Fall 08 look book is chalk full of Brooklynites (from bands like The Boggs and Apache Beat) lining up for their mugshot. They say modesty (think high necks, long dresses, thick tights) has been encouraged for the Fall 08 season and if there ever were a girl for the job, it would be Miss Samantha Pleet. The line is perfect for those local fashionistas who wear turtlenecks and long johns, like reading, and prefer the radio to their roommate's Wii games. If there's a stock character to make modesty look sexy, it's a proper New York nerd. To that end, we like Pleet's grown-up vibe, her penchant for librarian-esque costumery, and her signature usage of the ladies neck tie.

nostalgia

brace yourself

spin me right round

subversive