Rachel Antonoff

[gomtik]

Rachel Antonoff has been designing for a few years and it looks like she's finally gotten to the point where her collections are a bit more recognizable (or at least featured on style.com). Her clothes are very quirky, pretty casual, always featuring a sweatshirt or two, t-shirts, baseball caps.

She's recently come out with a zany video for her latest collection (SS14), featuring her brother (Jack Antonoff, guitarist of fun. and lead singer of Steel Train) and some other famous friends (Mae Whitman, Jenny Slate).

video on style.com

Some looks from her SS14 collection, courtesy of style.com:

Although I have absolutely nothing against her (I quite like how funny she is on twitter), my question is: does she have what it takes to be a designer? Is knowing a few famous people enough to make a brand successful? Is a knack for designing clothes that are really worthwhile no longer necessary, even in the casual clothes market?

 

[lucy92]

i have heard of her before i had heard years before her brother's band was popular.

she has also designed a dress sold at target years ago that had her name on it.

so i would say she is known in NY and in other well informed fashion circles.

 

[gomtik]

She's done another successful collaborations as well, with Bass shoes, although as far as I know, it is now over. I don't doubt she's known in NY and LA, but you have to agree, that her success has been closely tied to her connections. In my opinion, her collections are pretty pedestrian. Sure there are a few catch phrases, and a few cute dresses, but it isn't super innovative, in my opinion.