Meet Rachael Levine | Fashion Designer and Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rachael Levine and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rachael, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
While designing my senior thesis collection senior year of college, I was creating outerwear in the form of vests made from my Shibori dyed boiled wool. The wool was very interesting to people so I didn’t want to distract those pieces with any other garments underneath the vests. I decided to create long fingerless gloves and those got a huge response. From there I expanded my line of accessories to include other winter items and took the collection to trade shows after graduation in 2014.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
The process that jump started my brand is Shibori on boiled wool. Before I started working with this fabric I had never seen anyone else use it with Shibori and I’m still doing it 7 years later. I launched my brand with a winter accessory collection because I didn’t have to worry about sizing, and I knew I could handle the production by myself, I’m still making some of the styles I initially started with in 2014 such as the Mod Long and Short Fingerless Gloves.

These days I’m exploring outerwear again and designing/creating more intricate garments. I love textiles and the challenge of making with zero waste practices. That’s a huge part of my business now and as a creator of things, I think I have a responsibility to create with intention, and not waste any material because there’s a huge problem with that when it comes to the fashion industry.

I’m most excited about my Juju collection, which are garments I make using the Shibori silk scraps I’ve saved over the years.

Nothing about what I do is easy 🙂 I’ve done many tradeshows, handmade shows, and traveled the country doing it. It’s trial and error all the time, and sticking with what works as well as always exploring the new. I’ve learned to never compare myself to others because we are all forging our own path and what works for me might not work for others, and visa versa.

I’ve overcome so many challenges, some of those include criticism (based on opinion), money loss, challenges working through materials and design. I would not be able to keep moving forward if I did not love what I do, and love everything I put out into the world. If I love it, someone else will too, and those people ultimately show up for me and give me the energy to keep going.

What you should know about me is that I will be creating, designing, and making for my entire life. It gives me a sense of self, individuality, and I love working with my hands. Whether it’s clothing, upholstery, general crafting, having this skill is such a gift and I plan on using it forever.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Definitely getting out in nature, that’s the best part about being in Denver. We live so close to the mountains we’d probably spend the majority of our time outdoors if possible. My top places in Denver are: Tatarian for cocktails, Meow Wolf, Pho Duy, and my house 🙂

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Shoutout to Libby Goines, a mentor of mine, incredible artist of many mediums, outstanding weaver. She was the first person I worked for out of college and helped me to embrace the unknown, which is ever present in the life of a working artist. Unfortunately she passed away last year but I think about her often when I’m creating or working through a process that’s new to me. She never stopped creating and gained most of her recognition in the later part of her life.

Website: https://www.araearae.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/araeshibori/?hl=en

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachael-levine-823a4250/

Image Credits
Headshot: Christina Cookson Photography Fashion Photography: Meg MacDonald, Chelsea Nattiel Sherman