It's that time of year again!

Springtime at the Reif Haus always means crazy, hectic, sewing times. For the third year in a row I will be showing at the Portland Mercury's annual fashion show, alongside the best of the best in local talent. I'm really excited, to debut my new collection at the show, along with accessories from my friend Coco's line Coco Cardenas.

This year's show also will feature the three winner's of Project Runway to come out of Portland, Leanne Marshall, Gretchen Jones, and Seth Aaron Henderson. I'm excited to show alongside them!

Tickets are going fast, and they're cheaper in advance, so I would recommend you purchase them here.

Photos and video will be on the blog for those of you outside of Portland that want to see what I've been up to.

It's been a long time.

DAAAAANG! So an entire summer just went by (and then some) since I last posted on this blog. Woopsie! Life kept me pretty busy this summer, but now things are starting to return to normal. Don't let my blogging absence make you think that I haven't been working hard. Quite the contrary, actually.

1. New Studio. Its rad, I'll post pics soon.

2. New Intern. Janine, she's been a big help!

3. New collection for Fall '10! Photos should be up soon. This collection has actually been in stores for a month or two, but I've been sewing like crazy to fill orders and haven't had much time for the internet.

Here's a video from Portland's Fashion Night Out, which happened September 10th. FNO has been happening for years now in other cities such as New York and LA, and now Portland has joined the ranks, choosing to promote sustainability in fashion. I was interviewed by Casey Hatfield from NetGreen News about the event and about my latest collection.



The Portland Mercury also interviewed me for the event. You can find that here.

I promise to keep up on blogging from now on, so please check back often! I've got photos from photo shoot colabs and so much more for you in the coming weeks.

Open Season Video

I found this video from the fashion show. I was hoping that someone had gotten footage, because I didn't get to see the show at all because I was frantically running around.

Enjoy!

Open Season Fashion Show

Hey friends!

The fashion show on Friday was a success, and I've been enjoying some free time and much needed rest this week. I just got some photos back from the show - so exciting! Thanks to all the lovely ladies who modeled for me and to Clarity and Anna for helping me out backstage. Everyone looked great, and the only thing that went wrong was a strap popped off of one the dresses, but Nicki worked it anyways. Also thanks to the amazing Emily Baker of Sword + Fern for making some custom jewelry for the show. Maybe I'll post some photos just of the jewelry soon, they are truly amazing.

These photos are courtesy of Roll 35 and Chloe Richard.

We are the Happy Haus.

We definitely have much to be happy about this week at the Reif Haus. On Friday, May 7th we'll be showing alongside 10 other talented Portland designers at the annual Mercury fashion show.



I'll be showing mostly pieces from our Spring '10 collection, along with a few new garments to round things out, including an evening gown! I want to give the viewer a glimpse of what was inspiring me when designing this collection. For me inspiration is a very general statement, and I'll often start with one direct inspiration and when the collection is finished it that inspiration only is visible on a subtle level. So this time around I'm pulling out all the stops and letting Portland know what's up.

Karen Vitt from the Neat Sheet did a nice write-up of the show which is available here.


Here is a little hint of what is in store:




See you on Friday!

Springtime!

I just realized that its been a while since I've blogged. So much has been going on here lately that I just haven't had the time. We're almost finished with Spring '10 production, and orders are being shipped out daily. I'm so excited to start wearing my own pieces from the collection. We had our usual "spring fakeout" here in Portland, where it got really sunny and nice, but the past couple of days have been the usual - rainy, rainy.

Many exciting things are happening this spring. My birthday is on Sunday, and I'm looking forward to hanging out with friends and relaxing.

I'm going to be releasing the Fall '10 collection in the next week as well. I'm a bit behind schedule getting everything ready - needless to say it's been a stressful few months. I think its for the best though, because I'm planning for very exciting things for Spring '11, and don't want to create more work than I can handle before that.

What I'm really excited about, is the annual fashion show put on by the Portland Mercury. It will be happening May 7th at the Bossanova. Because it's a "between seasons" show, I'll be combining some pieces from my Spring '10 and Fall '10 collections. I think the most important thing is to show Portlanders garments that they can buy NOW, not a season from now. I'm also creating a few new pieces to round things out!

Here are some photos inspiring me as I get ready for the show:













Also, I started another blog with my friend and MUA for my photo shoots, Clarity. Its street style, thrift store finds, and other things that we love. You can find it here.

Images courtesty of WeHeartIt and Them Thangs and Fashion Gone Rouge.

Forecast Fashion Show 4/26/09

Here's a peek at the looks I sent down the runway at the Portland Mercury's annual fashion show. I had less than two weeks notice for the show, and since I could only do two looks, I wanted them to show a bit about what Reif Clothing is all about.

Photos courtesy of the WWeek flickr page:




These are garments that I might not necessarily release in a collection (well, at least not in their current form) but it was definitely fun to make some one of a kind pieces. You may notice the military theme, which some how or another seems to run itself through all of my collections subconciously. I have never been in the military, nor do I aspire to design military uniforms, but I find myself attracted to the functionality and thoughtfulness of the details of military garments. They are often sleek, minimal, and well placed. This is what I'm all about. I hate over done detail just for the sake of adding detail.

Also, is anyone else as obsessed with Jodhpurs as I am? I absolutely LOVE the knickers that Will is wearing, and I am happy with how the jodhpur-inspired mini skirt turned out. More on this latest obsession in another post.

Thanks to my lovely models, Will and Kathleen, for being awesome. You may notice that made a ladies top that not only was a floral print, but also had, gasp, RUFFLES. And you know what? I kinda like it. Actually, I really like it. This may be the start of a whole new era for Reif Clothing.

I'm going to take some detail shots of these garments soon, and you will also be able to purchase them on my etsy shop.

Ta ta, darlings!