New York based women’s wear and home goods designer, Rita Liefhebber, brought her newest collection to Dallas Friday.
Liefhebber showcased her spring collection at a cocktail hour and trunk show at Piermarini, a men’s and women’s boutique in Snider Plaza. In spring 2015 the boutique is launching an initiative to carry items only made in the U.S., to “give American designers a chance to get into some great boutiques across the country. Because a lot of them, they only need a couple of doors to really be successful,” boutique owner, John Piermarini, said.
Liefhebber, who met Piermarini at market two seasons ago, is the inaugural designer in this plan.
“I’m like a one-woman show, and you know when you have someone who’s really excited about what you’re doing, it really makes you feel [like] ‘keep going!’” she said.
Liefhebber started designing a few years ago after previously styling and modeling. After six years, it was an easy transition from model to stylist because she was already familiar with the industry, she explained. Then she felt the time was right to create her own line.
“You know, you just feel like there’s pieces you just want to create,” Liefhebber said.
Liefhebber is known for her simple contemporary designs and use of natural materials, but she claims that without modeling, she may never have entered the fashion industry.
“When you’re 15 you don’t know what you want to do, and things can change so much. I think that kind of came to me in that way, and I just wanted to continue in that world. I did really love it. But I don’t know if I hadn’t have started modeling if I would necessarily be in this world. Maybe it would have been more industrial design. My parents are architects,” Liefhebber explained.
Although she didn’t follow in their footsteps, she certainly acquired the creative gene, and several of the skills she learned from her mother can be seen in her designs today.
“My mom is very inspiring for her taste and style. And also she, you know, she taught me all of the crafts that she does. She always did dying and she does hand knitting and she has like a giant loom that she does weaving on, and I think that has heavily influenced me,“ Liefhebber said.
Her mother’s natural aesthetic led to her own taste in a simple lifestyle and designs, Liefhebber explained. The simplicity of her collection was reflected in her choice of outfit for the event: light-wash skinny jeans and white tennis shoes.
“The simpler the better, and I’ve always been that way. And I like having little, you know, little touches that show like a personal hand. The patterns on the pieces are all drawn by hand, so each one is going to be unique. No one is going to have the same piece as you, and each mark is, you know, a different mark. And [I] painstakingly sat there and drew them all myself during production,” Liefhebber said.
Her customer base features a wide range of women, because “the shapes are very forgiving, and they can be dressed up or down,” she explained. And she cited Eileen Fisher as inspiration for keeping her work timeless. She hopes that people are able to transition her clothing for day or night and they can mix and match each item.
“I love that, I love that people can just put their own style into the piece,” she said.
Liefhebber strives to only use natural fabrics in her designs, such as velvet, silk, linen and boiled wool. She doesn’t use any polyesters or plastic-based materials.
“I want the garment to breathe, and I mean that’s always been a need for me too. I want my skin to breathe and feel comfortable. I think ideally, you just don’t ever think about your clothes while you’re wearing them. You’re just existing in the world doing your thing and you know [you] look chic and put together while you’re doing it,” she explained.
Her current collection consists of silk velvet dresses and simple separates in neutral tones, something she finds a reflection of her own personal style.
“I’ve just been thinking about clean lines, sunlight, you know, fresh water and just keeping it very, I guess fresh and clean is the best way to put it,” she said.
Some of her most loved pieces in the collection include a cobalt blue silk dress and a hand-drawn plaid dress with pockets on the sides. (Pockets are some of her favorite details, she explained.)
“It’s hard to say which is my favorite, they all satisfy different things,” Liefhebber said.
Liefhebber also recently expanded into a home collection featuring hand dyed velvet pillows, linen napkins, tablecloths and duvet covers. She has plans to grow her company to include furniture pieces as well, and she is currently prototyping designs.
“As I’m doing my research I was just getting really excited about interior shots and I love textiles and working with textiles. And it’s just, it’s nice with the home pieces because they’re really essentially just squares and rectangles, and then you can do so much with them, and you don’t have to think about fit or skin tone,” she said.
Liefhebber is excited to expand into what she calls a “full lifestyle brand.” She expects that it will take several years to complete, but she wants her clients to experience the same ease of her own lifestyle, and she believes she can accomplish that through her new plans.
“I think at a certain point you start thinking about what you want, beyond just what’s on your body, what you want to surround yourself with,” Liefhebber explained.
Liefhebber’s company also features a philanthropic aspect. A portion of the sales from each of her designs go toward Charity: Water, an organization that works to fund non-profits that are trying to bring long-lasting clean drinking water to people around the world. Using a one-for-one model, the sale of one of Liefhebber’s designs brings one person clean water for life. She feels that her desire to give back was a natural progression for the company.
“When you put a lot of work into something and you don’t necessarily have huge financial gains from it, you start to think ‘what is the big reason why you’re doing something?’” she said.
Piermarini is excited to partner with Liefhebber and to develop one-on-one relationships with the designers in his boutique. Liefhebber’s charitable interests give customers further reasons to shop.
“People are really thoughtful when they come into boutiques, and so to have that story really kind of helps them understand and really appreciate those pieces,” Piermarini said.