Samantha Pleet showed her A/W Collection last Tuesday, Feb 16, as part of The Green Shows Collective. To a small studio venue in the Lower East side we tromped, despite the slowly melting slush, and were packed into the small space to view a short presentation of muted plaids, short-shorts, and exquisitely-cut body-hugging dresses.

Sorry for the quality of these photos; these are Elle.com’s photos [in need of heavy color-correction] since I could not find anything on any of the “official” image sources on the web for this particular show…goes to show you Samantha Pleet is still considered a bit “under the radar” by mainstream fashion.  Well, at least these photos are better than the cruddy ones I took on my Blackberry!

Um, yeah.  Much better.

I also interviewed Samantha Pleet herself.

She’s so cute I could just put her in my pocket.
Here’s the transcribed version:

Me: Do you want to talk a little bit about how you incorporate eco-friendly design into your pieces?
Samantha Pleet: I love helping the Earth and I do anything I can…my whole lifestyle revolves around eating organic food, sourcing local fabrics,  producing everything here in New York in the garment district.  I just want my company to be as ethical as possible.  It’s really important to me and my lifestyle.

Me: Why do you think it’s important, when you produce clothing, to do it in an ethical manner?
SP: I like to have my hand in everything, and I have a relationship with my factory, and I know that people are treated fairly there; they’re kind of my friends, so I think that having a company, it’s great to be aware of what you’re doing with it.  And I think every designer should be an ethical designer.  You don’t have to make things that look “eco,” really, to do that.  You can make any silhouette.  I mean, my collection is not typically looking “eco,” but I use organic wools from Vermont, organic cottons for everything, and I love the feel of it…recycled ultrasuede, this is really cool.


Me: So what kind of woman wears your clothes?
SP: I think a woman that is a creative woman; a Renaissance Woman.  People who are creative, are artists, who want to conquer the world in a fun way.

Me: Any advice on how to get that Samantha Pleet look to your outfit or your style?
SP: Watch a lot of movies, like a lot of fantasy films, and you’ll get the inspiration!  As you can see, I used the David Lynch music, which is kind of sexy and soulful and has this really special feeling to it, which is really dramatic and brought out a lot of the emotion in my collection. finis

Samthana Pleet also designs a menswear line with her husband Patrick, as well as Rapscallion, a line exclusive to Urban Outfitters.  The brand, found in 2006, received a 2009 Ecco Domani sustainability design award for the premiere collection of Bodkin.  Samantha Pleet is sold online at stores such as I Don’t Like Mondays, Bona Drag, and Revolve Clothing, as well as better boutiques nationwide, in Tokyo, and in Taipei.  (Can you believe the designer is only 27??)

What do you think of her pieces?  Would you wear any of them?
xoxox
Carly

photos source

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