ABOUT

My mom once said,  “When you start caring about your clothes, you won’t be able to do anything. You’ll be too worried about messing them up.”

 

That wasn’t what I wanted to hear. I want to look great, AND do everything I want to do. I’m as stubbornly committed to that ideal now as I was then, every single day.

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Looking back, I think I see why she worried: Some style authorities preach that you only look “good” if you’re wearing some version of a pressed suit-dress and heels—a.k.a. clothing that functions best when holding still, and needs to be replaced as soon as it shows signs of wear. She hoped I wouldn’t make that sacrifice.

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Not caring about my clothes was never an option for me. But neither was holding still… and I couldn’t care less about fashion “rules.”

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Now I design and make clothing directly for each person who will wear it.

 

I started designing and sewing stuffed animals in elementary school. I used my great-grandmother’s vintage Singer sewing machine, and ran that thing until it gave up.

 

My first human-sized piece of clothing was a long black brocade gown that I made in college. I drafted my pattern on taped-together pages of the Village Voice, a free (but dimensionally small) newspaper. I had no idea what I was doing. 

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I have a degree in graphic design (School of Visual Arts, 2002) but prefer to step away from the computer and make things with my hands. I've also been a registered dental hygienist (University of North Carolina, a decade later). Along the way, I met my husband had a family (two daughters), and tried to work for other people, doing whatever I was hired to do… before arriving back at the same life philosophy I had when I was ten: 

 

Make useful things, make them beautifully, and enjoy the process. 

 

Raff Co. Clothing is an intentionally small-scale, sustainability-oriented business. I work with clients of all genders, sizes, and identities.