Temily on the joy of getting noticed by Gabriela Hearst, her place in an unsustainable industry, and what it means to have women want to wear her clothes
Designer Raechel “Rae” Temily tells me a funny story about how her eponymous womenswear brand came to be. “A year before I launched, I was wearing one of the very first prototypes of a [Temily] jumpsuit and ended up in the elevator with Gabriela Hearst,” she remembers. Her creation caught the designer’s eye and elicited praise – leaving Temily in disbelief.
“I just froze like such an idiot. I’m so star-struck, standing in an elevator with another woman who’s paying attention, and I automatically shrink myself, not feeling worthy.” The a-ha moment that followed motivated Temily to unveil her designs, now available exclusively on Moda Operandi, to the world. “I think, ‘Holy s***, this is the whole point, right? These clothes get attention,’” she says. And they do it without being outrageous or immodest. “Statement, not spectacle,” as the brand’s mission goes.
Make a statement is exactly what Temily did with her official launch events in New York and London this year, attended by dozens of influential women dressed in the brand’s elegant gowns and jumpsuits – similar to the one that caught Hearst’s attention. The Australian designer previously co-founded resortwear label Kalita with Kalita al Swaidi, but this was her first time starting something on her own.
