Valerie Wencis
One might not expect a corn farmer to become a lead designer for the Jessica Simpson Collection, designer of Academy Award fashion, and founder of her own fashion line, but that’s been the career trajectory of Rachel Walters, who owns Rachel Walters Collection in Belmont Center.
Growing up on a farm and quilting with her grandmother, Walters developed a love for choosing fabrics and patterns. As one of six kids, with four older brothers, her clothes were often masculine hand-me-downs. Because she wanted feminine clothes, Walters got creative and made her own from fabric she would find around the house.
“I was doing the Maria Von Trapp thing of converting curtains into dresses,” she said. “That love grew into a full-blown obsession.”
On March 10, Raney Aronson-Rath was wearing a Rachel Walters original when she picked up her Academy Award for her work on the documentary “20 Days In Mariupol.”
Walters called working with Aronson-Rath an honor.
“It’s been my great honor and privilege to dress Raney Aronson-Rath in custom Rachel Walters Collection for her Oscar win. The documentary film she produced, “20 Days in Mariupol,” is such an important contribution to the history of our world,” Walters said.
Walters said she enjoyed every minute of working with Aronson-Rath on the gown.
“My job is easy when my client is so stunning but she has a delightful personality to boot,” Walters said. “Now that I’ve achieved this milestone, I look forward to dreaming up bigger goals. It’s an exciting time to be a local small business when we have so many impressive community members like Raney for whom I can create custom dresses.”
Career Trajectory
Walters attended Virginia Commonwealth University School of Arts, where she was offered the internship of a lifetime in Paris with the fashion house Lovemilla, working with the former creative director of Zadig & Voltaire. It was the start of her fashion career.
“The day after I graduated, I got on a plane and flew to New York City, and I started working the Monday after I graduated,” she said, having accepted a job with a New York designer and VCU alum.
To make ends meet on her minimum wage salary, she started a side hustle, Walters Alters, doing any alterations people needed. She worked her way from “dreaming up hundreds of blouses” at Dora Landa, to becoming the Lead Wovens Designer at Jessica Simpson Collection, responsible for all non-stretchy materials products, including tops, dresses, jumpsuits, blouses, and pants.
While many brands use “copycat” design, Walters said “the true spirit of a proper design process was present” at One Jeanswear Group, which owns the Jessica Simpson Collection. “The President of Design at One Jeanswear Group was quite impressive in that she really emphasized a true design process, meaning you have a theme for the season, you research inspiration, you sketch ideas, you finalize, you go through all the ideas, and you pick and select the top ideas, and you work on prototypes and produce them.”
Starting in Belmont
The designer lifestyle entails long hours, and Walters sought a way to be more available to her stepchildren. She founded Rachel Walters Collection in 2019, building up a clientele online through the pandemic before opening her first brick-and-mortar store in Belmont last April.
Walters designs every piece of clothing in her collection, ranging from $25 T-shirts to $1,000 gowns. You can find her bringing these designs to life at her sewing machine in the back of her store. She originally made every article by hand, but now, because of the growth of her business, about 70% are produced in a factory.
Custom Work
Walters will alter any of her pieces for free and she can design something from scratch for a customer.
For example, if the mother of a bride or groom wants a special dress for the wedding and “they have do’s and don’ts, but don’t know exactly what they want … I create a design with them, hand-in-hand through the entire process.”
This entails selecting the colors and fabric, doing a fit sample where the customer can try the piece, and making any adjustments before presenting the final garment. These custom designs start at $400 and go up to $2,000, possibly more.
Walters says customization is an important service she can provide.
“Women put so much pressure on ourselves that we have to fit into a certain size or proportion because the clothes are sized and proportioned like that. And the reality is, we’re all very, very different,” Walters said. “So I want to mold my clothing to you guys, not the other way around. You shouldn’t have to feel pressure to mold yourself to the sizes I offer.”
Walters says part of the fun of her job is breaking people out of their “fashion mold” and introducing them to pieces outside their comfort zone that become wardrobe staples.
“There are pieces I’ve kept for myself from my collection that I wear almost daily, like a uniform — there’s a denim dress in my shop that’s my uniform, essentially,” she said. “When other people tell me that that became their uniform, that’s the most special thing to me because, literally, something that I conceived of in my brain is now a staple that helps these women get through their life on the daily. That’s exciting to me.”
Furthering her goal of empowering women, Walters just launched Trove on Tremont in Boston’s South End, a collective with eight other female artisans whom she calls her “art fair besties,” offering goods like hand-painted ceramic plates, hand-stitched leather bags, and gourmet cookies.
Hours
Rachel Walters Collection, 48 Leonard St., Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
