Raquel Allegra

RAQUEL ALLEGRA, born in Berkeley, CA to artisan parents. Originally moved to Los Angeles to pursue her singing career.

While working her requisite day job on the sales floor at Barneys New York in Beverly Hills in 2002, her clients often asked about the vintage tees she re-designed and wore. These discerning clothing connoisseurs quickly formed a ravenous following and soon propelled her to leave Barneys and pursue designing one-of-a-kind pieces full-time.

Her nontraditional design career grew naturally from a curiosity and inventiveness that is echoed in her unusual fashion education, specifically, years of honing her eye by sorting through thousands of vintage garments and tailoring pieces for herself and each of her clients unique desires.

As demand for her tees grew and she needed a more steady supply, she discovered what would become the trademark of her bourgeoning line, cast-off prison tees from the LA county jail system which she individually hand dyed and deconstructed into full length webbed cocoon shapes. These individually hand dyed and deconstructed pieces became her signature and have been featured in nearly every major fashion publication, and worn by tastemakers including Kate Moss, Cate Blanchett, Carolyn Murphy, Cara Delevingne, Christy Turlington, and Lady Gaga.

In 2009, formed a partnership in order to expand her label into a full collection informed by her roots and further her designs to include richly textured pieces in silk, linen, cashmere, and French lace.

In 2012, invited to create exclusive Spring'13 capsule collection for Matches stores in the UK.

Since February 2013, invited to create short videos for Style.com Video Fashion Week.

In September 2014, invited to create a textile installation titled "To Live and Dye in LA" at Merci in the Marais district of Paris during Spring'15 Fashion Week. The installation included 80 hand-dyed and deconstructed tees suspended from the ceiling, cascading in height under the main atrium, and a 20 feet tall crocheted tapestry composed of over 1,200 yards of cotton gauze which Allegra spent months hand dyeing in her L.A. studio, and then crocheted using a crochet hook made in house.

The RAQUEL ALLEGRA label is found internationally in over 200 select boutiques, inclusive of Barneys New York, Liberty of London, Merci, and Harvey Nichols.