Christy Rilling is a well-known tailor who rose to fame by altering and creating one-off pieces for a variety of celebrities and politicians. She also launched a debut collection of custom dresses. However, with none of her famous clients expecting to visit the red carpet soon for any type of event or award ceremony due to world health events, Rilling had to get creative and find a new way to keep her staff busy.
“Stay Home” Red Carpet Robes
Although loungewear isn’t her speciality, Rilling decided to create a collection of high-end robes made using the leftover fabrics from some of her famous jobs. Having comfortable loungewear for long periods spent indoors is always a great idea, and each of the pieces from this collection has a fabulous history. One of the robes uses marigold silk that was used to line Michelle Obama’s dress, which she wore to the 2016 State of the Union Address. Another one of the amazing robes is made of Sherman’s print that was used for the Undercover Spring 2018 collection and donated to Rilling by Sherman. 30% of Rilling’s profits will be donated to a food bank for New York City.
Keeping Busy and Creative
One of the main reasons behind this project was to allow Rilling to keep her staff of 15 employed and busy throughout this challenging period. Although the tailor says it’s difficult that they’re not able to work together in the same atelier, she trusts in the ability and skills of each of her team members, and the work still gets done beautifully. Using a borrowed car, she makes no-contact deliveries and pickups of finished robes and fabrics. She can still consult with her team using video chat to make sure everyone is keeping busy and having fun. This red carpet tailor and her team stayed creative and productive in less than ideal circumstances and the results are amazing. The robes are available for purchase on Rilling’s website!