The Designers of Rag & Bone Talk the Possibility of a Chicago Store and The Importance of a Lunar Craft

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Photo: David Neville and Marcus Wainwright via The Toronto Star

Recently we sat down with market-tested, CFDA-approved designers, David Neville and Marcus Wainwright of Rag & Bone. Just curious about their lives and if the brand will ever open a store in Chicago, we start asking them questions about the company they've been growing since 2002.

Racked: In 2007 when the CFDA gave you an award for being an emerging talent in menswear how did that change the trajectory of your careers?

David: Its a huge validation, it's the top honor in our business but we've always kept plotting along. A lot of people don't really know what the CFDA is - the consumer doesn't- so it doesn't necessarily change the way we go about our business. But the sort of opposite, it's great to get that acclaim and a little bit of notoriety but a lot of hard work goes into a lot of other things.

Racked: The color for Fall 2013?

Marcus: Fall 13? I haven't really thought that far ahead...David: Ha! Black. Marcus: White.

Racked: One-word answer, what is your favorite food?

Marcus: Cavetelli and Romano cheese. David: Bresola.

Racked: What's your favorite part of interacting with the consumer and how does your customer respond to your style?

Marcus: We love events where we get to engage directly with the consumer so it's interesting to see. We find that they're responding a lot to color at the moment even if its super sharp tailoring if it's color they like it. We also have our own stores where we can create our own environment and customer experience - that is a big part of our brand.

Racked: Is there any chance in the near future that you'll be coming to Chicago to open a store?

David: I mean, we have to look at the possibility - it's one of the biggest cities in the states and our retail stores are working really well and we're doing very well in Nordstrom here.

Racked: If you could go on a dream vacation, where would you go?

Marcus: Bora Bora or the Maldives. Anywhere without children. David: I guess my dream Vacation would be on the beach in the Caribbean... but I wouldn't mind going to Butan in Nepal or something like that.

Racked: What about the moon? If you were going on vacation to the moon what would you wear?

Marcus: Other than a space suit? Jeans and a t-shirt. David: I'd make a Rag & Bone space suit and I'd accessorize it with Iridium tinted sunglasses. But really I think it's more about the lunar rover, it needs to have a heated steering wheel and a Ferrari badge in the front.

Racked: What was your favorite collaboration so far?

Marcus: We collaborated with Thom Yorke on our show music and that was a lot of fun, we did a good Timberland collaboration and we're working on a watch with Bamford at the moment.
· Rag & Bone [Official Site]