Guide Book
r Label encourages a wardrobe reset with capsule collection.
One day, about a year ago, a woman dreamed of the perfect wardrobe. It was filled with effortless, flattering and affordable pieces she loved. No matter what she put on, she felt confident and beautiful.
The woman’s name is Maria Peevey. That dream is now reality. And shoppers everywhere can get in on it.
Her 16-piece collection, R Label, debuted at the beginning of May. It’s the private-label line of the Reset, the digital startup she founded 2 months ago that offers content, community and (now) commerce for women in various stages of resetting their lives — think new job, new baby, new breakup.
Thanks to the Reset, R Label enters the world with a built-in customer base of more than 20,000 Facebook followers. Clearly, that was one of the reasons that Peevey, a glass half-full type, felt confident about placing reorders even before launch day. In fact, on the first day several items sold out, and overall sales exceeded expectations.
“The idea for a clothing label was always part of my vision for the Reset, and my plan to create a brand to inspire
real women to be their best real selves,” says Peevey, an entrepreneur who lives in San Francisco. “R Label, available exclusively on the Reset’s website, is just one of many tools we offer to make women feel great.”
The collection itself is the result of Peevey’s desire to simplify her wardrobe and get off the never-ending “freeway of fashion.”
“I’m talking about the ridiculousness of fashion,” she says. “The left lane is filled with crazy trends (please, no more boxy tops!), the right lane is filled with expensive, unflattering styles, and we’re all out there just trying to navigate.”
Bottom line: R Label’s mission is to help make women and their closets friends again. “These 16 timeless pieces are the key pieces a woman could live in day to night ... just swap tennies for strappy sandals, throw on a fresh layer and done,” Peevey says.
The lineup of what she’s calling elevated basics includes draped washedsilk tanks, tunics and T-shirts, throwon-and-go dresses, flattering leggings, easy Saturday pants and chic layers a la silk blazers and slim dusters in fine Merino wool. A washed-silk trench and a vegan moto jacket — made of a Japa-
nese faux leather so buttery soft it could easily pass for lambskin — are standouts; both look luxe, flatter a range of body types and add instant polish to whatever they’re paired with.
Peevey, along with her right-hand gal Cat Wu (who launched her own eponymous line of leather motos last year), designed all the pieces, manufactured in China. Every garment is available in black, gray and/or cream; sizes range from XS to XL. Prices hover around $125, although nothing costs more than $185.
Sounds great. But what differentiates R Label from what’s out there already like, say, hometown faves Everlane and Cuyana? Peevey’s glad you asked: She acknowledges that each of these labels and others (Vince, Joie and J.Jill) have some great offerings but not one had everything she needed. A focus on fit, quality fabrics and details, details, details, she adds, are the line’s main distinguishers.
Before landing the final design for her signature leggings, for example, Peevey looked at more than 100 types of Japanese ponte fabric — “it had to be the blackest black, the right weight and density, smoothing not restricting and it couldn’t stretch out after a couple of wears.”
Also up for much scrutiny was the precise length of hems and side slits on the silk tops. The shirt needed to hit just so, so that “privacy lines” in front and back were, ahem, covered. (For wearing with said leggings, of course.) Plus, the slits had to be conducive to the perfect half-tuck.
Additionally, starting last summer when design development was in full swing, Peevey and her small team began regular fittings with a group of 100 local women of all sizes, shapes and ages. “Because fit is everything,
and every woman deserves to look good, and that shouldn’t be hard,” she says.
Now, about that dream. Did we mention that Peevey was experiencing her own reset at the time? After 16 years, she was no longer involved with SimplyShe, a company she created, eventually sold and continued to lead until she departed in early 2016. When Peevey waved goodbye, the onetime women’s lifestyle business was among the leaders in the pet fashion and lifestyle space.
Peevey has since found a new passion and, obviously, the perfect wardrobe.