It`s been more than two years since clothes designer J. Morgan Puett walked away from a $200,000 wholesale business in Chicago (where her outfits were selling at trend-setting boutiques like Blake and Toshiro) and moved to New York City to get a fresh prespective and a fresh start in the world of retailing. Back in town last Wednesday and Thursday for a trunk show at Nancy Lurie Gallery-Lurie is an old friend and loyal customer-Puett took a few moments to talk about herself and her line of handmade, hand-dyed, loose-fitting, ”rumply-wrinkly” clothes.
A male of our acquaintance describes the Puett-look as ”Sinead O`Connor clothes,” probably because the bagginess and earth tones of her dresses and pants endow the wearer with a soulful urchin quality. (Puett herself was described by Women`s Wear Daily as resembling a ”Depression-era waif”).
But the comfort of the materials-seasonless linen, thick cotton knit and a nubby silk-and the simple lines have won many fans. Carol Kane and Nora Dunn are steady customers. And ”Carly Simon just ordered a gob of stuff,” Puett says, her flatland Georgia drawl still very much in force.
As for her move East, Puett says it was a good decision even through it meant leaving the city where the onetime Art Institute student got her big break. ”I miss the friendliness of Chicago. New York can be a very vicious place. But I love all that New York has to offer.”
With business booming at her New York store and from catalog sales, Puett also takes her trunk show to Los Angeles and has her eye on Santa Fe. Her fashions, which range from $75 to $250, have been featured in publications ranging from Esquire to The Village Voice, and the 50-piece line is always growing: Puett recently added a more fitted women`s dress, a loosely tailored jacket and more clothes for men and children.
Puett`s biggest news is that by the end of this year she hopes to be in a new store in SoHo, offering custom fittings and consultations, as well as a wider range of clothing and accessories. She calls it her ”mail-order showcase” and promises it will be ”the opposite of every other SoHo store.” With a floor of real red Georgia clay (being brought up by some friends down South), it undoubtedly will be.
After that may come a launch into furniture and home accessories. ”I want to design everything,” the 33-year-old designer says, and it`s a bet to take this waif at her word.
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For a catalog of Puett`s clothing, call 212-529-2071.
