Meet Lorraine Barker | Fashion and Costume Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lorraine Barker and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lorraine, how did you come up with the idea for your business?
RAINE did not just start out as a clothing brand I wanted to create, market, and sell because I wanted to be a designer for the sake of it. RAINE is a culmination of my own passions and background bundled into an edgy up-and-coming clothing brand.

I initially created RAINE as part of my capstone final for my undergraduate degree in Fashion at Arizona State University. I pulled together my life inspirations and put it into my first collection. My clothing brand started as a unisex clothing collection made of athletic textiles but with streetwear style, aimed towards musicians who needed more breathable but fashionable clothing to wear while performing onstage. I was really involved in the music industry while in college and it was my inspiration for starting it all.

From this first collection birthed a wide array of ideas, and RAINE grew further into a brand that creates clothing for the entirety of the entertainment industry with function in mind. Also using my experience and background in live theatre and modeling, I started marketing my garments to even more folks in entertainment. From musicians, to actors, to models, to crew, and anywhere in between, RAINE has the industry covered with edgy attire.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
So far in my journey as a creative, I am most proud of starting my clothing brand RAINE in college, growing it to be able to present my latest collection at Phoenix Fashion Week, and lastly I am proud of the costume design work I have also gotten and continue to do – I will be costume designing Million Dollar Quartet at Arizona Broadway Theatre this fall and I am beyond proud of myself to receive such an opportunity.

There are always challenges in anyone’s career path, but the only way to overcome them is to keep going. As a child I wanted to be a fashion designer when I grew up, and now I am grown up and a fashion designer. My advice to other creatives especially is to think of what little you wanted to be when they grew up, and do not give up on that dream.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Oh this is a wonderful question, as I love showing out of town friends my favorite spots!

If I had a friend come and visit, I would take them for a light breakfast and coffee at Dark Hall in uptown, then we’d mosey on over to the Phoenix Art Museum. We may hop up to Scottsdale Quarter and Kierland Commons for a daytime stroll and shopping as well. As for evening events, for dinner I would suggest EVO in Scottsdale, Harumi Sushi downtown, or find where the evening takes us in the Arcadia/Biltmore area. I would take them to a show at either Arizona Broadway Theatre or Phoenix Theatre, and then we may hop around to some of my favorite bars like Gracie’s or Valley Bar.

I would suggest to my friend that they stay at The Biltmore Resort or the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess. I would also take my friend to the Musical Instrument Museum, a nice hike on the Thunderbird Conservation Park trails, and even go on a jaunt down to Chandler to visit my favorite vegan spot, Nana’s Kitchen.

I have such a love for the Greater Phoenix area and love doing all sorts of things around town, but these are just highlights of my favorite activities I would share with others.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to give my shout out to the entire Phoenix creative community. Without the local music scene, art scene, fashion industry, and theatre community, I would not be who I am and where I am. I am thankful for my community overall for guiding my way.

Website: https://lorrainebarker.com

Instagram: @lorrainelouisebarker

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorrainebarker/

Facebook: RAINE

Other: https://raineclothingco.com

Image Credits
Aubrey Kocis, John Hasemeier, Karla Camacho, Rodrigo Photography, Thomas Gerloff