Rae Temily came up with the idea to start a luxury womenswear label 15 years ago. The communications-expert turned designer spent her entire career being the secret weapon for other people’s brands and businesses. “And I was honoured to have that role,” she tells TZR. While doing everything from working with Michelin-starred chefs and luxury hotel groups to celebrity crisis management, Temily carried a sketchbook and journal in her bag, imagining what could be if only she had the guts to do it. “I saw myself as the strategist and the facilitator, not the creative,” she explains.
The desire to design her namesake luxury line remained a daydream for as long as possible, until she could not keep it to herself any longer. Despite constantly being asked by those who know her best when she was going to start her own venture, Temily had to search within to truly take the leap. “I finally found the courage to answer the call and put my name on the door,” she says. And as fate would have it, her debut collection for her namesake fashion brand (launched exclusively on Moda Operandi), titled The Body Electric, sold out three times.
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Courtesy of TEMILY
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Courtesy of TEMILY
“I’m still pinching myself at how quickly it all moved,” says the designer. “I mean, we sold out of Summer Bones overnight, with one colorway, Goldenrod, selling out in just three hours.” The hot ticket style was the foundational concept for TEMILY’s The Body Electric collection, consisting of the brand’s signature satin maxi dress with black piping — which also comes in a mini dress and a two-piece mini skirt version.
Summer Bones actually came to mind a decade ago while Temily was living in Bali. But not necessarily the design itself…that came later on. It all started with a feeling. “You know when you’re salty and sated from a long day at the beach?” explains the entrepreneur. “Your skin feels a little prickly from a bit too much sun. You’re all limbs, sun-dusted flesh, salty, raw, and real. That’s it. That’s the feeling. Summer Bones.” Despite the idea being sparked organically during a perfect day by the sea, the design process for Summer Bones was anything but perfect. It took approximately six months to nail down the construction and multiple re-samplings to get the fit and flow right.
Each piece from Summer Bones is crafted with premium Italian Lycra lined in silk. Lycra is typically used for activewear pieces like leggings due to its elasticity and stretch. So when Temily set out to create a true luxury piece using the material, it felt like a risk in it of itself, which was quickly a relief when the collection had immediate success. Perhaps it was her background co-founding a contemporary resortwear brand, KALITA, back in 2016 that gave her the confidence to try. “It was an opportunity for me to test out my skills, capabilities, and instincts,” she says. But KALITA was never the brand she had her heart set on. Temily wanted to tell a different story by way of luxury ready-to-wear, so that’s exactly what she did. In addition to the highly successful Summer Bones collection, The Body Electric also consists of a whimsical parachute dress with a plunging deep V (which celebrities like Poppy Delevingne and Rachel Zoe are already fans of), as well as more relaxed column gowns and jumpsuits.
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Credit Ryan Kobane
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Credit Ryan Kobane
Fast forward to April 24, 2025 when TEMILY held an intimate launch party on Howard Street in New York City in collaboration with Moda Operandi to celebrate the exclusive partnership. Notable attendees like Nicky Hilton Rothschild, Tina Leung, Nicole Brydon Bloom, and Jennifer Fisher showed up wearing pieces from the collection while bartenders passed around glasses of Drink Juliet Sauvignon Blanc (co-founded by another friend of the label, Lauren De Niro Pipher). Temily believes that community building is one of the most important aspects of her personal life and that has now spilled over into her and Fashion Director, Olivia Buckingham’s shared vision for the brand. “We’ll never pay people to wear the clothes,” Temily expains. She wants women to actually want to wear the clothes rather than it being a transactional process.
The decision to launch exclusively with the online luxury retailer was yet another example of a shared vision and a little trust. This time, however, it was the buyers that would need to trust in Temily…and they did right away. “I actually didn’t even have a fully finished collection the first time we met,” shared Temily. But she immediately knew that Moda was the perfect place to launch because of its track record of support for emerging talent. “I’ll be eternally grateful to them for not just seeing the potential in TEMILY a year before it came to life, but for their willingness to take a risk and bring me into the Moda family,” says Temily.
As for the brand’s future plans? They just launched their own e-commerce website last month and are working on some secret upcoming collaborations that have been in the works for over a year. They also plan to host some IRL community-building events, as well as a ‘Friends of the House’ event slated during New York Fashion Week in September.
In the meantime, shop some of TZR’s favorite pieces from TEMILY’s debut collection (before they sell out, again) below.
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