When Rachel Rose gets in the zone, it’s just her, an eyedropper, a couple of bottles of silk paint, and her blank canvas: a loose, unfussy white silk tee. Here’s how she made the show-stopping edition she created just for Of a Kind, from start to finish. Impressed? Scoop up one of Rachel’s pieces before they’re gone. “This is Tinfix—it’s a French silk paint. They take it very seriously. They won’t really disclose any information about how it’s made, but I think it’s an acid-based dye.” “I like how by using the inkblot technique the design takes on its own shape. I start with the coral color on the shoulders. It’s a combination of red and yellow.” “Then I do dots of red—it adds a little depth to the coral.” “I have to let the shirt dry before I use the blue paint. Otherwise it mixes with yellow in the coral and makes this green color that doesn’t really work well.” “Now I’m just doing more dotting with the blue. I’ll let the first layer dry a little bit then do another on top for a splotchy, more saturated effect. I saw a heart in one of the blots the other day.” “Then I let it dry and wrap it around the coil of my steamer for two hours so that the paint sets. I take it to the dry cleaner when it’s done, just to finish it—so it’s perfect for the person who buys it.”

Rachel signing our certificates of authenticity in the studio’s entryway. Just recently, Rachel Rose graduated: She went from being a designer who works from home to one with a genuine Red Hook, Brooklyn, workspace. There she transforms stark, white silk tees into attention-grabbing, color-drenched pieces alongside other up-and-coming creators. Here are the people who make up her new office posse. Rebecka Fröberg, a super-charming Sweden native who owns the space and creates teeny-tiny details on her necklaces and earrings using some fierce-looking tools. As she puts it, “Jewelry is so shiny when it’s done, but the process is not pretty. It’s dirty and grimy.”Teresa Kahres, a jeweler who is almost as into enamel as she is silver.Andy Lifschutz, who turns hunks of rock and metal into chunky rings and armor-like necklaces.Annika Jermyn, who makes some of the most amazing teddy bears you’ve every seen using crochet or repurposing button-downs. “I started using my husband’s old shirts that shrunk—or he might’ve grown,” she explains.Monica Ruzansky, a Mexico transplant and jewelry designer who is as new to the space as Rachel is. To see the edition that Rachel made out of her awesome workspace—a navy-and-coral silk shirt—click here.

The finished paint job, at center. It’s pretty amazing what you can do with a few bottles of vibrant silk paint and a container of rock salt. It’s one of designer Rachel Rose’s favorite techniques—although she currently relies heavily on paint brushes and eye-droppers for creating her stunning silk shirts. Here, she shares the how-tos of the technique—which would also happen make an appropriate grade-school chemistry lesson—just in case you have a couple of silk scarves that could use some DIY-ing. “First, I coat the fabric with dilutant. It spreads the paint around.” “Dark colors are better to use for the salt—light colors don’t get the same effect. This is a blue that I’ve mixed. It has some black and some red in it. “Then you place the rock salt. It takes a little while to work.” “You can see it’s already starting to pull the paint. It’s really cool!” “To finish it, I use this enormous steamer. It sets the paint permanently and also brightens it, brings it out, and saturates it.” You’re not going to want to miss out on the edition Rachel made for us: It’s even prettier that this project. Check it out.