In the two days I spent with the Brooklyn-based fashion designer Samantha Pleet, the term “Samantha Pleet World” came up repeatedly, but not in an imperious Valentino-like way, nor a wacky “Wayne’s World” way—although she did film a public access-style talk show during our time together. No, visiting Samantha Pleet World is more like being caught in a magical creative tornado. Less than four years after launching her eponymous womenwear label with a homemade look book, the petite designer has become an influential force in the New York creative world. On the fashion front, she has not only developed her collection but also co-founded the eco-fashion label Bodkin, launched the menswear line Patrick Pleet and collaborated with Urban Outfitters on Rapscallion by Samantha Pleet. In her spare time, she directs films, plants tomatoes and dreams up ways to organically expand her design empire. Even with all of this in the mix, the always engaging Samantha was kind enough to invite me into her brand new Williamsburg studio to talk about films, graveyards and the invaluable nature of aimless adventures.

Erin Dixon: So, let’s start with your fall collection. I went to your presentation at the Tribeca Grand, which was amazing, by the way. You tend to use films to introduce your collections rather than traditional runway shows. Why is that?

Samantha Pleet: I love doing films. I think that they’re a really good way of capturing the inspiration behind the collection, showing the world of the collection and making it come to life.

Erin: And you were originally interested in acting.

Samantha: I used to do acting when I was a child. I went to all the auditions and then I stopped and went more into visual arts. Then I started painting at Pratt and decided that I really wanted to do fashion because it really embodies everything: music, acting…in fashion all those influences come together.

Erin: So given your background, would you ever act in your films?

Samantha: (Laughs) You know, all this time when I was a child, I thought that I wanted to be an actress, but really I wanted to be a director. But actually, this weekend I’m doing this Pleet TV show. I’m gathering a bunch of the characters that I usually use in my films and we’re just going to kind of play dress-up. We’re going to get all these props, costumes, and I’m going to actually premier some holiday pieces.

Erin: So that means you’ve already moved on to holiday?

Samantha: Yeah, I have a few pieces that are going to be ready to show. I’m just doing a few that really did well in the collection and kind of making them in different fabrications, a little bit dressier for holiday parties.

Erin: Back to fall…there was a bit of a departure from your spring collection to your fall collection. Not in the general skill set, obviously, but fall felt a little bit less polished, less tailored and uptown.

Samantha: Exactly. I really wanted the fall clothes to feel comfortable. Right now, we really don’t know which direction the world is going, and we need clothes that can take us all day.

Erin: So your inspiration was the changing of the atmosphere…

Samantha: It was just a lot of different things going on, and the collection brought everything together. It had influences from a more bohemian atmosphere and Czech New Wave films, and just having fun.

Erin: What about Bodkin, the eco-conscious label you started with Eviana Hartman, and Rapscallion by Samantha Pleet for Urban Outfitters. Is it hard to do so many things, or does it help the creativity flow?

Samantha: Well, actually that’s the thing. I stopped doing Bodkin this season because I really wanted to focus on my line. Eviana was doing such a great job and she really wanted to take it to the next level and I wanted to focus on my collection and work on making that as eco-friendly as possible, too. I’m using lots of organic fabrics; I actually prefer organic fabrics. Working on Bodkin, I’ve learned so much. How could I ever go back? Organic cottons and wools are my favorite. I also love using recycled materials like bamboo. There are just so many innovations in fabrics.

Erin: Your website is amazing, which leads me to ask: How important do you think it is for a fashion designer to cultivate a public identity?

Samantha: It’s very important. I have a really great web designer, Philip Leff, who did my site. We’re really good friend and he knows me really well. The website is a way for people to get all the information they need and it’s fun. We want it to feel almost like a blog. We have so many different multimedia aspects of the line; we wanted it to be easy for people to see everything. Also, my husband [Patrick McGovern] is an architect, so that’s also a really big influence.

Erin: Speaking of…tell us about your men’s collection, Patrick Pleet.

Samantha: We’re having a lot of fun working on the men’s collection. It’s really small right now, but we hope to grow it. The thing with men is that you have to get them used to the clothes; they’re picky so it’s a challenge, but it’s fun. And I also wear all of his, Patrick’s, clothes all the time; I honestly think that most of the pieces are actually unisex.

Erin: Rompers are your signature look. Where did they come from?

Samantha: I’ve been wearing rompers for years. I love rompers. I used to wander around with my friends wearing rompers. We were the only ones wearing them. We just had so much fun “romping” around. I just think that they’re really easy; it’s a whole outfit in one. You just kind of put it on and you can do anything in them. It’s like wearing a little dress, but they’re shorts. It’s like a work suit.

Erin: This is not related to the romper question, although it’s going to seem like it. Did growing up in Philly affect your aesthetic or were you always quite worldly?

Samantha: Well, I love Philadelphia a lot. I lived really close to the city, so it was really easy for me to zip in. There was a great art scene going on while I was growing up, but I did travel as much as possible. I would come up to New York on the weekends because it was really close…I feel like I had the best style of my entire life when I was 16.

Erin: I know, me too. Don’t you wish you could get those clothes back?

Samantha: Yes! Growing up with ’90s fashion, I actually used to shop a lot at Urban Outfitters. I was crazy for the corduroy cargo pants.

Erin: You reference a lot of historical themes, but I don’t notice you referencing directly other designers. Is that correct?

Samantha: Well, of course I’m influenced by other designers, like Vivienne Westwood, Betsy Johnson and Claire McCardell. People like that have inspired me, but I don’t like to reference too much because I think fashion should be about making your own mark and making what’s not out there.

Erin: I notice you were first stocked at TG-170. I love that store.

Samantha: Yeah. When I first started, I would just go into my favorite stores and say, ‘Oh look, I made this’ and they’d go, “Oh, it’s so cute.” I made these little look books that were really bad, really funny. Then eventually—like with TG-170—I would be selling there. And then she [the owner of TG-170] asked me, “Do you need a job?” and I was like, ‘Yes, I need a job!’ So I worked there for a year, but I started this right out of school.

Erin: That’s right. What year were you was that?

Samantha: I graduated in 2005. I transferred and then immediately started the line.

Erin: You’ve mentioned in the past feeling like starting a line was an impossible challenge, but you just put one foot in front of the other.

Samantha: Yeah, I kind of took it as it came. All of a sudden it was, ‘Oh gosh, fashion week is coming up. I’ve got to scramble and do this. I have to do a press package and mail out look books. I have to make a look book!‘ It was always a constant, frantic getting it together when I first started. And I feel like it hasn’t ended, which is probably why it’s gone by so quickly. (Laughs) But that’s good because time goes by faster when you’re having fun.

Erin: What is your vision for the line? Would you ideally like to grow it or just evolve the pieces?

Samantha: I would love to make shoes and do collaborations and make it a lifestyle brand. I would love to have a firm with my husband and do architecture, fashion and interiors. I think that would be great. If we could just expand to that point and kind of make our mark on all of the fields and work with lots of amazing people and do lots of collaborations…

Erin: Do you have any particular artists that you love or that you would like to collaborate with?

Samantha: Oh yeah. We’ve been collaborating with a lot of artists. We have a lot of friends who are artists. We worked on the pop-up shop and we had a little art gallery where we used a lot of work of my friend William Latta, who is a great young artist. He does some really relevant work.

Erin: You did the pop-up shop in L.A. this past fall. Was that a good experience?

Samantha: Yes, that was in L.A. I basically moved out there for a month and stayed at The Standard, which was really glamorous as the whole economy was collapsing (laughs). We got to design the entire space ourselves, and they were really great at letting us have creative control. It basically looked like a fancy hall, a graveyard…there were boxes on podiums and glowing tables. It was really amazing. It kind of looked like a dream-like landscape in my head that became a reality.

Erin: What are your feelings about the pop-up concept in general?

Samantha: I think it’s an opportunity for people who normally wouldn’t be able to have a store to try it out. I learned a lot from it; it was hard. I really respect storeowners. It’s a really difficult thing finding all the merchandise and keeping it stocked. You sell out of all the really good stuff in the beginning; you have to think about everything. I would love to have a store. I would sell Army Surplus and my clothes and antiques. It would be really cool. I’d love for it to be a place that everyone could afford to go. There would be shoes for, like, $20 that are really cool and maybe a few that are more expensive—just having a really good range. That would be amazing.

Erin: What I find really interesting about your aesthetic is that there is a truly Gothic, but not Goth, twist to it. Has it always been that way or is that something that has developed?

Samantha: Well, I like to explore. I love mystery. When I travel, I’m always looking for mystery and I think that’s part of it: searching for something when you don’t really know what you are searching for. I think that’s when you learn the most.

P.S. Did we mention that the Dossier bricks-and-mortar store opened this weekend and that Samantha Pleet is stocked there?