About
Samantha strives to help people feel confident, strong and comfortable in their own skin. She believes they can all be beautiful warriors.
About the Label
Samantha R. Crossland began her fashion design career with her label “Blasphemina’s Closet”, one of the first Lolita clothing lines in the US, in 2000. After closing “Blasphemina’s Closet” in September of 2013, she started anew with her new eponymous label “Samantha Rei”. “Samantha Rei” embodies the sweetness, femininity and attention to detail that has come to be expected from the designer.
Samantha Rei draws her inspiration from such illustrators as Chris Riddell, Brom, Tony DiTerlizzi, Brett Helquist and Mihara Mitsukazu as well as stories like Alice in Wonderland and Snow White. Her hero Alexander McQueen along with designers Vivienne Westwood, Hirooka Naoto, John Galliano, and Anna Sui have all influenced her style.
In 1998, Samantha began attending the Perpich Center for Arts Education in Golden Valley, Minnesota, choosing to hone her skills as an illustrator and painter so she could pursue comic book art. After graduating in 1999, she spent some time at the College of Visual Arts (CoVA) in Saint Paul to major in illustration before continuing her education at the Minneapolis Community and Technical College for Apparel Technologies. She’s been featured in Huffington Post, Shojo Beat, the American Gothic and Lolita Bible, Gothic Beauty, Glamour UK and Vogue UK. Samantha was named one of 2014 City Pages “Artists of the Year” and 2016 Best of the Twin Cities “Best Fashion Show” and 2016 and 2017 Reader’s Choice “Best Local Fashion Designer.” In 2015 she authored and illustrated a how-to book on subculture fashion design called Steampunk and Cosplay Fashion Design and Illustration. Samantha was a contestant on season 16 of Lifetime’s Project Runway in 2017, the final season to appear on the station. She's delved into designing costumes for small theater productions like Queens, Hedwig and the Angry Inch and The Revolutionists as well as for proof of concept for the inside sci-fi film Gun Golum. Samantha has a YouTube series in which she reviews sci-fi and fantasy costumes.
