INTERVIEW: INSIDE THE WORLD OF SPICE RACK – RACHAEL MCCRARY REDEFINES INTIMATE APPAREL
With over two decades shaping the intimate apparel landscape, Rachael McCrary has earned her reputation as one of the world’s most innovative lingerie designers and forward-thinking entrepreneurs. As the founder and CEO behind Spice Rack, McCrary has built a vertical lingerie brand that reimagines intimate apparel as a playful, empowering, and deeply personal experience—a “Cirque de Lingerie” universe that invites women to choose their own “spice level.” Fusing her technical mastery in lingerie construction with an emotional understanding of how women express identity through what they wear, she encourages women to embrace the full spectrum of sensuality, comfort, confidence, and mood.
Her path to Spice Rack spans an extraordinary constellation of roles: designer, founder, EMT, life coach, yoga teacher, and advisor to emerging brands. McCrary has designed for global powerhouses including Maidenform and Delta Galil, created the groundbreaking RxBra used by plastic surgeons across the U.S., and launched Jewel Toned—the first Millennial-focused shapewear brand, which became the first female-founded startup to raise $1 million in 2015. She has also won more than 100 pitch competitions and earned recognition as one of LA’s “100 Worthy Women,” celebrated for her blend of emotional intelligence, rigorous technical expertise, and visionary business acumen.
Spice Rack’s flagship boutique in Nosara, Costa Rica—a creative, spiritually vibrant enclave where women often reconnect with their inner selves—embodies the brand’s ethos: lingerie as a pathway to autonomy, expression, and playfulness. McCrary’s mission is to build a world where women are not constrained by archetypes but liberated by their multidimensionality.
In this exclusive interview for The Untitled Magazine, Indira Cesarine sits down with Rachael McCrary to explore her creative journey, the engineering behind lingerie that feels as good as it looks, her philosophy of empowerment, and how embracing one’s “spice level” can be an act of personal freedom.
Indira Cesarine: You’ve built a career at the intersection of lingerie design, innovation, and female empowerment. Can you take us back to the very beginning—where did you grow up, and what first pulled you toward intimate apparel as your creative language?
Rachael McCrary: I grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina, and honestly, the creative spark hit me early. I was the kid who was always deconstructing clothes just to understand how they were made… the one sewing after school, sketching silhouettes. Intimates became my language because they were the closest thing to architecture and emotion at the same time. They’re structural, technical, and yet deeply personal, and all the tiny details and precious fabrics and small pieces combined are delicate yet powerful.
Before launching Spice Rack, you studied fashion design at FIDM and specialized in lingerie and corsetry at FIT. What elements of that early training still shape the designer you are today?
I also majored in Fashion Design at FIDM where I learned patternmaking, sketching, and draping. At FIT we actually constructed and sewed bras. Sewing a wire casing is not for the weak. We learned how many components there are to a bra—usually 20–36—and all parts need to go together accurately for the perfect fit. It’s helped me in design and manufacturing to this day because I understand the construction really well. Fabric stretch and elastic recovery all need to be taken into consideration in the prototype fit process.
You’ve worn many hats over the years—designer, founder, EMT, life coach. How have these seemingly different paths woven together into the entrepreneurial mindset you bring to your work now?
Every chapter has sharpened a different part of my entrepreneurial mindset. Design taught me how to see patterns before other people see them and to anticipate needs, solve problems creatively, and build something from nothing. Founding companies taught me resilience, resourcefulness, and how to operate when there’s no safety net and no one coming to save you. Becoming an EMT taught me how to stay calm when everything around me is chaos. It gave me triage thinking—assess, prioritize, act. That skill is basically startup life distilled into one mindset. I triage the air traffic control of the company each day with fresh eyes and say to myself, “What’s the most important thing we can do to move the company forward today?” and that changes daily. And coaching came from wanting to help other people access their own potential through leadership. Each person is different and requires a different communication and delegation style. Guiding people through fear, reinvention, and big decisions naturally mirrored everything I was doing as a founder. Together these paths have made me a founder who thinks creatively, moves decisively, leads compassionately, and refuses to break under pressure.
Spice Rack positions lingerie as a “Cirque de Lingerie” experience, inviting women to choose their own “spice level.” What sparked the concept, and how did you envision redefining the way women connect with intimate apparel?
The idea for Spice Rack came from noticing something missing in the lingerie industry: women’s actual personalities. Brands were telling women who to be—sexy, sweet, innocent, edgy—as if we had to pick one identity and stay in that box forever. That never felt honest to me. Women are dimensional. So I built Spice Rack as a “Cirque de Lingerie”—an experience, not just a product line. The spice levels were my way of giving women permission to explore their full spectrum. Vanilla for cozy mornings, Picante when you’re feeling flirty, Tangerine Tango when you want to walk into a room like it’s your runway, Lemon Zest when you’re owning your power. At Spice Rack, the lingerie isn’t the performance—the woman is.
The brand celebrates personal empowerment and individuality. What cultural gaps or missing conversations did you feel compelled to address within the lingerie landscape?
The lingerie industry has been missing real conversations about who women actually are. For years it was either overly sexualized fantasy or plain basics, and nothing that reflected women’s full personalities or emotional lives. I wanted to fill three gaps: individuality, empowerment on your own terms, and the idea that lingerie can be both fun and functional. Spice Rack makes lingerie feel like self-expression instead of expectation.
The flagship boutique in Nosara, Costa Rica has become an experience as much as a storefront. Why choose Nosara, and how does the environment there influence the brand’s ethos?
Nosara called to me because it’s a place where people come to reconnect with themselves—and that mirrors exactly what Spice Rack is about. It’s creative, spiritual, a little wild, and beautifully circus-like in the best way. Women arrive there open, curious, and ready to explore who they are without their everyday distractions.
Spice Rack feels both playful and deeply intentional. How do you strike the balance between fantasy, sensuality, and real-world practicality in your designs?
The magic is designing pieces that look spicy but feel unbelievably comfortable. The fantasy is in the vibe—the colors, silhouettes, spice levels—but the practicality is in the engineering. I obsess over soft fabrics, perfect stretch, smooth waistbands, and fits that disappear on the body. I want women to have that “wow, I look amazing” moment without ever thinking about adjusting or discomfort.
You’ve designed for major global brands—from Maidenform to Delta Galil—as well as boutiques worldwide. What insights from those behind-the-scenes years prepared you for launching your own label?
Working at large corporate companies taught me planogram design and forecasting—how the rack all goes together—plus logistics and manufacturing, which are the backbone of a successful business.
Technical mastery is a hallmark of your work. How do you approach the unique engineering challenges of lingerie?
Lingerie engineering starts with understanding the body first and the mood second. Millimeters matter, so I treat it like architecture: every seam, curve, and bit of tension has a job. Support comes from smart patternmaking, quality materials, and hardware that works with the body instead of fighting it. Once that foundation is perfect, then I add personality: the spice level, the emotional intention. The engineering holds you; the artistic expression merges with the wearer’s self-expression.
You’re known for functional innovations like the RxBra and Jewel Toned shapewear. What inspires you most when creating lingerie for Spice Rack?
RxBra and Jewel Toned were foundation pieces with technical aspects but were more fashionable than what was available at the time. Spice Rack is the total opposite—it’s a fun explosion, and I love that there are no constraints. The party has definitely commenced!
What design signatures define the Spice Rack universe?
I’m obsessed with rose gold rings, slides, hooks and eyes, and hardware. It’s like jewelry you forget is there but adds a glamorous touch. Carnival Jewels is one of my favorites because it’s an everyday bra with gemstones—elevated, sophisticated, but comfortable enough for daily wear.
You’ve won more than 100 pitch competitions and secured investment from major venture firms. What do you think resonated most with investors?
Passion and grit together. Investors tell me I’m both a “feelings founder” and a technical founder—meaning I deeply believe in what I build but also understand operations, finance, and execution.
Fashion and tech often speak different languages. How do you bridge those worlds when building a brand that’s both creative and scalable?
E-commerce today is incredibly technical—it’s an ecosystem of APIs. Inventory systems, payment gateways, shipping platforms, AI tools, CRM, analytics—everything has to sync behind the scenes. My creative side drives storytelling and brand-building, but my technical side ensures the infrastructure can scale. I treat the backend the same way I treat lingerie engineering: every component must function and integrate. I’m bilingual; I speak fabric and fit, and I speak systems.
As someone who advises emerging founders, what do you think new designers most misunderstand about the business of fashion?
They think fashion is about sketching, but that’s maybe 10% of the job. The rest is operations—inventory planning, production timelines, margins, supply chain, fulfillment, returns, and understanding your numbers. Great design gets you noticed, but great operations keep you alive.
Spice Rack encourages women to embrace their multifaceted selves. How has your own evolution shaped those values?
I’m multi-faceted and no one can put me in a box. That used to make me feel weird; now it makes me feel authentic.
You’re also a certified RYT-500 yoga teacher. How does your yoga practice influence your design process, leadership, or the spirit of Spice Rack?
It’s been raining in LA for three days and I usually do yoga outside—it really impacts how I feel. I’m empathic, and yoga helps move the things out of our bodies that aren’t serving us. I studied on an ashram and with many great teachers. Spiritual discipline made me a better leader. Yoga teacher training requires the same discipline needed as a founder—spirituality contributes massively to who I am personally and professionally.
Finally, what is one “spice level” motto you live by?
Lingerie shouldn’t change you—it should feel like who you really are or who you want to be in the moment.
Interview by Indira Cesarine with designer Rachael McCrary of Spice Rack
Produced by: People’s Revolution x Spice World Ventures Inc
Photographer: David Roemer
Stylist: Jules Wood
Hair: Adrian Arredondo
Makeup: Lori Taylor Davis
