The American Edit

Minneapolis retail and product development strategist Rita Mehta was a woman obsessed with finding American-made clothes that suited her aesthetic—and no, the Mall of America wasn’t quite cutting it. (“No one really shops there, in case you were wondering,” she says). It wasn’t easy: 50 years ago, she points out, 95 percent of clothes bought by Americans were made in the U.S. These days, it’s just 3 percent. She launched her blog, The American Edit, as a way to, she hopes, reverse the trend by curating and celebrating the best U.S.-made brands and telling the stories behind them, or as she describes it, “the Why and the How.” Her own style, she says, is simple, if not entirely Midwest-practical: “skinny jeans, usually ripped—totally illogical in the negative double digit temps we’ve had—a button down or a tee, and a statement sweater,” she says. “I tend to pretend it’s still fall and dress terribly inappropriately for the weather. My husband has to send me back in to change like I’m a little kid.”

What is your most creative time of day? Midnight. Or the middle of a workout. Neither is ideal. New York or L.A.? L.A.. I feel most like myself when I’m in L.A., even though I’ve never lived there. I did get married there, though. Does that count? Have you ever been arrested? No! Back in the day, I had a knack for leaving a party just in time. In your time away from work, what do you do? The good stuff. And laundry.