Built by Wendy infuses classic, clean American style with contemporary flair. Each season, designer Wendy Mullin draws inspiration from pop culture and music, from her personal travels, from her Midwestern upbringing, and from classic and contemporary film, art, and literature. These influences reveal themselves subtly in each season's custom-designed prints and textiles or more explicitly in Built by Wendy's well-known graphic tees. Built by Wendy always manages to present a fresh take on traditional attire.

Wendy Mullin is one of New York's most established independent fashion designers and the driving force behind the Built by Wendy clothing line. A native of Chicago, Wendy founded her company in 1991 while studying at the University of Kansas. She moved to New York in 1992 to study at FIT. While working part time at two prominent downtown independent record stores (Rocks in Your Head and Adult Crash) she set up mini clothing boutiques within each store and began selling her clothing and guitar straps. She also worked as a costume designer, stylist for music videos by bands such as Sleater Kinney and Pavement, and freelance designer for Kim Gordon's X-Girl collection as well as Mike D's X-Large. In 1995 she began wholesaling her own Built by Wendy collection and was a founding designer in the Steven Alan showroom.

In 1998 Wendy opened her first flagship retail store on Centre Market Place in the Little Italy/Chinatown neighborhood of New York City. Her successful online shop launched soon after, and in 2005 she expanded with a second retail store in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. Shops in Los Angeles and San Franciso followed. The Built by Wendy line has been carried in boutiques and specialty stores throughout the country and around the world.

With a cult following of artists, musicians, comedians, actors, and fashion stylists, the intentionally low key brand profile has long been considered a hidden gem to fashion insiders.

Fans and friends of Built by Wendy include: Sofia Coppola, Zooey Deschanel, Jack Black, Parker Posey, Andy Samberg, Kirsten Dunst, Michelle Williams, Jonah Hill, Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler, Kristen Wiig, Amber Tamblyn, Rashida Jones, Josh Hartnett, James Franco, Zoe Cassavetes, Claire Danes, Jason Schwartzmann, and Chan Marshal from Catpower. Some notable friends have even modeled on her website – Amy Sedaris, David Cross, Robin Tunney, Kathleen Hannah and Will Oldham to name but a few.

OTHER PROJECTS

Wendy has collaborated with artists such as Doug Aitken, Marc Swanson, Will Oldham, Marcel Dzama, Kahlil Joseph, Melodie McDaniel; and has worked on various projects for organizations such as Blind Spot, UCB Theater, The Director's Bureau, Babycakes and 826NYC.

In 2003 she was hired as Creative Director for Wrangler47, a limited premium denim line for Wrangler Jeans. The collaboration was wildly successful and the line sold out nationwide. Between 2006 and 2011 Wendy ventured into publishing with the release of her popular "Sew U" series of sewing books (Bulfinch Press; Little, Brown and Co; and Random House). Her expertise was also tapped by Simplicity Pattern Company for whom she developed a line of commercial sewing patterns called "Built by You."

Wendy lives and works in New York.