Rhude returns to Los Angeles for its fall 2023 collection

By

Chenu Alexis

Published
Feb 7, 2023

In January 2020, Rhuigi Villasenor entered the big league by penetrating the calendar of the Men's Paris Fashion Week. Three years later, and with a position as creative director at the Swiss fashion house Bally to boot, he is back in Los Angeles, the city that welcomed him almost 20 years ago. 

For his return to Los Angeles, the designer chose to take over the Hollywood Goya Studios and welcomed his guests on a stage recreating a gas station for a show entitled 'Rhude Awakening: Fuel My Fire'. 
 
A clear nod to his early days in Los Angeles in the early 2000s. Native of the Philippines and expatriate in the United States at the age of 11, without speaking English, he created in his family's garage his first clothes that he staged on social networks. The trigger came in 2012, when the rapper Kendrick Lamar ordered a T-shirt with bandana print that eventuates into some $150,000 dollars of orders.

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For his new collection, Villasenor launched a first series of silhouettes with a rock tone, black leather outfits with perfecto and "traxedo", his favorite pants, a mix of tuxedo and jogging pants. Then followed by leather jackets with a loose fit, very 80's and others jackets with the Marlboro graphics, and a series of streetwear looks combining leather jackets and vests with cargo pants.

The designer, who has been interested in the automotive world since the beginning, and who signed a first collaboration with McLaren in 2021, is partnering this season with the Italian car company Lamborghini, and has come up with some ready-made looks, including workwear vests and oversized scarves with Rhude and Lamborghini logos.
 
The varsity jacket, a key piece in his wardrobe, found the prettiest combinations, notably in association with lamé shorts, or in a denim and light blue version, and the second part of the show revealed the designer's relaxed, couture side in its declination of beige and sand colors. 
 
The program included camel leather jackets with retro accents, to be worn with jeans, long cashmere coats, others in shearling paired with Formula 1 racing car pants, long leather jackets with python effects, cashmere suits with stripes, and long jacket and flowing shorts combinations combining beige and brown. 

With nearly 150 stockists around the world, and the best multi-brands stores on its roster - The Webster in Miami, Maxfield and Union in Los Angeles, Galeries Lafayette Champs-Elysées in Paris, Harvey Nichols in London or Doha, Juice in Hong Kong, Kith in New York - the brand continues to appeal. The project of a first store is even on the cards.