Rhude | Fall Winter 2021/2022 | Fashion Show

Rhude | Fall Winter 2021/2022 | Fashion Show

Race car legend Bruce McLaren’s famous quote goes, “There is no finish line,” meaning, one can always improve, evolve, and iterate. It should come as no surprise that the idea would resonate with Rhude’s Rhuigi Villaseñor, a designer whose brand has been on a white-hot rise of late. Rather than continue to offer the luxurious loungewear he has become known for amongst the pandemic-proof jet set, Villaseñor pushed into new territories for fall 2021, including a partnership with the McLaren company. The news is that he is officially launching womenswear, but more subtly throughout both his men’s and women’s collections are ambitious reaches to make Rhude a brand synonymous with tailoring, draping, and posh accessories.

It’s a thrilling journey to watch from the sidelines. If some of Villaseñor’s taste feels old-school French—his mini Jacq bag in rich croc certainly evokes another famous bag with a woman’s name—he is among a new generation of designers, many of whom are coming from Los Angeles (see: Fear of God, Eli Russell Linnetz, The Elder Statesman), redefining what American luxury looks like.

Over a Zoom call from his L.A. studio, Villaseñor showed off some of his innovations. There were gorgeous double-faced cashmere car coats, cobalt bombers with back vents to emulate a car’s aerodynamics, a leather trucker jacket and sleek straight-leg pants, and what may be the perfect mint roll neck, cropped and boxy in shape. Long leather shorts and cascading plissé are featured in his women’s offering—for a first try, it reads decidedly girlier than his men’s gear, but certainly in the same universe of Cali cool. Croc boots, bags, and onyx-clasp totes round out the accessories offering with no detail overlooked; Rhude’s triangle motif is smartly woven into the collection as are small nods to his mother, his siblings, and his own tattoo, which reads, “Storms never last.” Apt. While other brands struggle to produce a single garment or find an inspiring idea, Villaseñor seemingly can’t stop.

The moment for his new American luxury is certainly right: Over in Europe the bastions of luxe and lusso are finding that, in a more casual age, everyone wants to dress like an American 20-something. Baseball caps, loose jeans, boxy bombers, and lug-soled boots abound in the men’s fall 2021 collections so far. Doesn’t it also seem right to buy these items from an American immigrant designer? Some of the best-dressed Americans certainly seem to think so. In the middle of a Zoom call, Villaseñor briefly went on mute as his phone rang: “Sorry,” he demurred, holding up his hands in Jay-Z’s diamond shape, “that was the big boss!” Here’s betting that Mr. and Mrs. Carter will be sporting Rhude soon.

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