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Away from a maelstrom of rumours, Rhuigi Villaseñor was busy last Sunday doing what he does best — focusing on Rhude, the brand he founded in 2016 and has grown into an international business. Now, he’s looking to take it to the next level.
The talking points that make up that maelstrom? His departure from Swiss brand Bally after just over a year as creative director, announced in May by “mutual decision” and despite a reported 20 per cent surge in sales. And a surprise complaint filed on 12 June at the US District Court in the Central District of California by George Robertson, a disaffected minority shareholder in Rhude, who alleges Villaseñor “has been pilfering the Rhude Companies’ coffers to support [a] lavish lifestyle”.
CEO Nicolas Girotto and Bally’s new creative director Rhuigi Villaseñor discuss their plans to build a “colossal” business for the 171-year-old Swiss brand ahead of its return to the Milan runway.
Unsurprisingly, Villaseñor prefers to talk about his Paris Fashion Week Men s show on 21 June. On Bally, he says: “My contract was up. The business grew. That’s amazing. I acquired so much knowledge. Everything else is just noise.”
On the court action, he declines to comment, but his publicist shares a statement from his lawyer that reads: “Mr. Robertson’s assertions are completely unfounded and his legal claims have no merit at all. Mr. Villaseñor and RMV Group [Villaseñor’s personal limited liability company], will vigorously defend against this lawsuit and look forward to presenting their defences in court.”
Far from the rumour mill, in the big spaces of Impasse de Mont Louis in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, Villaseñor takes a break from fittings to speak about Rhude. “It’s a rebranding moment for the company,” he says. “We have already created a good stability within the business for the bottom line and key styles for the company. Now, it feels right to level up and bring out new ideas for the brand — things I have learned from past experiences. It’s important that I utilise that knowledge and help structure the business — and also in design.”
He admits the business grew too fast in its early days and he’s determined to put the growing pains behind him. Now, the focus is on balance, structure and steady growth, he insists.
Rhude’s sales have been driven by menswear, but Villaseñor wants to broaden the focus to accessories and womenswear. “The next step is making sure we are not thinking short-term, in terms of distribution, structure and focus on the categories. I really want to recalibrate and energise leather goods and footwear. There will be some introduction to the bags at the show.”
Womenswear is a significant opportunity, he insists. “I showed my capabilities and talent for Bally with women. I can fine tune it and implement the codes that I have built for Rhude, with women,” he says. “Also, we are now living in a world where the idea of menswear and womenswear doesn’t really make sense. It’s more flexibility; being able to have symbiosis. That’s going to be the main key driver for us, how we can build this growth that can live within womenswear as well.”
Sneakers are on his radar. “There’s a potential to grow it,” he says. Sunglasses are also in the mix for future development. “The goal is to create Rhude as a lifestyle brand, really exemplifying… the American dream. I want it to be in anything that I am passionate about, all within the parameters of my passion,” he says. “I want to build an example for kids [about] building [a brand] and investing in the future for us to be able to create houses that we look up to. We need to energise the kids to build these things.”
Villaseñor, who was born in the Philippines and grew up in California in a close-knit family, started out with a T-shirt and hoodie line in 2015. “I was the kid trying to sneak in,” he recalls of a somewhat stormy first year in business. “After a while, I started seeing the growth of it. I invested all my profits into creating a full collection, which I didn’t sell, which put me in the negative. I grew too fast. I tried to do a full collection of a bunch of different stuff and I didn’t realise that I had no points of sale, no production means. I see on and on that this is a real problem for young people… If anything, we need to give [them] infrastructure, real knowledge for brands to find their bottom lines — because that’s what will keep [them] afloat.”
Despite no formal training as a designer, he was a quick learner and founded Rhude only a year later. The name Rhude is a nod to his family (many members have first names starting with “rh”). “What is luxury? It’s heritage, stories, family. I didn’t have hundreds of years of craftsmanship but what I do have is a family heritage so I named it Rhude, with rh.” The label gained traction with music and NBA stars for its distinctive mashup aesthetic that blends sportswear influences with luxury style. The celebrity support has been consistent. As a F1 aficionado, he was thrilled to collaborate in 2021 on a Rhude/McLaren capsule collection, turbocharging the F1 fashion craze. There is also a mainstream collaboration — an athleisure line named Rhu — for Inditex-owned Zara (prices are €45.95 for a shirt, €59.90 for a logo sweatshirt; by comparison a Rhude shirt in the main line retails for $595).
Rhude’s bestsellers are resort wear pieces: shorts, printed shirts, footwear, knits. The brand counts around 200 points of sales including Ssense, Selfridges, Mr Porter, Saks and Nordstrom. A design studio in Los Angeles is made up of eight employees, while a wholesale team operates through partner 247 Showroom out of Milan. The designer prefers not to talk figures, but says: “We are on a good trajectory. We doubled the business both in 2021 and in 2022.”
Growth is currently driven by sales in the US and Asia. “We have a big K-pop community in Asia — BTS, Jennie from Blackpink. I just saw the numbers surge up and now I know why,” he says. Europe is an opportunity: “I really like Europe right now. I am really trying to understand the market even more. The key is to hire the right people,” he says.
As a young brand with a cult following, the challenge is to maintain the connection with the original Rhude community while factoring in growth. “How do we keep the community intact and continue to have this communication that we have been sort of blessed with?” he asks. The young talents in his design studio play a critical role, he says. “Young people — I truly believe in their voices, you gotta listen to the young kids.”
In this, he shares a similar philosophy to the late Virgil Abloh and also to Pharrell Williams, the new man at Louis Vuitton menswear. Of Williams’s appointment, Villaseñor says: “It’s good for the community, good for fashion, good for people.” He says Abloh inspired him with Rhude. “You’re looking at a byproduct of him — we were friends. You go on a trail when you’re hiking… Then you build your own path, but you’ve got to follow the trail, know your heroes.”
Villaseñor himself is only 31 — not so far ahead of the young kids in his design team. So, can he take Rhude to the next level? He smiles. “I am scrambling the eggs,” he says. “I’m just starting to get the ingredients correct.”
Key takeaway: Rhude is a relatively young brand blessed with the kind of cool factor that makes competitors green with envy. Villaseñor perceives his year at Bally as a precious learning experience that will better equip him for expanding his own brand. A lawsuit filed this month by a minority investor is an unwelcome distraction as he looks to expand the business beyond menswear to include more product categories with growth potential.
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