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Around nine years ago, I was given a hot tip by an independent fashion retailer about a new brand they had picked up, called Rixo, whose fan base was quickly growing. I checked it out: with its clashing printed dresses styled with thin metallic belts and silk scarves, it looked like something thrown together by a cool London girl who shops vintage. It was much more design-led and original than anything the high street at that time had to offer, with nicer fabrics, but still accessibly priced.
I got in touch with the co-founders, Henrietta Rix and Orlagh McCloskey, and they invited me to their shared flat in West London, which in those days was doubling up as their head office and stockroom. After coffee and a chat, I tried on a few dopamine dresses in their tiny bathroom (bumping into a famous TV presenter on the way out, who’d come to do the same). “The weirdest things happened in that flat,” recalls Rix when we catch up over Zoom. “One time, a princess from Saudi Arabia turned up in a Rolls-Royce, thinking it was our boutique — we invited her in.”
The brand has come a long way since, opening a smattering of stores in the UK, Ireland and the US; expanding into new categories, such as bridal; and launching resale. But it has kept that joyful feeling of trying on clothes at a friend’s house. That’s because Rix and McCloskey — and their shared love of discovering vintage fashion treasures — remain very much at its heart as sole owners.
This September, Rixo is returning to the official London Fashion Week schedule after a two-year hiatus, to mark a milestone moment: its 10-year anniversary. “The fact that it’s been 10 years makes it feel really special,” says Rix. “We can invite lots of people that have supported the brand, and give back to our community.” The celebrations will also herald a Rixo rebrand, including a full website overhaul, updated imagery, new fonts and logos, and redesigned packaging. This follows the opening of its latest store in London in August, bringing its total number worldwide to six — with ambitions for more. The company reached £23 million in annual sales in the year ended June 2025, up around 23 per cent on the previous year. The expectation is that turnover will surpass £30 million in fiscal 2026.
“We’ve moved into a grown-up phase,” says McCloskey.
Indeed, the two co-founders have grown up with the brand. They are now parents — having to navigate the juggle of looking after children with the demands of running a successful business. That juggle is evident: when we speak, Rix is preparing to fly to New York, returning on the red eye a day or two later in time to take one of her children to a birthday party.
The two friends met at university while studying fashion management, and dreamt up the idea for a vintage-inspired brand while working together on a project. They had no idea what it would become.
“In the early days, we were just trying to get through each week,” says Rix. “We said yes to everything, then we were like, shit, how do we actually do this? We didn’t really realise how big or successful the brand was becoming because we were blinkered, working 24-7 and weekends. We didn’t have a life outside of Rixo for the first three to four years.”
“We sometimes open my old tech packs on the shared drive, and we have such a laugh at how unprofessional they were,” adds McCloskey. “It’s been such a journey.”
They launched the brand in 2015, and secured some small, boutique stockists. A breakthrough followed soon after, in 2016, when the brand was picked up by Net-a-Porter. “It made us global overnight,” says Rix. “We’d been worried that it would affect orders on our own site, but it was the complete opposite: I remember opening up our website the next morning [after launching on Net] and seeing all these orders coming in from different countries. Then, other stockists were knocking on our door. It gave us a stamp of approval really early on.”
Another milestone was the opening of its flagship on King’s Road in London in 2023. Dubbed the House of Rixo, it includes a bridal boutique as well as the brand’s main line, rental and pre-loved options, plus a coffee kiosk and a cocktail bar.
But perhaps what the co-founders are most proud of, as they reflect on the past decade, is the fact that they retain full control over the brand — no mean feat, especially in the UK, where Brexit has battered indie fashion. “What we’re really passionate about is that Orlagh and I are still running the business. When investors come in, it changes the whole narrative of the brand. Rixo still feels personal to us,” says Rix.
That said, the pandemic forced a reset in Rixo’s strategy. “Pre-Covid, over 50 per cent of our business was wholesale, whereas now it’s around 25 per cent,” says Rix. “We’ve increased the number of stores we have, but it’s our online presence that has really grown over the last four years.”
Wholesale still plays a role, but the brand has redrawn the boundaries. “With wholesale, how you do it is the most important thing,” McCloskey explains. “There was a time, looking back, when we started following what our buyers wanted. It started getting so convoluted, and it was losing a bit of the essence of what made us Rixo. You have to stay true to what you are as a brand.”
That meant a structural change: the co-founders decided to split the design team into wholesale and direct-to-consumer (DTC). McCloskey has also refocused on designing evergreen pieces, rather than chasing trends. “We want the collection to include the perfect nautical blouse, the perfect velvet jacket, the perfect leopard print coat,” she says. “There’s a capsule that we want to build out, that you can wear from one season to the next — our staples.”
Rixo is now also building resale into its brand universe, responding to strong customer appetite for pre-loved fashion. “We know that there’s a lot of reselling of Rixo on sites like Vinted and Ebay,’” says Rix. “We are constantly contacted by people, whether it’s rental or resale sites, saying that Rixo is one of the top searched brands within the UK.” The company launched its own resale platform in July.
The move ties back to the brand’s redefined identity around discovery, the co-founders say. “We used to think that what we loved was vintage, but actually it’s the thrill of the find,” McCloskey explains. “That is what pre-loved should be. It shouldn’t feel like an add-on.”
Testing has confirmed the demand. “When we did our Selfridges pop-up last summer, we had a pre-loved rail and it flew off, we couldn’t keep the stuff on there,” says Rix. The model also offers a way to draw in new customers. “We’ve kept the prices as low as we can but it’s still a lot of money to some people, to buy a Rixo dress,” says McCloskey (most of the dresses retail for around £300; gowns go up to £585). “If you can get something [pre-loved] for £150, it’s a nice way to dip your toe into the brand.”
The fashion week shows are another way to broaden the brand’s reach.
Rixo first joined the London Fashion Week schedule in 2017. “The show was mental, it was absolutely packed. The press we got from it is still the best press we’ve ever had,” says Rix. However, they took a step back after the Autumn/Winter 2023 season. “It got to a stage where we were like, what are we getting from this? It is an expensive thing to do and the timing didn’t seem right — now, for the anniversary, it feels more special.”
As part of the SS26 showcase, Rixo has worked with London department store Liberty’s fabric division, to create a series of exclusive designs. Rixo has also partnered with British charity War Child to create limited-edition T-shirts. All profits will be donated to War Child, which works to protect, educate and advocate for children living through conflict. A Rixo-branded bus will be stationed outside the London presentation venue housing an exhibition charting the brand’s journey.
Once that bus departs, what’s next?
“We’re not massive outside of London. We’ll definitely expand our retail footprint,” says Rix. “We’re never going to be a brand that wants 200 stores in the UK; we’re going to cherry pick markets around the world — whether that’s Edinburgh or Paris or LA — and open stores.”
The US remains a priority, though the brand has been hit by the recent tariff maelstrom. “The New York store [which opened in April 2024] was doing really well — the growth was amazing — and so were our e-commerce sales,” says Rix. “But we need the e-comm sales to be profitable. That means we can’t [absorb] the tariffs, so we’re putting it onto the customers, which has seen conversion drop off a cliff.”
The co-founders still see a long-term upside, and can envisage a future where they invest in an American warehouse. “The US has so much potential. [But] we’ve got to be at the right stage of growth to enable us to take that risk,” says Rix; one of the downsides to eschewing external investment.
Category expansion is also on the cards. Rixo’s first full accessories range — from hand-carved jewellery to leather shoes and bags — will debut wholesale for SS26; the duo is also mulling outerwear, while homeware could follow at a later stage. “We’re both ambitious and we see so much potential for the brand,” Rix concludes. “I feel like we haven’t really even got going.”
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