Rhude Designer Rhuigi Villaseñor Adds Women’s to the Mix at His Second Paris Show

One of seven women’s looks at RhudePhoto: Courtesy of Rhude

Whenever a hip Los Angeles brand descends on Paris, the city’s center of gravity tilts slightly. Mainly because it seems like every cool club kid on the West Coast has traveled in its wake, which brings a particular kind of energy to the room. At Rhude, Parisian editors angled for a view and pecked at screens to come up to speed. Whether or not they actually knew Rhuigi Villaseñor, or that Miguel, Tyga, Mustard, and Bryson Tiller were in the front row, it was clear that something was up.

“This has actually been a dream since I was a kid,” the designer offered during a pre-show interview, saying that fashion, for him, has always been a lifeline, in a very literal sense. “Luckily, it worked.”

Indeed, it seems to be: From humble beginnings with a customized T-shirt, Rhude blossomed into a celebrity fave in less than five years. Yesterday the brand leveled up a notch or two for Paris, with sleek, more tailored looks such as suits in utilitarian fabric and some extremely sharp jackets mixed in with those street-savvy pieces its base loves.

Villaseñor also threw in a tight edit of seven women’s looks for good measure, a soft entry of sorts. “I’m using the foundation of menswear, but I want to give women a wardrobe that makes them feel strong—give them power rather than just dress them in men’s clothes,” he said. Some of those looks owed a debt (the long white dress comes to mind), but others—a Rhude varsity jacket, a khaki bomber with contrasting sleeves, a red parka with a pocket in the back (more practical in L.A., admittedly, than a crowded Paris metro)—looked as though they could glide right off the dirt-carpeted runway and onto the streets of SoPi. That’s no mean feat.

“This is who I am as a designer,” Villaseñor said. “Making clothes that are meaningful, honest, and that will be worn for a long time is what interests me.” Clearly, he’s not alone.