As American vacationers flock to Europe’s tony resorts amid the continent’s frequent summer heat waves, their desire to stay cool in a pair of, say, rubber flip-flops typically butts up against local etiquette and norms.
Some of the models in Rhuigi Villaseñor’s Rhude show on Tuesday wore the rubbery sandals that locals would never dare to sport for a night out or city stroll, even amid boiling temperatures, let alone against the backdrop of the “iconic” (the designer’s word of choice) Villa D’Este overlooking Lake Como.
In Rhude’s world, they are the insignia of youthful coolness and perhaps of Americans’ penchant for laid-back sportswear, which trickled down into the lineup, seen through the lens of Americana.
The Ivy League preppy tropes, the “good, old American jeans” — as Villaseñor described his baggy, slouchy iterations with purposefully distressed hems; the patch-bearing bomber corduroy jackets and logoed baseball cap; the ‘80s-reminiscent gingham tracksuits all had a thrift shop feel to them, syncing up with Villaseñor’s tribe of cool kids with great taste and penchant for mixing high and low.
“I think there is this sort of dream that is still alive. Kids are still dreaming of this, what used to be called the American dream, but just like luxury sort of thing, but it is in a punk sort of approach,” Villaseñor said during a preview.
One could easily see the young California skater boy in leopard print Bermuda shorts and oversize polo shirt, or the bragging party harder doing a grocery run in Oxford cotton briefs and bath robe made of bouclé.
The abundance of logoed merchandise — think jeans with Rhude spelled out in tiny crystals on the back or biker jackets with emblems and branding galore — was a commercial necessity disguised as an opportunity to reinstate the brand’s DNA for a new crowd aiming for the American dream the designer mentioned, including show guests Romeo Beckham and Evan Mock.
The collection was titled “Still Water Runs Deep” in nods to the location and the next steps Villasenor has envisioned for his business. Nine years in, showing off-schedule was a liberating and strategic move after a rocky 2023.
“I think, as the CEO of the company, the focus is to try to make sure that the next 10 [years] will look stronger, or the next five will be more resilient,” he said.
As he builds his footprint in Europe, the spring collection included a tie-in with the Como 1907 soccer team, surprisingly resulting in basketball kit emblazoned with the “Lago di Como” moniker.
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