ZARA and Rhuigi Villaseñor, the Filipino designer behind the streetwear brand RHUDE, have joined forces once again for their second collaboration.
Following their successful first collaboration, called Redesigning Human Uniform (RHU), ZARA and Rhuigi Villaseñor are teaming up to create an evolved and extended edition of the contemporary “RHU” uniform. The latest collection, titled “Cross Country,” consists of over 20 ready-to-wear pieces, five shoes, and six bags, and aims to blur the lines between streetwear, luxury, and sportswear.
This long-term alliance of several collections follows in the footsteps of ZARA‘s previous collaboration with the South Korean design collective Ader Error. The collection will be presented for the first time during New York Fashion Week at a pop-up shop located at 146 Greene Street, which will run from February 11 to 18, giving customers a chance to purchase the range before the global drop on February 20.
Villaseñor’s design aesthetic is applied to ZARA’s garments, which are shot in a campaign by Willy Vanderperre. The collection features leather jackets, denim jackets, jeans, tees, and accessories, with elements of workwear, moto, climbing gear, and Ivy League incorporated into the designs. “RHU” branded denim jacket and jeans set are among the key pieces of the collection. Bagginess is comfortable and freeing, but they move between oversized and cropped or maybe tighter on the body to play with mixed proportions. The mix of prints and play of color in the collection is futuristic.
“The premise and the goal of this project remains the same: to enable young people with a real-world budget to access my aesthetic codes and design,” says Villaseñor. “RHU is an exercise in fashion democracy in which every piece is conceived, prototyped, and produced with the values of dignity and accessibility front and center.” Villaseñor has also worked with ZARA to create a new body spray dubbed “RHU.“
ZARA’s strategy to create exclusive collaborations to elevate its brand positioning still seems to be a key factor in Marta Ortega’s decisions since her arrival at the helm of Inditex last spring. According to Ortega, collaborations with outside designers bring a unique point of view to the ZARA brand, which helps them to remain relevant in the fast-paced fashion industry.
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