It feels like every time you see a friend in a truly fabulous dress, it turns out to be one-off vintage—which means no matter how many racks you raid or bins you sift through,
you’ll never be able to find one just like it. Luckily, Henrietta Rix and Orlagh Mcclosky are hoping to solve that problem with Rixo, a fast rising London-based label. Their line of easy silk dresses, skirts, and blouses, ranging from $200 to $400, are printed or embroidered with their original designs. Each one recalls hard to find ’60s and ’70s style fashions—the vintage treasures you always dream about, sans the effort and price tag required to find them.
Rix and McClosky met at the London College of Fashion, where they studied fashion management and dreamed of starting their own brand one day. After graduating in 2014, they both took jobs as buyers at ASOS, but within a matter of months, they realized their passion was in the product. What’s more, the two had noticed a gap in the market for the classic, one-of-a-kind, yet still affordable pieces that they were always searching for. “Orlagh and I used to go out every weekend to vintage fairs, and we always found gorgeous pieces that we loved,“ Rix recalls. “When we wore them out, our friends would always say ‘oh I love that’ but they’d never actually go to a vintage fair.” Despite not having a long list of industry contacts or years of working experience, the duo took the plunge, quit their jobs, and launched Rixo a year later in September 2015. “Since then we’ve been working 24/7,” Rix says.
“Everything is quite vintage-inspired, but in shapes that can really fit into your lifestyle,” she adds. A bold Emilio Pucci meets Henri Matisse graphic print covers a backless mini dress, while the vibrant chinoiserie ‘Georgia’ skirt transitions easily from day to night. The silhouettes are fun and functional, but it’s the colors and eye-catching designs that are quickly turning Rixo into a street style favorite. “That’s what people are really coming to Rixo for—the prints,” she says.
Two years in, Rixo has found a steady following of British It girls, fashion bloggers, and magazine editors. After the first collection launched on Net-a-Porter in 2015, “it kind of just blew up from there and has been growing quickly since,” Rix says. Last month, the girls opened their first pop-up shop in London’s Covent Garden, where customers could see genuine vintage pieces hanging alongside the contemporary designs they inspired. The temporary storefront proved to be so popular that they are kicking off London Fashion Week today by opening a second pop-up, which will remain in place until December. Never ones to rest though, the girls are already plotting their next move. With plans to show Rixo’s Fall 2018 collection in New York come February, it looks like everyone’s next great vintage dress won’t be so hard to find after all.
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