IN CONVERSATION WITH RUI ZHOU

interview MARIE-PAULINE CESARI

Adored by the public and celebrities alike, RUI has become in no time a it-brand that everyone in the fashion sphere desires. For the young label Spring/Summer 2025 collection “Lingering On”, founder Rui Zhou channeled the mysterious force OF liminal spaces. Those places stuck in an anonymous in-betweeness fascinate by their inherent familiarity despite their intrinsic emptiness. RUIbuilt is about letting go, free yourself in the liminal aspect of life, to fill it up of your energy. Numero Netherlands had the privilege to seat down with creative director Rui Zhou to discuss fashion identity, innovative concepts and inspiration.

Your journey in fashion began in 2019 when you founded RUI. Can you share what initially drew you to fashion design and how your career took off?
The brand first gained prominence after my graduation show in New York, and its profile significantly escalated when influential figures such as Dua Lipa, Cardi B, and Blackpink were spotted in our designs. The recognition reached new heights in 2021 when we were honored with the LVMH Prize in Paris. Since then, collaborations have flourished both domestically and internationally, garnering much love and support along the way. Our participation in Paris Fashion Week has indeed been a vital platform for global dialogue. Ever since our debut at the Palais de Tokyo in March 2022, we've made it a seasonal tradition, with our Spring/Summer 2025 collection set to unveil this September.
Beyond the runways, we've established sample loan services in Shanghai, Paris, and New York, supporting projects by celebrities, media outlets, and art collectives. We strive to connect our garments with intriguing, beautiful, and creative opportunities unfolding around the globe. The biannual fashion weeks, in essence, are akin to regular reunions with friends old and new, a cherished ritual that we look forward to with excitement and anticipation.

RUI is known for exploring dualities and the beauty in the broken or unfinished. What inspired this philosophical approach to your work, and how has it shaped the brand's identity?
RUIbuilt explores the duality of everything in a philosophical way.  Our works usually revolve around the theme of "in between", seeking for the relationship and spatial structure between skin and fabric, body and clothing, entity and boundary.

Who or what were some of your earliest inspirations, and how have they influenced the evolution of your style?
From my Parsons MA graduation collection "Cloth Up," inspired by the intimacy of family relations, to the newly launched lifestyle series, I've moved from a focus on the beauty of female friendship's power to a continuous exploration of seeking for the relationship and spatial structure between skin and fabric, body and clothing, entity and boundary.

How do you approach the balance between art and wearability in your designs? 
The collision and consideration between creativity and wearability is a challenge every designer faces. In response to this, we've not only integrated more everyday styles and outfit pairings into our recent main line collections but have also engaged in numerous collaborations with renowned brands like Adidas, and Victoria's Secret. These partnerships have resulted in a series of fashion-forward and distinctively styled creations that have unexpectedly flourished commercially. We hope that these efforts offer our brand supporters a wider array of choices, and as such, we embrace collaboration possibilities across various fields.

You often work with unconventional silhouettes, cut-outs, and delicate materials. What kind of stories or emotions do you hope your garments evoke in those who wear them?
I attempt to make clothing an intrinsic part of the individual, showing the body in a comfortable way, showing gritty, raw, real but gentle, embracing imperfections and encouraging each wearer to establish a unique and intimate relationship with clothing and find their own way of expression. Those sensitive and cramped emotional flows are Rui;  that affirmative and strong self-identity is also Rui.

The new Spring/Summer 2025 collection, 'Lingering on,' draws inspiration from liminal spaces. What was the inspiration behind this theme, and how did you translate these ethereal concepts into tangible designs? 
RUIbuilt 2025 Spring Summer endeavors to translate poetic essence in physical touch into tangible, delicate sensation, captures the interaction between garments and bodies immersed in the summer breeze, using soft fabrics and signature cut-out designs to further explore boundaries of the body. Light, flowing silhouettes become vessels for natural forces and extensions of bodily rhythms, and are sculpted into changing shapes by body movements. Cut-outs, skinny G-string straps, cracks and angles with a soft, random presence, all give out an indistinguishable flirtatious sensuality. Draping silk creates naturally rippling folds, in a way like the gentle breeze ruffling the surface of a pond, adding dynamic movements to classical static beauty. Pearls and buttons give more possibilities for varied styling; metal clasps, akin to the small yet sturdy nails in a porcelain repairman's hand, serve as tools for mending and connecting fractures, making up a soft armor, while suggesting another separation. 

This collection focused on the interplay of fragility and strength through fabric and form. Can you tell us about the creative process and the materials you chose to embody this concept?
This fabric was initially used in my graduate collection at Parsons. I employed an extremely stretchable knit fabric to interpret a state of vulnerability and sensitivity, reflecting the relationships and mutual influences between people. At the time, I sought to convey feelings about intimate relationships, about the human body and its imperfect marks. When I later launched my brand, it was only natural that I continued using this distinctive and recognizable material.