Clements Ribeiro

Last updated
Clements Ribeiro
TypePrivate company
Clements Ribeiro
Industry Fashion
Founded London, England (1993) [1]
FounderSuzanne Clements, Inacio Ribeiro
Headquarters
London
,
England
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Suzanne Clements, Inacio Ribeiro
Website www.clementsribeiro.com

Clements Ribeiro is a London-based fashion house established in the early 1990s by husband and wife partnership Suzanne Clements and Inacio Ribeiro. It is known for its feminine designs, bold prints and luxurious knitwear. [2] [3]

Contents

Named as one of fashion's 'Magnificent Seven' by Vogue in 1997 (alongside Tom Ford, Miuccia Prada, Valentino, Alexander McQueen, Yohji Yamamoto and Karl Lagerfeld), the label became popular among the Britpop scene. [4] [5] High-profile wearers of the brand have included Adele, Nicole Kidman, Kate Moss and Jarvis Cocker. [3] [6]

History

Brazilian-born Inacio Ribeiro and British-born Suzanne Clements met on their first day at Central Saint Martins, London where they had enrolled on the MA in fashion led by Wendy Dagworthy. [7] Graduating in 1991 with Firsts and marrying a year later, they established their eponymous brand in 1993. [1] [2] In a joint interview with The Independent in 2010, Ribeiro said: "The creation of Clements Ribeiro was a real accident. When we graduated, it was impossible to get a job in London. We went to Milan and hated it, so doing our own thing made sense". [1]

In 1994, they were part of a trip to Japan sponsored by the UK's Department of Trade and Industry; Marks & Spencer and Harvey Nichols sponsored their early London fashion shows and, by 1997, their range was sold in some 15 countries. [4] The label became a stalwart of London Fashion Week and won a New Generation Designers of the Year (NEWGEN) award in 1996. [2] [8] In the same year, the label was nominated for the British Designer of the Year award at the British Fashion Awards, losing out to Alexander McQueen. [4] In 2000, the label was beaten to the title by Hussein Chalayan, who expressed surprise that Clements Ribeiro hadn't won. [2]

Associations

In 2000, Clements and Ribeiro became joint creative directors for French fashion house Cacharel. [9] [10] The seven-year association received critical acclaim and saw Cacharel expand its distribution and collaborate with names such as Celia Birtwell, Peter Saville and Julie Verhoeven. [2] [11] They left Cacharel in summer 2007 and focused on relaunching Clements Ribeiro. [8]

Design influences

Clements Ribeiro is known for eclectic combinations, including bold multicoloured prints, historical references and lavish materials. [3] [11] In particular, the 'Punk Trousseau' collection of 1998 – an edgy reworking of traditional materials such as embroidery, tartan and handmade lace at the height of the Cool Britannia era in UK culture and fashion – garnered international attention and remains influential. [4] [12] The label is also credited with making cashmere popular with a younger audience and with creating one of the most imitated designs of the 1990s – the striped twinset. [13] Clements has characterised their style as "clumsy couture"; the V&A noted their tendency to: "use couture within a ready-to-wear context". [2] [13]

Since 2008, Clements Ribeiro has undertaken a series of projects focused around upcycling alongside its main collection. Projects have included dresses, skirts and shirts made of vintage scarves; 'collage' dresses that combine found fabrics and a collaboration with textile artist Karen Nicol to transform vintage cashmere knitwear with embroidery motifs. [14] [15] [16]

Maintaining its specialism in knitwear, Clements Ribeiro reintroduced a capsule collection of men's sweaters handmade in Scotland in 2013. [5] [17]

Collaborations

Clements and Ribeiro have been described as "masters of designer collaborations". [2] In addition to working with Cacharel, and shoe designers Manolo Blahnik, Jimmy Choo and Christian Louboutin, the duo created designs for Nokia in 2001. [11] [18] The label has also collaborated with a number of other brands, including high-street chains Dorothy Perkins and John Lewis. [2] [19]

Notably for a couture house, Clements Ribeiro began collaborating with plus-size high-street clothing retailer Evans in 2012, producing the Swan range. [20] Fans of its diffusion range for Evans included Adele, who wore one of the designs for a concert in Canada. [21]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dior</span> French fashion company

Christian Dior SE, commonly known as Dior, is a French multinational luxury fashion house controlled and chaired by French businessman Bernard Arnault, who also heads LVMH. Dior holds 42.36% shares and 59.01% of voting rights within LVMH.

Balenciaga SA is a French luxury fashion house founded in 1919 by the Spanish couturier Cristóbal Balenciaga in San Sebastian, Spain, and based in Paris, France. Balenciaga produces ready-to-wear footwear, handbags, and accessories, and licenses its name and branding to Coty for fragrances. The brand is currently owned by the French corporation Kering.

Celia Birtwell, CBE, is a British textile designer and fashion designer, known for her distinctive bold, romantic and feminine designs, which are influenced by Picasso and Matisse, and the classical world. She was well known for her prints which epitomised the 1960s/70s. After a period away from the limelight, she returned to fashion in the early 21st century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evans (retailer)</span> British womens clothing retailer

Evans is a women's clothing retailer located in the United Kingdom and around the world. It sells plus-size clothing, lingerie, wide-fitting shoes, swimwear and accessories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pringle of Scotland</span> Scottish clothing manufacturer

Pringle of Scotland Limited, trading as Pringle of Scotland, is a Scottish fashion brand specialising in cashmere knitwear and holds the royal warrant as manufacturers of knitted garments. It is one of the world's oldest continually operating fashion companies. The company has its flagship stores in London's Mount Street, Edinburgh's George Street, Shanghai, Beijing, and is sold by retailers in 20 countries.

Rodarte is an American brand of clothing and accessories founded and headquartered in Los Angeles, California, USA, by sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sportswear (fashion)</span> Fashion category of relaxed day clothes, originally separates

Sportswear is an American fashion term originally used to describe separates, but which since the 1930s has come to be applied to day and evening fashions of varying degrees of formality that demonstrate a specific relaxed approach to their design, while remaining appropriate for a wide range of social occasions. The term is not necessarily synonymous with activewear, clothing designed specifically for participants in sporting pursuits. Although sports clothing was available from European haute couture houses and "sporty" garments were increasingly worn as everyday or informal wear, the early American sportswear designers were associated with ready-to-wear manufacturers. While most fashions in America in the early 20th century were directly copied from, or influenced heavily by Paris, American sportswear became a home-grown exception to this rule, and could be described as the American Look. Sportswear was designed to be easy to look after, with accessible fastenings that enabled a modern emancipated woman to dress herself without a maid's assistance.

Malo is an Italian luxury brand of cashmere, started in Florence in 1972 by brothers Alfredo and Giacomo Canessa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robyn Lawley</span> Australian model

Robyn Lawley is an Australian model.

Lan Yu is a Chinese fashion designer based in Beijing, China. Lan Yu is one of China's new generation of designers and is regarded as one of Asia's most influential designers. Her design aspect is combining traditional Chinese Suzhou embroidery with haute couture. She uses her designs as tools to introduce oriental culture to the world.

Massimiliano Giornetti is an Italian fashion designer. He has been the creative director of the luxury goods company Salvatore Ferragamo from 2004 to 2016, and the creative director at the Hong Kong luxury fashion house Shanghai Tang since 2018.

Wendy Dagworthy OBE is an English former fashion designer and now design academic. During her career she has led fashion design teaching at both the Royal College of Art and Central Saint Martins, mentoring notable fashion designers including Stella McCartney and Hussein Chalayan. An influential designer in her own right in the 1970s and '80s with the Wendy Dagworthy label, and one of the founders of London Fashion Week, she was described by the Daily Telegraph as: "the high priestess of British fashion".

Holly Fulton is a Scottish designer who set up her eponymous fashion label in 2009. Known for bold graphic and 3D motifs, innovative use of textiles and distinctive accessories, she has been described as the "queen of prints". She is a regular at London Fashion Week and has also appeared at Hong Kong Fashion Week.

Julie Verhoeven is a British illustrator and designer who has collaborated with brands such as Louis Vuitton, Versace and Peter Jensen. While she is recognised primarily for her work in fashion, she has also contributed illustrations to books, magazines and album covers. Her work has been widely exhibited, including at London's Hayward Gallery. She is a design academic at both Central Saint Martins and the Royal College of Art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Creed</span> British fashion designer

Charles Southey Creed was a British fashion designer. Born into the longstanding tailoring house of Henry Creed & Company in Paris, he launched his eponymous label in London in 1946. The first elected member of the Incorporated Society of London Fashion Designers, he had success in both Britain and the United States.

Ulyana Viktorovna Sergeenko is a Kazakh and Russian fashion designer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bouchra Jarrar</span> French haute couture fashion designer

Bouchra Jarrar is a French haute couture fashion designer.

Filipino fashion designer Lesley Mobo has worked in Paris and London. He spent his early years in Philippines before moving to London to study Fashion. After gaining a University degree in Biology and a scholarship offer from a prestigious Medical school, he instead turned his hands into fashion design. Graduating from the prestigious Central St Martin's in 2002 with a First Class B.A. Honours Degree in Fashion, his final year collection titled "Maniac" was co-sponsored by Cerruti allowing him to use luxurious tailoring fabrics from Lanifico Fratelli Cerruti Italy. He also received the Colin Barnes Award for fashion illustration from Central St Martin's, a nomination in the Chartered Society of Designers Fashion Awards held in the British Natural History Museum, and participated in the ‘Fashion in Motion exhibition exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum from which his works were featured in the BBC News. In 2002 he was interviewed by John Galliano for the House of Christian Dior, and has also assisted for Clements Ribeiro and Cacharel. In 2002 he was scouted from college by Mohammed Al Fayed owner of Harrods Department store, he accepted a designer post and helped established a lifestyle brand in Harrods, London.

Maison Margiela, formerly Maison Martin Margiela, is a French luxury fashion house founded by Belgian designer Martin Margiela and Jenny Meirens in 1988 and headquartered in Paris. The house produces both haute couture-inspired artisanal collections and ready-to-wear collections, with the former influencing the designs of the latter. Product lines include womenswear, menswear, fine jewelry, footwear, accessories, leather goods, objects, fragrance, and home goods, among others. Known for deconstructive and avant-garde designs with unconventional materials, Maison Margiela has traditionally held live shows in unusual settings, for example empty metro stations and street corners. Models' faces are often obscured by fabric or long hair to direct attention to the clothes and design. Margiela resigned as creative designer in 2009 and John Galliano was appointed to the role in 2014.

Emmanuelle Khanh was a French fashion designer, stylist and model. She was particularly known for her distinctive outsize eyewear, and was considered one of the leading young designers of the 1960s New Wave movement in France.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Montgomery, Hugh (26 December 2010). "How We Met: Inacio Ribeiro & Suzanne Clements". The Independent. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Craven, Jo (11 May 2011). "Who's Who: Clements Ribeiro". Vogue. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 Walker, Ruth (23 June 2013). "Clements Ribeiro: Couture with a cutting edge". The Scotsman. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 staff interview (6 July 1997). "Clements Ribeiro's rise to fashion fame is as sudden as this spring's". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  5. 1 2 Jones, Nina (31 January 2012). "Clements Ribeiro reviving men's line for Fall". Women's Wear Daily. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  6. ↑ staff (12 February 2012). "Best Looks Adele". Elle. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  7. ↑ Treneman, Ann (14 March 1998). "Profile: Wendy Dagworthy – Mentor a la mode". The Independent. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  8. 1 2 Alexander, Hilary (20 June 2007). "...and a fashion divorce". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  9. ↑ Craik, Laura (26 May 2000). "Pretend you know all about... Cacharel". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  10. ↑ Case. "The Brand Council Case Studies: Cacharel". m.brandrepublic.com/article/172415/brand-council-case-studies-cacharel. Brand Republic, originally published in 2002 in Cool Brand Leaders. Archived from the original on 7 July 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  11. 1 2 3 staff. "Clements Ribeiro's fashion evolution". fashion people. Grazia Daily. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  12. ↑ Lowthorpe, Rebecca (2013). "What old school designers can teach kindergarten talent". ELLE UK. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
  13. 1 2 Fashion in Motion. "Fashion in Motion: Clements Ribeiro, July 2001". vam.ac.uk. Victoria & Albert Museum. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
  14. ↑ Bubble, Susie (2010). "Mania at Clements Ribeiro". Dazed Digital. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  15. ↑ Cope, Becky (2009). "Clements Ribeiro's Ethical Half and Half Project". Amelia's Magazine. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  16. ↑ Qureshi, Afsun (14 February 2012). "On the green carpet:fabrics made from sustainable sources are stepping into the spotlight". Financial Times. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  17. ↑ Chilvers, Simon (14 February 2012). "Men's fashion: smashing knits courtesy of Clements Ribeiro". The Guardian (blog). Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  18. ↑ Pavitt, Jane (9 July 2001). "A brief history of brands: Nokia". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  19. ↑ Groom, Avril (11 August 2012). "Clements Ribeiro's new range for John Lewis". Financial Times. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  20. ↑ Pithers, Ellie (26 March 2012). "First look at Clements Ribeiro for Evans". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
  21. ↑ Pithers, Ellie (26 March 2012). "First look at Clements Ribeiro for Evans". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.