Artist Sterling Ruby Will Be a Guest Designer at Pitti Uomo

Yesterday, California-based artist Sterling Ruby announced he is launching a ready-to-wear collection, S.R. STUDIO. LA. CA. “I’ve always been interested in the behavioural power that comes with clothing,” he said in a statement. “For years I have been privately exploring garments as a medium, as something that impacts the way one can think, feel, and move. I couldn’t be more excited to finally put my clothing out into the world.” Today, it was revealed that the collection would debut at Florence’s Pitti Uomo in June, with Ruby as this season’s guest designer, alongside Clare Waight Keller who will show Givenchy’s A/W19 menswear collection at the fair. The artist – whose work often features fabric elements, including quilts, soft sculture and bleach-splattered material – has a history in fashion, having worked alongside Raf Simons at Dior, Calvin Klein and the designer’s eponymous label, where they co-designed an A/W14 collection encompassing elements reminiscent of Ruby’s BC/Bleach Collage series, and has previously made clothes from offcuts from his studio.