Sterling Ruby is Launching Ready-to-Wear

After years of privately exploring clothing as a medium of expression, the artist is finally making his creative concepts wearable through S.R. STUDIO. LA. CA.

If you've ever loved Sterling Ruby's work so much that you wanted to wear it, you're in luck. The American artist is making the dive into fashion via S.R. STUDIO. LA. CA., a menswear and womenswear line that will bring a new perspective to clothing when it launches this June.

Though fashion is not Ruby's first medium, his recent work shows this line to have been a long time coming. S.R. STUDIO. LA. CA. developed from ten years of experimentation, through which the artist was working on soft sculpture, quilts, backdrops, and garments. And perhaps most notably, he has often collaborated with Raf Simons, contributing his artistic touch to Dior as well as the designer's eponymous menswear line before helping to revamp the Calvin Klein flagship. With Simons' time at the iconic American brand over (and the ready-to-wear collections finished along with it), now seems to be the perfect moment for Ruby to strike out on his own and show his visions through a new brand. And from his concept for the collection, this endeavor looks set to offer some striking commentary.

“I’ve always been interested in the behavioral power that comes with clothing," Ruby said of what he wants to explore through the new line. "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.”

From the artist's collaborations with Simons, as well as exhibition-based garment works like those he created for “Work Wear: Garment and Textile Archive 2008-2016" at Sprüth Magers' London location, the world has a partial preview of his sartorial aesthetic. Though Ruby has promised to hone in more on his deepest creative interests, he has a strong background in bringing paint spatters and striking colors to casual pieces, so expect to see a clothing and accessories collection that's easy to throw on but makes a statement with its contemplative aesthetic. Whether that means a deeper dive into CK-esque Americana commentary or a whole new vision relating to his abstract social power concepts, the new line seems set to fit right in at a moment that's embraced avant-garde visions from designers like Virgil Abloh and Marine Serre. This summer, get ready for a line that's as intellectual as it is a visual feast.