In the 10 years since launching, Rixo has been picked up by retailers like Net-a-Porter, worn by celebrities ranging from Kate Middleton to Olivia Rodrigo, and opened stores across London and in New York City. So it might be surprising to hear that the brand’s founders, Henrietta Rix and Orlagh McCloskey, didn’t really have a business plan when starting out.

The duo, who will celebrate the brand’s 10-year anniversary Friday with a presentation at London Fashion Week, met and bonded over their love of vintage clothing while studying at the London College of Fashion. After noticing a gap in the market for visually exciting, feminine-leaning contemporary clothing at an affordable price point, the two launched Rixo, which has since become known for its vintage-inspired occasion wear and distinctive painterly prints.

“Six months after we graduated, we were like, ‘Let’s just do it now. We got no boyfriends, no kids, no mortgages or any real responsibility.’ We were really young and naive, now looking back, but we were willing to put absolutely everything into it,” says Rix.

Setting the Brand Apart

Rix and McCloskey were up day and night to get the London-based label off the ground — the two were not only working, but also living, together for the first five years: “We’d be up till three in the morning, and it was fine because we were loving it; we didn’t miss going out and drinking or whatever else with our friends.”

Fashion insiders started taking note of the label almost immediately. Within a few years, Rixo was stocked by major retailers like Net-a-Porter and Shopbop, presenting new collections during Fashion Week, and going viral on Instagram for its colorful, boldly printed dresses. And yet, “we were just so busy working, I don’t think we realized that, actually, this is becoming something,” says Rix. “We were still based in the living room.”

Rather than have a strict set of business goals or parameters, or even an exact idea of “what the range was going to look like” in the beginning, according to McCloskey, Rixo was led by a few guiding principles: “Being non-trend led, that’s quite important to us,” she says. “[And] designing pieces that you’ll get a lot of wear out of.” Inspired by their love of thrifting, they also wanted to create dresses and separates that could conjure the same excitement as the “diamond in the rough” treasures they would find when shopping secondhand. “Finding things that feel a bit less on the trend side and a bit more unique, that’s what we love about vintage,” says McCloskey. 

At the time, the contemporary fashion landscape was marked by diffusion lines and casual separates brands. Rixo’s fashion-from-a-bygone-era aesthetic and personal feel (exemplified by its hand-painted prints, which are still a brand touchstone) got the brand noticed by retailers. But it was the price point that led to its success with customers.

“When we launched on Net-a-Porter, and you filtered by 100% silk dress, we were there at £300, and then next to us was like Jonathan Saunders or Proenza Schouler, whose dresses were like £3,000,” says Rix, who first noticed this market gap while working on the contemporary shop floor at Selfridge’s surrounded by brands like McQ by Alexander McQueen and See by Chloé (which have both since been shut down). “It was a no-brainer that people were like, ‘What’s this brand? I’m going to try it.'”

Staying Independent

Rixo continues to function independently with no investors; Rix and McCloskey say there are pros and cons to that. “You’ve got to pick and choose what you want to do,” explains McCloskey. “It’s also about being comfortable with everything not being perfect all the time, whether that’s not having the most amazing office or growing the team to a certain level. It’s just trying to make the most of what you’ve got.” On the flip side, the founders are not beholden to shareholders, who might dilute a brand’s point of view by feeding into market trends for a quick cash grab.

“We’re trying to design with a ‘why’ and a purpose,” says McCloskey. “When we’re doing a range plan for a collection, it’s not just adding in extra options for the sake of adding extra options — everything’s got a reason to exist.”

Being independent also allows them to remain close to the brand’s day-to-day operations, even as Rixo expands. “We’ve been through every single department ourselves,” says Rix, who was personally running the brand’s Instagram until a few years ago. “We’re not the experts at everything, but we’ve ‘been there, done that,’ even finance. Back in the day, I used to send all the invoices from a fake email. I’d be sending out chase emails [for payments]; like, ‘We need the money!’ We’ve got a bigger team now, but we’re heavily involved in everything. We know every single nook and cranny of the business.”

It also allowed them to foster an organic customer following, which started with fans posting photos of the brand’s dresses on Instagram, and grew into what they refer to as the “Humans of Rixo” community. “Because we didn’t have investors, we didn’t have that marketing part of money to go and have people be the face of the brand, so it was word of mouth that really got us out there,” says Rix.

Collaborations and Community

^{McCloskey and Rix with collaborators Laura Jackson in 2018 (Left) and Lucy Akin in 2024 (Right)}

When Rix and McCloskey hosted Rixo’s first London Fashion Week presentation in 2018, they wanted to honor that. In addition to having press, buyers, and stylists, they invited customers, fans and their suppliers. This mindset also led to the brand’s first collaboration, with TV presenter Laura Jackson in 2018. Rixo has since launched partnerships several other creatives and brands.

When selecting collaborators, McCloskey says that she would be “lying if I said there’s some huge strategic brainstorm behind it. A lot of it is seeing what resonates emotionally.”

After customers called for Rixo to expand its size range, which previously ended at a U.K. 16 (typically a U.S. 12), the founders “wanted to collaborate with people that could give us feedback about the fit and get really into the detail [of the construction],” says McCloskey. This resulted in collaborations with Abisola Omole (Abi Marvel) in 2023 and with journalist Billie Bhatia this summer, which have expanded Rixo’s sizing to a U.K. 26 (U.S. 22).

For her collection, Bhatia suggested shapes that went beyond Rixo’s signature bias-cut silhouette, making room for bigger bust sizes, and extending hemlines for minis to ensure the same coverage as the straight-size options

 “Rixo not only listened when I said they should consider extending their sizing, but also acted,” Bhatia shares. “Not in a glory-hunting way, but in a way that they saw value in me as a customer and someone just as worthy as the next person to feel good in a beautiful dress.”

On Rixo’s end, McCloskey says that the feedback helped them rethink their design process, with the collaboration having “the biggest impact in terms of how often the customers come back and shop, and their loyalty with us.”

Rix and McCloskey similarly consider customer feedback from their brick-and-mortar stores in London, New York City, and Kildare, Ireland — daily reports that Rix considers her “favorite emails” of the day — when working on future collections.

“Being in-person with that customer and seeing them interact with the product and what they buy, it’s really interesting. You learn so much,” Rix says. The stores also, according to McCloskey, “help tell the brand story,” with the furnishings as bright as the prints on the clothing, and spaces, like an outdoor patio and a bar, made for community gatherings: “It just can’t be all online, it’s got to have that physical feeling as well. It just brings a different emotion to a brand.”

What’s Next

As the brand presents its Spring 2026 collection this week (alongside a site rebrand), Rix and McCloskey are planning to reflect on the last decade. The new pieces will pay homage to the brand’s roots and bestsellers, but also look ahead, with the addition of accessories and shoes. There will also be a Rixo-branded bus stationed outside the venue with an exhibition showcasing the brand’s journey and designs, from its living room beginnings to its present day.

“We’re going to take a moment to celebrate the last 10 years because, sometimes when you’re in the day-to-day, you don’t do that,” says Rix.

As they approach the next years of Rixo, they will continue to focus on womenswear and grow the accessory and winterwear categories. But even if there are changes at the brand in the future, don’t expect a major departure from the distinct aesthetic the designers have honed over the last 10 years.

“Everyone always says, ‘You can really tell it’s a Rixo dress,'” McCloskey says. “If you’ve got an artist, and they’re doing the same type of artwork over their whole 20-year, 30-year career, you can tell that artwork is that artist’s artwork. I think that’s similar to the DNA for Rixo… It doesn’t ever really get too filtered down.” Looking forward, McCloskey hopes that, much like when she and Rix started, decisions are not “driven off a spreadsheet,” but rather guided by the “gut instinct” and “non-trend” approach that got them to where they are today.

“When brands try and follow a trend off the back of another brand, I think that’s when they kind of lose that magic,” she adds. “You can always spot the copy.” They would know: There have been a lot of Rixo copycats in the past 10 years — and likely more to come in the next 10.

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