In 2019, Rhude designer Rhuigi Villaseñor considered what makes people gravitate towards his ready-to-wear designs, which are often inspired by old-school Americana, from the paisley bandana to the Marlboro logo. He
wondered: “Sometimes I think it’s nostalgia, or maybe it’s yearning for something new?”
For his latest move, Villaseñor is partnering up with homegoods purveyor Instant Brands to put the Rhude spin on familiar products for a kitchenware capsule that’ll include, among other things, a logo’d Instant Pot pressure cooker, glass Pyrex dishes, and a real-deal, $600 Chicago Cutlery chef’s knife. All branding is rendered in Rhude’s signature shade of honeyish yellow—which, for Pyrex, marks the first time that the brand has ever produced a product in any color other than its iconic red. (Pyrex red might’ve worked for Supreme, but not for Rhude!) Villaseñor named the collection “LATE SUMMER” after his mother Teresita, who taught him how to cook.
There’s a lot of nostalgia in something as simple as a glass Pyrex measuring cup or a Corelle dinner plate, which is a feeling that Villaseñor’s long tapped into for his designs. Plus, doing an elevated take on a utilitarian thing feels like a very Rhude move. “I may not be from America, but I can really reinterpret what American luxury is,” Villaseñor told GQ earlier this year; his family emigrated to the States from the Philippines in 2001, when Villaseñor was 11.
“For the next person who recalls a special time when they gathered around an Instant Pot, or ate off of Corelle plates, stored their food away in Pyrex dishes, or sharpened their Chicago Cutlery Knives, they will remember these designs as part of those memories,” says the designer. The capsule launches on Monday, November 1, just in time for the holidays.