10 Years of Reinvention

RIO

Runway · Multi-Look Production · Fittings · Collection Styling · Backstage Execution · Fashion Week

PROJECT SCOPE

Across RIO’s 10-year anniversary runway productions for NYFW and LAFW, I styled approximately 70+ runway looks, including 38 looks for the New York presentation. My role extended from fittings and pre-production preparation through garment organization, look development, and on-model styling during the shows. Working within the pace of live runway production required quick decision-making, precise garment preparation, and constant coordination with the larger production team to ensure every model and look was runway and photography-ready on schedule.

For its 10-year anniversary, RIO, formerly Gypsy Sport, returned to the runway during NYFW and LAFW to celebrate a decade of challenging traditional ideas of who gets to be seen in fashion. The brand had long created space for people of color and marginalized communities while designing clothing that encouraged people to embody who they already were. The anniversary shows needed to honor that history while imagining what the next generation of the RIO/Gypsy Sport person could look like.

THE STORY

My approach began with the brand’s history and my own perspective as a Black woman working in fashion and living in Los Angeles. I imagined the modern person wearing Gypsy Sport ten years later and used individuality, authenticity, and self-expression as the foundation for each look. At the same time, the scale of the productions required the creative vision to function within a demanding runway environment. I worked through fittings, styling adjustments, garment preparation, and rapid model changes while maintaining a cohesive point of view across approximately 70+ looks between New York and Los Angeles.

CREATIVE APPROACH

The final runway presentations celebrated ten years of RIO/Gypsy Sport while carrying its original spirit forward: inclusive, representative, authentic, and unapologetically stylish. The shows and collection received coverage from Vogue, the Los Angeles Times, Forbes, The Cut, Hypebeast, and more, extending the story beyond the runway and reinforcing the cultural relevance the brand had built over the previous decade.

THE RESULT