Clements Ribeiro

Brazilian-born Inacio Ribeiro and British-born Suzanne Clements met on their first day at Central Saint Martins, London where they had enrolled on the MA in fashion led by Wendy Dagworthy.[7] Graduating in 1991 with Firsts and marrying a year later, they established their eponymous brand in 1993.[1][2] In a joint interview with The Independent in 2010, Ribeiro said: "The creation of Clements Ribeiro was a real accident. When we graduated, it was impossible to get a job in London. We went to Milan and hated it, so doing our own thing made sense".[1]

In 1994, they were part of a trip to Japan sponsored by the UK's Department of Trade and Industry; Marks & Spencer and Harvey Nichols sponsored their early London fashion shows and, by 1997, their range was sold in some 15 countries.[4] The label became a stalwart of London Fashion Week and won a New Generation Designers of the Year (NEWGEN) award in 1996.[2][8] In the same year, the label was nominated for the British Designer of the Year award at the British Fashion Awards, losing out to Alexander McQueen.[4] In 2000, the label was beaten to the title by Hussein Chalayan, who expressed surprise that Clements Ribeiro hadn't won.[2]

In 2000, Clements and Ribeiro became joint creative directors for French fashion house Cacharel.[9][10] The seven-year association received critical acclaim and saw Cacharel expand its distribution and collaborate with names such as Celia Birtwell, Peter Saville and Julie Verhoeven.[2][11] They left Cacharel in summer 2007 and focused on relaunching Clements Ribeiro.[8]

Clements Ribeiro is known for eclectic combinations, including bold multicoloured prints, historical references and lavish materials.[3][11] In particular, the 'Punk Trousseau' collection of 1998 – an edgy reworking of traditional materials such as embroidery, tartan and handmade lace at the height of the Cool Britannia era in UK culture and fashion – garnered international attention and remains influential.[4][12] The label is also credited with making cashmere popular with a younger audience and with creating one of the most imitated designs of the 1990s – the striped twinset.[13] Clements has characterised their style as "clumsy couture"; the V&A noted their tendency to: "use couture within a ready-to-wear context".[2][13]

Since 2008, Clements Ribeiro has undertaken a series of projects focused around upcycling alongside its main collection. Projects have included dresses, skirts and shirts made of vintage scarves; 'collage' dresses that combine found fabrics and a collaboration with textile artist Karen Nicol to transform vintage cashmere knitwear with embroidery motifs.[14][15][16]

Maintaining its specialism in knitwear, Clements Ribeiro reintroduced a capsule collection of men's sweaters handmade in Scotland in 2013.[5][17]

Clements and Ribeiro have been described as "masters of designer collaborations".[2] In addition to working with Cacharel, and shoe designers Manolo Blahnik, Jimmy Choo and Christian Louboutin, the duo created designs for Nokia in 2001.[11][18] The label has also collaborated with a number of other brands, including high-street chains Dorothy Perkins and John Lewis.[2][19]

Notably for a couture house, Clements Ribeiro began collaborating with plus-size high-street clothing retailer Evans in 2012, producing the Swan range.[20] Fans of its diffusion range for Evans included Adele, who wore one of the designs for a concert in Canada.[21]

• Official Website