Model: Ifer Rourke
Photographer: Kit Rounthwaite
Wearing: R&M Leathers SS27
Dark new wave plays as we wait. The atmosphere feels straight out of VHS footage of Raf Simons' Black Palms show, with Alice by the Sisters of Mercy playing beneath dark red lighting. Each look is met with a whoop from the crowd. It's old-school, a little unhinged and genuinely exciting. Welcome to the world of R&M Leathers.
Back in late September, I found myself in in the Roundhouse Chapel, Lower Clapton, for Ruby Mariani's debut runway show for R&M Leathers.
Until then, you'd mostly seen the clothes (or, more accurately, the lack of them) in editorials and on pop stars' Instagrams. But seeing them brought to life was something else entirely. The church was dark, lit in red and filled with goths, club kids and familiar faces from post-party nights out. Everyone seemed to be there because they genuinely loved the brand. It felt like the place to be in London that night.
Afterwards, I headed to a pub around the corner to get some editing done, still buzzing from what I'd just seen. There was something about the show that felt like exactly what London should be: that edge, that energy, that particular kind of coolness. It made me feel genuinely proud to be from here.
Three months on, and after the whirlwind of fashion month in Milan and Paris, the parties and everything in between, R&M was still my favourite show. I caught up with Ruby to talk about the world she's building around the brand, the inspirations behind it, and what comes next.
R&M Leathers SS27
PERFECT: Hi Ruby! Let's start with Miss Leathers. Where did the idea for your debut runway show come from?
RUBY: It all came together around this idea of Miss Leathers: a pageant with a loose connection to the world of international leather competitions. I think the assumption is that R&M is a kink brand, which it is to an extent, but I feel like it also operates within the fashion world. We do a lot of stagewear, too. That cheeky play on a leather pageant was the starting point.
We were using the clothing and language of a pageant. The show was almost like a hall, with staging and drapes, and each character came out one by one. We also wanted to play with the idea of a peep show, which is where the drapes and the way the audience viewed everything came in.
PERFECT: Had you been thinking about the concept for a while, or did it come together specifically for the show?
RUBY: I had some ideas about characters I wanted to play with, but I wasn't quite sure how to bring them together into a bigger theme. That's where Miss Leathers came in.
They're all different sexual archetypes and icons. We've got showgirls, someone who's more like a dominatrix, and some more playful characters. There are also a few people we've been inspired by, like Cicciolina, Cher and Angelyne. Those kinds of figures are always in my orbit, with every collection and everything we make.
PERFECT: Cicciolina! I was going through her Instagram the other day. Why does she edit her pictures so much? I'm kind of obsessed with it, but it's also terrifying. Have you ever met her?
RUBY: I haven't, but that's the plan. I tried to meet her when I went to Rome recently, but she was away on holiday. She does a bit of fashion here and there, too. I love the music and everything around her.
[Points to the massive Cicciolina poster on the wall.] She's been in my studio for years, she's always gazing in.
PERFECT: Who else was on your moodboard for the collection?
RUBY: If you know a little bit about the brand, you'll know it's quite couture in the way we make things. It was nice to have this time working towards a show and just go a bit wider with the ideas. When we're thinking about a collection to sell online, there's a more commercial element. With this one, we just went as extreme as we could and pushed everything as far as possible.
One of the key pieces was inspired by a photograph of Nan Goldin, where she is dressed as a dominatrix. We did our own play on that. She's another really important touchstone for us.
R&M Leathers SS27
There was also a lot of showgirl-inspired work, particularly in the finishes. Allen Jones is always a reference for me. I went to the Showgirl Museum in Las Vegas last year, which was really inspiring because I found the construction of the costumes quite close to how we make things. They were talking us through everything, and you could see how it was all designed to hoist, shape and accentuate the body. That's quite close to how R&M operates, so there was a bit of a crossover.
PERFECT: I also loved the little tokens you incorporated into the show. Where did those come from?
RUBY: I've collected them over the years. Some were used in games, while others were actual tokens for clubs and peep shows. They became part of the inspiration for the show.
Loren [Tsang] designed our token, and Georgia [Kemball] made it. We originally wanted to give everyone one as a souvenir, but they cost about five pounds each, so it became quite an expensive idea!
PERFECT: It's such a nice detail, though. I love that you think about all these different elements, not just the clothes.
RUBY: I think those details help create the world. It's not just about the garments; it's about everything surrounding them.
PERFECT: Did you enjoy putting on the show? It felt like such a big moment for the brand.
RUBY: I loved it. It was such a well-planned, crazy production, and it was nice to be able to create an entire world. The soundtrack was a really big part of that, too. I worked on it with my boyfriend, and we included Angelyne and some of my favourite metal tracks.
PERFECT: Seeing the whole thing in real life was amazing, but so was seeing the people in the audience. I felt really proud to be from London and to be at that show. I remember thinking, this is what London should be. It had all these faces from post-party nights out, all these people who make up the city. It was so exciting.
RUBY: London is back.
PERFECT: Exactly. And it felt like a proper moment for the brand, too. You've done events before, but this was the first time it felt like a fully realised R&M world. The brand has also become quite visible in pop culture, with so many pop stars wearing your pieces. Does that change how you think about R&M?
RUBY: Not really. It's just where the world is now. Think about the biker jacket: it used to symbolise rock 'n' roll, punk and rebellion, but now those codes don't necessarily mean the same thing. I feel like R&M slots into pop culture in that way. The traditional codes of rock 'n' roll, punk and fetish don't carry the same specific meanings they once did. They can exist without necessarily belonging to a particular subculture.
PERFECT: Why do you think so many girls are drawn to the brand at the moment?
RUBY: I don't know if there's one answer. Maybe it's partly because sexuality is more present in pop culture, particularly with emerging pop stars. But I also think there's a level of playfulness to it.
When I talk to people about my work, they immediately think of leather as something harsh. But I think there's a lot of play in this world. We're trying to soften the material a bit through fun.
PERFECT: The graphics have become such an important part of that world, too. Loren's work is amazing.
RUBY: Loren is amazing. Originally, I was purely interested in making leather, and then we started introducing graphic elements. They've ended up having just as much life as the leather itself.
I think not everyone who wants to be part of the brand is necessarily going to wear leather. The graphics give people another way in. Punk, metal, noise and historical pornography are all really important to me, and I think people recognise those references. It's a nice way for them to connect with the brand while still feeling contemporary.
PERFECT: I know the story of how you got into leather has been told quite a few times, but I'm interested in where your wider fashion sensibility comes from. You can see it in the photographers you work with and the imagery surrounding the brand. Have you always been obsessed with fashion?
RUBY: I've been obsessed with fashion for a long time. I studied fashion, but I was also just generally obsessed with it. At one point, I had almost an encyclopaedic knowledge of collections and designers.
When I was at university, it felt like a golden era. You had John Galliano and all these incredible designers doing their thing. It was amazing to experience that period, and it's always stayed with me. I'm not quite as up to date with fashion now, but the interest is still there. It's just about getting obsessed with something and following it.
I also worked in an archive, which taught me a lot. You get to see how things were actually made, rather than just looking at the finished image.
PERFECT: Were there particular designers you were especially obsessed with?
RUBY: Azzedine Alaïa is probably my favourite, and, of course, Jean Paul Gaultier.
PERFECT: Both were brilliant at bringing fashion and fetish together. What do you think made their approaches so interesting?
RUBY: Gaultier definitely did that historically. I think Alaïa did it particularly elegantly. It wasn't simply about making something sexy; the technique and craftsmanship were seamless. The sensuality was there, but it was all so considered. That's what I find interesting.
I think my approach to fashion comes from being obsessed with archives, really. It's similar with music: you get interested in something and keep digging.
PERFECT: What is it about leather that keeps you so fascinated? Is it something you grew up around, or is it the material itself?
RUBY: I think it's actually the physical material itself. I love its sculptural quality and the way it behaves. I feel like I have an addiction to working with leather, to playing with it and seeing what I can make it do.
Some of the techniques we use here are things we've pretty much invented ourselves. There isn't a tutorial you can look up or a technical manual that tells you how to do it. It's a process of problem-solving: I want to make this thing, so how are we going to do it?
PERFECT: What are some of the techniques you've developed yourselves?
RUBY: For example, I don't think there's a standard technical way to make pleats in leather in the way we do, so we figured it out. We also cut some of the lace by hand. A lot of it comes down to experimenting with different layers, hand-painting the surface and figuring out how to get the material to behave in a particular way.
PERFECT: And what's the hardest part about working with it?
RUBY: Once you make a hole or sew it, it's done. You can't really change your mind afterwards.
PERFECT: Really? So there's very little room for error.
RUBY: Exactly. You can make alterations to a certain extent, but it's not like working with fabric. Leather doesn't have a grain in the same way, and you have to approach it differently. You can't just keep unpicking things and starting again.
Model: Ifer Rourke
Photographer: Kit Rounthwaite
Wearing: R&M Leathers SS27
PERFECT: Speaking of music, do you still play bass?
RUBY: I still play, absolutely, but I'm not in a band anymore. These days, I'm more interested in going to shows. I DJ occasionally, too, and I still collect records.
PERFECT: What are you listening to at the moment? Do you still go to many gigs?
RUBY: Mainly metal these days, I'd say. Sometimes punk, too, and I like noise music. It depends on what's happening and who's playing.
PERFECT: Are there particular clubs you still go to?
RUBY: It depends on the gig. I sometimes go to places like The Underworld in Camden.
PERFECT: I haven't been in years. I have some terrible memories of nights out there when I was eighteen.
RUBY: It's a dark place! Sometimes I think about going to a gig in Camden on a Friday night and wonder if I can really be bothered.
PERFECT: Looking back over the last eight years, what have been some of your happiest moments with the brand? The show must be up there.
RUBY: The show was definitely one of the best moments recently. Working with Richard Kern was also a dream for me. Just seeing how he works was amazing. The shoot was quite stripped back, and for someone who's obsessed with those eras, it was really special. We did something inspired by his New York Girls work, using a similar approach and technique. It was incredible to see that process up close.
PERFECT: Would you like to show again next September, or do you think you'll take your time with the next one?
RUBY: Maybe. I feel like you don't necessarily have to show every season. You can do it when you want to, and create something when you have something to say.
PERFECT: I agree. Some designers have a really good setup where they show off-schedule and build a world around each presentation, rather than feeling they have to follow the traditional fashion calendar. I could see that working really well for you.
RUBY: Yes, definitely. The next show would have to be another world we create. That was the fun of this one. It became quite extreme, and everything grew from the sash. That was one of the first things we thought of, and the rest developed from there.
We started working on the collection in June, which was quite early, but everything takes so long to make. If we'd had another month or two, we could have made another ten or fifteen looks.
Model: Ifer Rourke
Photographer: Kit Rounthwaite
Wearing: R&M Leathers SS27
PERFECT: Looking ahead, where would you like to see R&M in five years?
RUBY: I'd love to have a store, somewhere we could create a whole world around the brand.
PERFECT: Where would you put it?
RUBY: Soho, definitely. It should be a destination. You'd have a curated selection of books and music, maybe even art, alongside the clothes. Everything related to the world of R&M.
PERFECT: Are you conscious of keeping R&M a relatively small operation?
RUBY: Yes. I know it's niche, aesthetically speaking, and I'm comfortable with that. It's really nice when the work finds its way into fashion or pop music, but there's something about the brand that remains quite specific, and that doesn't bother me.
PERFECT: What's the biggest thing you've learned over the last few years?
RUBY: To be more open. I have quite a strict aesthetic and very particular tastes, so I've had to learn to open my mind to other things. That's been really positive for the work.
I think the brand has grown as a result. If you knew the work from the beginning, you can still see a line running through it to what we're doing now. It's all been quite natural, but we've expanded in terms of both technique and aesthetics.
PERFECT: And finally, is there a dream person you'd love to dress?
RUBY: There are a lot of great people working in the mainstream, but I'd probably think more historically. I'd love to dress Cicciolina. I don't think she's ever worn anything by us, and I'm not sure how much fashion she wears these days, but someone like her would be amazing.
