Celine Kreis and Suman Gurung are the designers and equal parts to brand Rue-L which was founded by the two classmates who had met at London college of Fashion. The women's-wear street and sportswear hybrid began with an initial concept of a tracksuit suited to the female form, fast forwarding to present day where Rue-L V.2 has been released with a new focus on contemporary, athletic silhouettes inspired by their urban and diverse surroundings. Rue-L celebrates all body types and it is with this body conscious style, the brand rejects fast fashion.
We speak to Celine on Rue-L, the importance of persistence and taking a pause to refine an idea for a better result.
Raenee, Alexis, Charlotte, Gabriella and Ellen all wear Rue-L for What-Else.
What is the Celine Kreis fashion origin story?
My mum is VERY … stylish and ‘presentation’ was always important for her. She always did her hair, make-up and put on ‘a look’ before leaving the house… even if it was just to drive us to school and back at 6am. For her, getting dressed made her feel good. To this day, what I wear can dictate my mood. If I am going through a bit of a tough time, I dress up. It makes me feel better. When it comes to designing I think about how I want the piece to make someone feel . When I wear different articles of clothing it brings about a different attitude and confidence to my day. This is what I love about clothing. When I design a piece I think about the whole outfit and how it can be worn. Where the lines meet, where will there be skin showing, what is the balance of something tight against something baggy…. These are all the things I consider.
My business partner is a maniac when it comes to making a garment and his influence is in the detail. Rue-L is definitely the perfect combination of the both of us.
What is your first memory of fashion?
Learning how to make pajama pants in home economics. Thinking back, home economics is a bit of a backwards subject to have at a girls school… teaching us how to cook and sew haha. Beginning a brand is a huge task- mentally, physically, financially, what were your main intentions and inspirations that kept you determined? There are two of us that make up Rue-L. Suman is the other half. His work ethic, focus and stamina is like nothing I have ever seen before. He keeps me going, and I keep him going in other ways. I am, by nature, extremely scattered and Suman is very grounded. He takes one step at a time, I take 100 steps in different directions. The most important thing is persistence . Even though I studied fashion I have learnt the most since graduating.
With all that we have learnt so far we would be crazy to stop now. We did take a pause though - for a year / year and a half and it was very helpful.
Our intention is to make pieces that you feel effortlessly sexy in ;) and we want those pieces to be easy to wear.
You started Rue-L, came back to Australia and returned to London with a new frame of mind for your business. Could you please speak about why you needed to pause, what you re-discovered and re-motivated you towards V.2 of Rue-L and what is the new Rue-L about?
On pausing Rue-L -
There are two reasons to why we paused Rue-L. We wanted to have a clear direction (which we felt we didn’t) and we wanted to navigate the business side. Trying to navigate a balance between designing and running a business isn’t spoken enough. If you have a brand you are running a business and if you are not making money, it is just an expensive hobby. I want to make clothes that I can see all my girlfriends wearing. Instead of making large collections and trying to work the wholesale model, we have a more refined product offering and make larger numbers. For me being able to gift people and having the wear the piece. and give me feedback is so important. I love that we can do this now.
On coming home and my reset -
I think there is something very underrated about having a parent/family near you. I really, really missed mine and going home for 3 months allowed me to have a reset. With a clear head space, you can make better decisions and I felt like I was stuck in a real rut.
What has been your biggest change of thought in the fashion industry during your COVID head space?
We decided to make Rue-L a direct to consumer brands the year before all the COVID madness so it didn’t change my headspace.. It just gave me more confidence in my decision.
What is your most practical piece of advice for designers wanting to develop a brand? What still excites you about London?
Who am I to give advice! I am still learning…
I love, love, love London. It is a HUGE city with so much to offer. I could live the rest of my life here. The areas are so different and diverse and you can have so many different experiences of London. Your own experience of the city is really unique. I love the freedom you have here and how multicultural it is. It is a melting pot of people. Of course, I love how close we are to Europe, I fly 2 hours and I am in a. different country. That is great. In Australia I can fly for 4 hours and I am still in…Australia ;)
What still excites you about Australia?
Australia is such a beautiful country and it has so much to offer. The lifestyle is great, I looooooove the laid back attitude of Australians. Australia also has really, really great brands. In London we have high street, or luxury and in Australia there are so many great contemporary brands. I love that Australia is its own entity.
