Rixo: hand painted prints, made to be kept

Who Rixo are

Rixo began in 2015 in the living room of a university flat shared by two best friends, Henrietta Rix and Orlagh McCloskey, brought together by a shared love of vintage. The name is their two surnames run together.

The operating idea is future vintage: clothes designed to be kept and handed on rather than worn once. That matters commercially as well as philosophically, and we will come back to it.

The prints, which are the whole point

Rixo's prints are the thing nobody else has. Co-founder Orlagh still hand paints original designs alongside the print team. The first one, The Virtues of Rosemary, came out of a trip to the British Library.

This is the single most ownable fact about the brand and almost no UK stockist mentions it. When you buy a Rixo print you are buying a painting that somebody made by hand and then put on silk.

What we stock

Our Rixo range is dresses, first and foremost, with a small tail of skirts and tops. Recurring shapes in our stock are the Dahlia, Ambika, Miyah, the Tania in silk and the Bexley lurex midi.

One thing to know before you click: we carry UK 8 to 14. Rixo's own range goes to UK 26 and includes a petite line, so if you sit outside 8 to 14 we would rather tell you now than waste your time.

How Rixo fits, honestly

You will find people online saying Rixo runs small and people saying it runs large, and the reason is that both are right about different things. The useful answer is not brand wide, it is fabric led.

Bias cut silk dresses run small, particularly through the bust and hips. Size up. Wrap dresses are true to size with a forgiving waist. Cotton and viscose day dresses are true to size. Blouses are slightly fitted through the shoulders. Satin skirts are fitted at the waist.

For reference, Rixo also runs a petite line designed for women 5 foot 3 and under, which is properly re-cut rather than simply shortened, though we do not currently stock it.

Silk, and looking after it

Rixo publishes no universal silk care guidance and directs you to the label on the individual garment, which is the correct answer but not a helpful one. Most Rixo silk carries a dry clean instruction. Some owners hand wash in warm water and hang to air dry, and get away with it. Read your own label before you decide, and if you are buying from us in Belfast, ask and we will read it with you.

On sustainability, Rixo holds no certifications and we are not going to imply otherwise. What it does do is release one limited quantity drop at the start of each month as a stock control measure, and it runs Rixo Pre-Loved and Rixo True Vintage resale programmes.

Is a Rixo dress worth it?

The objection people actually have about Rixo is not price, it is single wear guilt: the worry that a £400 print dress comes out once for a wedding and then hangs there. Which is exactly why the future vintage idea is the right frame. These are prints people keep and lend out and eventually hand on. If you are buying for one specific event and nothing else, rental is a fair alternative and we would rather say so.

Our Rixo range is on the rails at Rio Brazil, Victoria Square, Belfast, and we ship across the UK and to the Republic of Ireland.