RIO got plenty of attention after transforming The Lighthouse in Brooklyn into a greenhouse for its SS27 presentation during NYFW. The show not only marked RIO’s return to the official calendar, but also brought back the kind of raw, punkish energy that has been much missed in the New York fashion scene.
Since 2015, Rio Uribe — formerly of Gypsy Sport — has stood out for his eclectic and genuinely diverse casting. This is not a brand doing it to check an inclusion quota; it’s part of its DNA, and it feels real.
That same spirit carries into the SS27 lookbook, which PAPER is exclusively revealing here. Tall, short, curvy and skinny models inhabit RIO’s botanical universe, but the casting never overwhelms the clothes. Instead, every character feels completely at home within the collection and its intentions. Because it doesn’t matter if you cast the perfect models if they don’t feel cohesive with the clothes — it can quickly become a hell of a mess.
That wasn’t the case for RIO. In the lookbook, the collection’s punk floral gang comes fully into focus, giving us a closer look at the strange, dreamy world Uribe created for SS27. Removed from the movement and chaos of the runway, the images allow every silhouette, texture and tiny detail to really register.
Flower-shaped and petal-like silhouettes, flowing dresses and billowing fabrics dominate the images. Lightweight, voluminous materials appear in contrasting colors, and one of my favorite elements is the color palette itself.
The latex pieces are mind-blowing. Made with textures that mimic amphibian skin, they cling to the body like a second skin — and, yes, we can only imagine the amount of lube required to make them look that good. The same otherworldly texture appears across some of the wigs, extending the fantasy from head to toe.
Floral skirts reign throughout the collection. The combination of green and pale pink, paired with wooden details, makes the looks feel chic and effortless. Every texture seems to recall a petal, a stem or some other element of Mother Nature. In some of the most striking images, branches and flowers appear to grow directly from the models’ veins, while special-effects applications transform nipples into blooming flowers.
Combined with the translucent chiffon used throughout the collection, these details push the ethereal fantasy even further — and photographed up close, they become impossible to miss.
My favorite pieces are the cyanotype-printed tanks and matching sets, covered in botanical imagery with RIO printed throughout. The metallic flowers, made from cans, add another unexpected layer to the collection, turning discarded materials into delicate botanical objects.
One of the collection’s standout faces is Mexican-American rapper and friend of PAPER Snow Tha Product, who made her runway debut in support of her fellow Mexican-American friend Rio. She wears a white shirt with flower-petal cutouts and an incredible wooden tie, complete with a jewelry piece spelling out RIO hanging from it. The devil is in the details, baby!
More than 10 years after winning the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, RIO is still showing what it means to keep pushing forward and believing in your own vision. Trends come and go, and a designer can certainly play with them, but a strong point of view remains. RIO’s DNA has never been difficult to recognize — and SS27 proves that it’s still very much alive.
Now, PAPER exclusively unveils the SS27 lookbook in full — a stunning, intimate view of RIO’s botanical punk fantasy, where every flower, texture and strange little detail gets its moment.
Photography by Brandon Speleta edits Pablo Gonzalez
