Raya Rossi loves the ocean and the desert. It is therefore no wonder that this soft-spoken and elegant stylist, designer and creative consultant cultivates a passion for warm, sandy textures. She spoke to MatieMedia about weaving textures into her designs.
Raya Rossi is a jack of all trades. Self-identifying as a “floaty and earthy, ethereal dreamer”, Rossi is a creative consultant by trade, stylist for Raulph Lauren’s POLO, and founder of Raya Rossi studios.
Rossi can be found between Cape Town, where she is based, and in the Namib Desert, where she feels most inspired. She is wearing what she describes as her daily uniform; sandy-toned, linen dresses that she designed from Raya Rossi studios and adorned with serpent-themed jewelry, from stacks of earrings to her wedding ring.
In 2011, Rossi joined the Wild West that was the era of print media transitioning towards digital. One thing became clear to her over the decade: In a creative world, there is space for everyone. “People from the outside don’t always know that and people within the creative industry forget that,” Rossi explains.
Raya Rossi wearing her Sahara dress in Salt. PHOTO: Supplied/Luke Kuisis; Graphics/ Kimberley SchoemanThe Visual Journal
While wrapping up her degree in fashion design at the Future Excellence Design Institute South Africa (FEDISA) in 2011, Rossi’s The Visual Journal earned her the credit of an ‘early adopter’ of the concept of the fashion blog. Today we know this as digital storytelling.
“When looking at what the fashion industry terms a ‘fashion blogger’, they are often referring to someone with a website dedicated to storytelling, outfit photos and speaking about the inspiration behind the outfits, or replicating runway looks with ready-to-wear or vintage garments,” Rossi recalls. This is what you would find on The Visual Journal.
“2011 was the golden age of the fashion blog,” says Rossi. “The blogging skills were literally to be able to take a decent photo and have the ability to write. A lot like what people do on Instagram now. We just didn’t have Instagram back then.”
The difference between the old days of blogging and current Instagram norms, according to Rossi, is that blogging is based on pure interest, and that interest for Rossi is fashion.
“At the beginning, blogging was never about followers. There weren’t any brands throwing money. It is a very pure form of creative expression, documenting and, for me, journaling,” says Rossi.
A year later, in 2012, the running of The Visual Journal ran parallel to Rossi’s entry into the creative industry. Fashion blogging was still considered relatively new and Instagram was slowly becoming adopted, Rossi explains.
Print versus digital
During the era of “print versus digital”, Rossi found that her hard skills of fashion design and garment making, paired with her digital mindset, meant that those who had already established themselves in a print-focused industry were apprehensive
“I walked into the media industry in 2012 and it was hard. I was working at a [then] online-only magazine called A Fashion Friend,” says Rossi. “People were judgmental because change was upon them and they were shocked by the change. You were either an early adopter and lived with the times, or you were scared of these new, foreign skill sets.”
Rossi’s time at A Fashion Friend in 2012 is chock-full of writing, researching, organising shoots, and reviewing shows from South Africa Fashion Week. During South Africa Fashion Week, most of the time is spent in a hotel room sifting through photos and writing reviews before she can even go out for a drink. While she put in all the hard work, she still experienced pushback from the older generation of creatives in the industry.
“I’m not trying to take your job! I am in this industry with a digital mindset because the environment is changing. You do not need to feel threatened by me, especially entering the industry at 21 years old,” Rossi recalls back to 2012.
Raya Ross Studio linen dresses at Kamers/Makers 2020. PHOTO: Edited/Kimberley Schoeman
Raya Rossi Studios
Raya Rossi Studio launched in 2020 with a collection of romantic, linen ‘sack-dresses’ at Kamers/Makers 2020, the biggest retail pop-up in South Africa. Here, different types of brands set up shops in different rooms, or “kamers”.
“I am fussy and fastidious,” she says. In the run-up to Kamers/Makers 2020, she had a deadline of four weeks to produce sixty garments. It made her “roll into my brand really quickly because I really need to be pushed into something”, she says. “That push often comes from an external source, and it still feels right.”
Raya Rossi Studio Serpent linen cushions at The Strangers Club, Green Point. PHOTO: Kimberley Schoeman
According to Rossi, Kamers/Makers is the perfect in-person launch as the reaction from potential customers is more authentic than, for example, an Instagram or digital-first launch.
“Today it is so common to launch brands online. But coming from that, I know there is another side that is, ironically, moving away from digital because you easily become detached from it,” says Rossi. “This begs the question: ‘Can fashion exist if it’s not physical?’ ”
Desert Sand and Pasta Packets
Excited by the textures and colours of the deserts of the world, Rossi chooses a colour palette of neutral hues of white, beige, and black for the romantic sack-dresses of Raya Rossi Studious.
“Each dress is named after a different desert, including the Atacama, Sahara, and Thar deserts,” says Rossi. “Each colour is a different texture you would find in a desert. White garments are like salt, neutral garments reference heavy sand, and black garments reference Onyx.”
“My inspiration for colours literally comes from the Rummo pasta packaging. It’s a really sturdy, almost linen-like paper with the red details. The slightly off-white paper and red speaks to me,” says Rossi. PHOTO: Kimberley Schoeman
“My inspiration for colours literally comes from the Rummo pasta packaging. It’s a really sturdy, almost linen-like paper with the red details. The slightly off-white paper and red speaks to me because my name, ‘Rossi,’ means red in Italian, which is fitting since one side of my family is Italian,” explains Rossi.
A comfortable, long-lasting uniform
“I like drama in my dresses, whether it’s a big dress or an oversized sleeve. But at the end of the day the wearer has to feel comfortable. The garment suits the wearer’s body, and the dress has to last long,” explains Rossi.
Rossi draws inspiration from reading historical novels. She also specifically finds inspiration in the era of ancient Rome, when neutral tones of uniform-styled garments were made out of the best fabrics that Romans could afford. And since they were Romans, they could afford the best.
“Raya’s mid-tier Sahara dress reminds me of a toga that meets the modern, earthy staple. It really resonates with me culturally because my family is Greek,” says Alexandra Panas, an online content creator. “This aesthetic is considered a staple in Greece,” she added.
Rossi whose uniform is an oversized, linen dress, frolics in the desert. However, to the fashion-initiated a beige coloured sack dress made from the highest quality Belgian linen is the perfect uniform to sport in the desert.
“When I first showed my friends my dresses they were like, ‘Maybe some black?’ Black doesn’t shout. It’s sophisticated, and suits everybody,” according to Rossi.
Raya Rossi wearing her Atacama dress and serpent wedding ring, all inspired by her love of the desert and ancient history. PHOTO: Kimberley Schoeman
For Rossi, making garments in black was not even on her radar until her friends pushed for a dress in black. Again, there is that push that one often needs.
It is through the process of creating her own linen dresses that Rossi realises how important it is to give and receive honest and constructive feedback, a major factor of her other work as a creative consultant.
“Raya’s dresses are relatively more expensive for a South African-made garment, especially for an everyday basic piece. There needs to be a reason for why it’s more expensive, besides the fact that it’s locally produced, which should be a reason enough but we know that doesn’t always translate to everyone” explains Panas.
Much like being in the creative industry, Rossi finds that there is space for everyone to achieve a definite style that is an effortless way of dressing versus dressing up for an occasion.
“My dresses are in a really timeless shape. Certain garments are classic because they’ve stood the test of time long enough to be defined as classic. For example, the high-necked white T-shirt has been around since the American military introduced it in the 1940’s, but the T-shirt I’d choose won’t be the same as someone else’s because our bodies and perception of comfort differ,” says Rossi.
There’s space for every type of creative. With creativity, you will always have another good idea, that is what creativity is. It is the constant river of ideas that will always flow, Rossi explains.