For Riccardo Longo, luxury isn’t defined by a logo. It is found in the hands that make the garment, the imagination behind it and the individuality of the person who ultimately wears it.
On September 18, Longo brought that philosophy to Dartmouth House in Mayfair, presenting during a sold-out London Fashion Week showcase by Fashion Represents and Paris Runway Official. Editors and fashion media from across Europe attended, including representatives from Harper’s Bazaar, ELLE, Grazia and Glamour… the runway placed his distinctive approach to couture in front of an international audience.
Italian Craft, London Attitude
Designed in London and meticulously handcrafted in Italy, Longo’s work exists at the intersection of couture, art and contemporary culture.
His Italian heritage provides the foundation: craftsmanship, rich textiles and intricate hand-finished embellishment. London provides something different: the multiculturalism, experimentation and creative freedom to challenge what traditional luxury is supposed to look like.
The result is fashion that deliberately plays with contrast.
Masculine and feminine codes meet. Dramatic proportions disrupt familiar silhouettes. References to theatre, historical costume, visual art and contemporary culture are transformed into garments that feel highly individual rather than nostalgic.
Couture as Wearable Art
Longo isn’t particularly interested in designing around a seasonal trend.
Instead, he approaches each garment as its own narrative, carefully considering fabric, color, print, proportion and embellishment as elements of a larger story.
Operating between bespoke couture and emerging ready-to-wear, the brand favors limited production and creative collaboration over mass consumption. The clothes become less about fitting into a prescribed definition of elegance and more about giving the wearer the freedom to create their own.
That philosophy felt particularly at home in London.
In a city whose fashion identity has long been shaped by designers willing to experiment, Longo is developing a language that is simultaneously rooted in Italian tradition and influenced by London’s refusal to play entirely by the rules.
At Dartmouth House, Riccardo Longo wasn’t simply presenting Italian craftsmanship in London. He was showing what can happen when the traditions of one fashion capital collide with the creative freedom of another.
Credits:
Show: Fashion Represents @fashionrepresents.
Production & Founder: Fashion Represents @fashionrepresents.
Paris Runway Official
Writer/Journalist: Brit Olivia @onceuponatimebrit
PR: Paris Runway Official (PRO) @parisrunwayofficial
PRO Producer: Sangeetha Menon @sangeetha_menon_official
PRO PR Assistant: Gena Aspinall-Martin @
Goody Bags: @wrappingpond @yisebeauty @lovecorn_snacks @
PRO Photographers:
@yuliafun
Designers:
Riccardo Longo Bespoke @riccardolongo.bespoke
PRO Beauty Team:
Makeup team
@Glow_by_elenadragomir (Head of Hair & Makeup)
@Mariia.magdau
@Lorena.chencian
@Catalina_chifiriuc
@Anamariacarsote
@Andrada_valentina_
@Ivan.jucos.denisa
@Enciu.ralucaj
@Manuela_mandrut_mua
Hair team:
@Glow_by_elenadragomir (Head of Hair & Makeup)
@July.u
@Birtomdana
@unique_byanna.07
@andramishellemakeup
@Hairartist_octavia_maria
@Katksthrine.K2
