An Interview About His Budding Fashion Design Career and His Recent Appearance
On M&S: Dress The Nation
“I always get asked the question, how do you sew with one hand? And I always say,
the same way you do with two. You just have to do it. You just start and you find a way”
Ryan Rix, an up-and-coming independent fashion designer from Swansea, has
become a trailblazer for adaptable clothing and a one-to-watch in the fashion world. You
may know the name Ryan Rix from either his YouTube channel where he teaches people
how to sew, from his recent runway debut at Fashion Show Live or from his more recent
appearance on the ITV show M&S: Dress the Nation. Finding it “really difficult growing up,
buying clothes because of [his] disability”, Ryan became inspired to provide a bespoke
service which allowed people to not feel compromised by what they wear and to instead
focus on the power of how fashion can make them feel. Talking about his recent
involvement in the new ITV show and how he remains optimistic in fashion designing, I
discuss with Ryan about the future for his brand Ryan Rix and the next steps for his budding
career
With his passion initially starting off in photography, Ryan switched to a degree in
fashion design and construction. Speaking to Ryan, he told me how he “fell in love with
making and the entire process of fashion and what it represents”. Overcoming the
challenges faced by his disability, namely, being born without a forearm, Ryan has gained an
out-of-the-box outlook when it comes to fashion, as his mission is to design and create
clothing that is adaptable. Adaptability “can be anything from the functionality of the clothing”, Ryan tells me, “[for example] instead of using buttons, I use a lot of poppers, so
it’s just easier for people with limited abilities with their hands or their arms”. When it
comes to trousers, Ryan likes to “put invisible zips in the sides so then they can easily be
zippered on and off”, with the addition of Velcro – an idea which Ryan tells me came from
his grandad “because towards the end of his life, he had no legs and he’d always struggle
getting dressed”.
According to Cognitive Market Research in a report regarding the adaptable clothing
sector, ‘the adaptive clothing market has emerged as a dynamic and rapidly growing sector’,
with an estimation that ‘it will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 5.2% from 2024
to 2031’. Speaking to Ryan about whether he thought there was a gap in the fashion market
for accessible clothing, he replied without hesitation “definitely […] it’s something that
hasn’t been tapped into and it’s something that as a designer, I’m really passionate about
showing”.
With over 3.7k subscribers, Ryan uses his YouTube channel, @RyanRixSewing, as a
platform to teach viewers how to draft designs and how to sew; in addition to including
studio vlogs and full guided demonstrative videos for people to watch and to also inspire
them in the process. It goes without saying that Ryan’s recent appearance on the ITV show
M&S: Dress The Nation, hosted by Vernon Kay and Aj Odudu, was “one of the biggest
things” and “the most rewarding” experience in Ryan’s fashion design career so far. Calling
the show a “unique experience” and “probably the most positive experience [he’s] had in
the fashion industry”, Ryan uses his creative flair to create statement pieces and unique
fashion collections that are in keeping with his mission to promote adaptability, all with the
hope of winning a design job at Marks and Spencer. “Absolutely everyone, from the production to Marks and Spencer, were fantastic and I can’t wait for everyone to see the
show and the series because honestly, it is amazing”.
So, the next steps for Ryan Rix? “Next for my brand, I’m focusing on making pieces
[…] but also, I’m just building up myself and building my name [..] I’m just taking every day
as it comes”. He continues, “everything is very exciting and I’ve got a lot of good things
coming so I just hope people stick around to see that”.
As part of London Fashion Week, Ryan showcased a collection on the Fashion Show
Live runway. Speaking to him about this, Ryan told me that he doesn’t “always create
collections to sell on mass”, instead, “it’s all entirely bespoke to the client”. This rapport
with clients is an integral part to Ryan’s service as he tries to “make clothing that is
accessible to people with disabilities but doesn’t exclude the people that don’t have them
either”. With Fashion Show Live basing this year’s event around the theme of optimism,
before the show began, I asked Ryan how he maintains this trait himself. “Yeah, optimism”,
he says, “it’s a word that I’ve kind of had to use all my life. It’s something that I’ve always
had to have”. “You’ve got to be positive”, Ryan continues, “you’ve got to have optimism and
I hope that comes through in my collection; that’s with either the silhouettes, or the accessibility and adaptability and even down to the colours as well – I just want it to be
really fun and make people feel good”.
After my conversation with Ryan, I felt incredibly inspired by his out-of-the-box
mentality and how his idea has flourished and transformed into becoming a collection on a
runway. It’s a collection that stood out and was memorable over the course of the evening
and I feel like adaptable clothing is something that is largely missing in the fashion industry
and that it is a gap Ryan can fill. You can watch Ryan on M&S: Dress The Nation on ITV at 8pm every Tuesday. It might even inspire you to try sewing for yourself! After all, like Ryan
says, “you don’t know until you try”.