RHUDE Design may have an indisputable bad-ass image, but the garments are all rooted in heartbreak. “People gravitate to sorrows,” says designer Rhuigi Villasenor. “I used clothes as a way to find a channel for my stories.” The SUGARLAND collection, for example, was based on a girlfriend who simply refused to quit cigarettes; in response, Rhuigi crafted an entire collection around using various cigarette brands. MOTORPSYCHO, meanwhile, is based on the designer’s “sweetest memories” of riding on the gas-tank of his father’s chopper growing up “on some real Filipino shit,” but it’s also twisted up in a previous relationship.

HYPEBEAST caught up with the designer to talk about going from online pre-orders to Barney’s, his collaboration with OFF-WHITE c/o VIRGIL ABLOH and other projects. The episode is available in full above. Make sure to check out the video highlights here.