Domingo Rodriguez has to be one of the hardest working young men in London fashion and his graft is certainly paying off. The acclaimed menswear designer graduated from Liverpool’s John Moore University in 2008 and won the Menswear Award at Graduate Fashion Week, subsequently going on to study at the world renown London College of Fashion; he was also awarded the prestigious Harold Tillman Scholarship to study MA Fashion Design and Technology (Menswear) after impressing a judging panel which included Julien Macdonald and Claudia Schiffer at Graduate Fashion Week 2008 with his BA collection.
Rodriguez has gained extensive industry experience interning at the Delphine Wilson Knitwear and at menswear designers Kim Jones and Carolyn Massey, all of whom he has credited with influencing his work. His design inspirations are diverse and technical; past collections have focused on the scaffolding lines of the human figure and through bias cutting create a chevron effect that mirrors bone structure, movement and the rhythm of muscle tone. Of his designs he says that he; “aims to give a sense of personal luxury that reflect traditional men’s staples whilst retaining familiarity through subversion and inherited history.”
2010 saw yet more accolades for this rising star as Domingo was named by Esquire magazine as one of its ‘7 Brilliant Brits’ which, in collaboration with ASOS, resulted in the presentation of his Spring/Summer 2011 collection at the famous MC2 fashion showroom during Paris Fashion Week as well as the ASOS ‘MA}ke’ project, an exclusive capsule menswear collection for the online giant. Domingo also won the approval of cult store Wolf and Badger in London winning their own Graduate Award and going on to sell in the company’s stores.
If all this wasn’t enough, Domingo has also collaborated with Saga Furs, Kopenhagen Fur and Phi-nom, and been a fashion host on BBC Blast, during Junes inaugural London Collections: Men the designer presented his SS13 Collection as part of the LCF Showcase initiative. SS13 is sport lux, elegant and minimalist sportswear in black, grey and cream. What marks Domingo out is his ingenious knack for reinterpreting traditional sports apparel with his deceptive design technique; what looks so simple on the runway is the result of a complicated design process. In a very sophisticated way he mixes fabrics, patterns and textures such as cotton and leather with (very Mark Fast’ian) knitwear and lace, and stripes (deceivingly placed to give the effect of an optical illusion!). The result is a clean collection that is darkly urban and has a decidedly London silhouette.
Currently also available at London College of Fashions Pop Up Shop in Kingly Court Barnaby, Domingo Rodriguez is, in a City that prides itself as a Fashion Capital that is full to bursting with ‘Ones to Watch’ a most definite soon to be major player.
Photo source : TheStyleExaminer