The Language of RYÄS - An AoD Interview
Words by Erik Nvagbara, Founder and Creative Director of RYÄS
Take us back to your upbringing. Where did you grow up, and what were some of the earliest people, places, objects, or experiences that shaped the way you see style, beauty, and creativity today?
I grew up in Ukraine, with a Nigerian father and a Dagestani mother, so I was surrounded by different cultures from day one, and my parents were the first people who shaped my taste.
My dad always had music playing, everything from hip-hop to jazz to Afrobeat. Without realizing it, that was my first real exposure to culture and to how much feeling and identity can live in something you create.
My mom has always worked in fashion. I watched her work, I watched how she dressed, and she made sure I was put together too. Stylish and presentable, probably a little more dressed up than most kids at that age. Looking back, that's where my eye for detail started.
Then there was MTV. I grew up watching early Lil Wayne, 50 Cent, all of those guys, and the culture in Ukraine was so different from America that I just wanted to dress like them. Every time my mom took me shopping, I was asking for baggy jeans and a G-Unit t-shirt, and she was steering me towards something more "appropriate." That push and pull is honestly still how I approach style today. I like an elevated look, but a lot of it comes from that early 2000s American culture.
I was also lucky to travel a lot from a young age. Seeing different countries, people and ways of living showed me there's no single approach to style. It broadened how I think about taste, fashion and lifestyle, and that stayed with me.
How would you describe your creative niche and point of view today? What do you notice, value, or approach differently that you believe has become distinctly yours?
My language is simplicity, comfort and a little bit of elegance.
With the brand, quality comes first. I love working with fabric blends, like cotton linen or cotton mulberry silk for summer and wool blends for winter, and I pay close attention to how a garment sits on the body, how it drapes and its overall silhouette. I'm also drawn to raw hems and distressed edges, which I bring into a lot of the pieces I put out. A clean, minimal piece can sometimes feel too perfect, so a raw edge gives it a bit of character, like it has been lived in. It's a small detail, but it adds some edge without taking away from the simplicity. Most importantly though, I want to make pieces that stand the test of time, which is why I try to stay away from trends.
That said, I'm not precious about it. Day to day, I basically live in graphic t-shirts and baggy sweats.
If I'm at home or at the gym, that's all I wear. That's where my love for G-Unit and baggy jeans still shows up. But when I actually put an outfit together, it's always simple, comfortable and minimal.
I also don't like buying things that only work for one occasion, and that's really the thinking behind RYÄS. I build capsule wardrobes, so every piece works across different styles and settings.
Walk us through the origin of the brand - the initial idea, the need you felt it could answer and the moment you decided to give that vision a name and a life of its own.
I've always wanted to build a brand. I remember in first grade, people came in to film our first school experience, and they went around asking everyone in the class what they wanted to be when they grew up. While everyone else said an astronaut, a doctor, something like that, I said I wanted to be in fashion, like my mom. So I guess, subconsciously, it's always been the dream.
RYÄS is actually my second attempt at building a brand. For a long time I was a perfectionist, and I'd sit on ideas for way too long before acting on them. That changed when I went through a personal experience where I really had to face myself, and I realized that every bit of time I wasted was an opportunity I was missing to create something meaningful. Since then, my focus has been closing the gap between idea and execution as fast as possible. I'm not afraid of making mistakes anymore, because a mistake isn't the negative thing we make it out to be. It's a lesson you grow from.
As for the idea itself, it came from wanting to create something calm in an overstimulated culture. There's so much noise right now, with fast fashion, trends and social media all pushing you to want something new every week. So instead of starting with the clothes, I started with the person. The person I envisioned lives with taste, confidence and an uncompromising sense of self, and they don't need to prove anything to anyone because they're so rooted in who they are. That's why they dress the way they do: simple, minimal, not loud, but confident. The clothes came from that person, and the name came last. Honestly, I can't tell you exactly what sparked RYÄS. It just came to me when I thought of them.
When you strip away the clothes, campaigns, and imagery, what principles sit at the center of the brand? What do you want someone to understand - or feel - when they encounter RYAS?
Beyond the clothes, I want people to feel welcomed and understood when they come across RYÄS. One of our core beliefs is that RYÄS is built for a specific kind of person, and when that person finds us, I want them to feel like it was made for them. There are a few things I'll never compromise on, and the first is my relationship with the people who wear the brand. The second is intention. Everything I do with RYÄS has to have a reason behind it, from the clothes themselves to how I communicate with customers to how I show up online.
That's also why the bigger picture has always been about more than clothing. Ever since I was a kid, one of my biggest traits has been bringing people together. I never had separate friend groups. I had one, and I was always meeting new people and introducing them to each other. Some of the people I connected back then aren't even my friends anymore, but they're still friends with each other, and that's what I love most. So naturally, I want RYÄS to do the same. I want to build community and create real spaces where people can come together, meet each other and have a great time, whether that's through music, events or whatever it may be. That's what RYÄS is really about, a place for those people.
From silhouette and material to culture, architecture, memory, music, people, or place, what consistently enters your creative process? And how do you determine what belongs within the RYAS universe and what does not?
A lot of it comes from city life. I spent five years in New York, and that shaped my taste more than I probably realize. Honestly, it feels like I've lived five different lives, and every one of them has left something behind that's now part of the RYÄS world. Architecture plays a big part too. I'm drawn to minimal, modern spaces with clean structure, where nothing is there by accident and proportion does all the work. That's how I want RYÄS to feel.
Music is another big inspiration, especially jazz. As I mentioned, I grew up with my dad playing different types of music, but jazz is the one that really carries into the brand. It has a way of creating a feeling without having to shout, and that's exactly what I want RYÄS to do. I'm still learning the process of building a brand identity, but with our second drop we started leaning into slower, more intentional visuals, and jazz shaped a lot of that. It has that unhurried pace where every note has space to breathe, and that's what I want the visuals to feel like.
Then there's memory. That early 2000s culture I grew up obsessing over still finds its way in, whether it's a looser fit, a raw hem or a bit of edge on something that would otherwise be too clean.
As for what belongs and what doesn't, I keep it pretty simple. I ask myself two questions. Would the person I built RYÄS for actually wear this? And does it work in more than one setting? If a piece only makes sense for one occasion, or if it's loud just for the sake of being loud, it doesn't make the cut. Everything has to earn its place.
How has RYAS changed you as a creative director and as a person? Is there anything you understand about your own voice now that you did not understand when you began?
More than anything, RYÄS gave me confidence. It showed me I can take an idea and actually bring it to life. I also learned that I don't need outside validation. As long as I believe in myself and the vision, the right people will find the brand, feel it, and believe in it too.
I touched on letting go of perfectionism earlier, but what surprised me is how much it changed my voice. I'm not trying to make everything look polished anymore, and I'm okay with people seeing me make mistakes. If anything, that's what people connect with. They don't want a perfect brand. They want to see the person behind it, because that's what they can relate to.
On a personal level, it's taught me patience, discipline and how to let go of the things I can't control. When we first launched, we had zero sales in the first week. Instead of panicking, I stayed patient and kept doing the work. I focused only on what I could control, like building relationships with creators, many of whom now wear and love the clothes, and building real relationships with our customers. Looking back, that first quiet week taught me more than any good week since.
As you look at what you have built so far, what are you most proud of, and what do you believe the brand is currently becoming?
What I'm most proud of, and what honestly brings me the most joy, is the feedback we get from customers. Hearing how people feel in the clothes, or seeing them come back for more, never gets old. That's the feeling I want to hold on to for as long as possible as we grow and expand.
I'm also proud that New York has become one of our strongest markets. I love that city, and I hope to live there again one day, so seeing the brand connect there means a lot. Beyond New York, we're already seeing orders from across Europe, Asia and Australia, which still feels a little surreal this early on.
We're only about four months in, so RYÄS is very much in its building phase. But I truly believe, and I'm confident, that it will become a renowned brand known around the world.
Take us beyond the immediate next collection or season. Five years from now, what does the fullest expression of RYAS look like - creatively, culturally, and as a business?
Honestly, the opportunities are limitless. In five years, I see RYÄS as a full lifestyle brand. Creatively, that means expanding into new categories like accessories and maybe even home goods, so the same feeling you get from the clothes carries into how you live. I'd also love to do collaborations, and one that's genuinely on my list is New Balance.
But the thing I want most is a physical home for RYÄS. Ideally that's a flagship in New York, a space that's more than a store, where people can actually come together, meet each other, listen to music and experience the brand in person. I'd even love to open a dedicated space for our top-tier customers, somewhere that feels like their own. That's the community I talked about earlier, made real.
PRODUCTION
Words by
Cameron Hardison