Roubi L'Roubi is two parts fashion designer to one part entrepreneur. And, as he is fond of saying, this is reflected in the people who wear his clothes. “Our clients are strong and independent decision-makers, who know how to make the clothes work for them,” he explains.
It shows in Roubi's design sensibility. For women a sense of strong, structured tailoring – which Roubi describes as masculine in its approach to cutting – is offset with a feel for flair. Business suits are cut to the body, employing grey, black and white with seasonal trend highlight colours worn with white ruffled shirts and cuffs. Roubi employs the same techniques as traditional Savile Row tailors, with a fully canvassed construction of both men's and women's jackets, which is ‘lightened' in application to modernise the silhouette and bring the pieces in line with the house's contemporary expectations while retaining the best practice in tailoring.
In essence, this is how the company started five years ago. W“e are used to tailors for men in this country,” Roubi says, “but we wanted to start a bespoke service for women as well.”
He founded his eponymous label, Roubi l' Roubi Couture Fashion for Men and Women, in 2004 leveraging on his business experience at Joseph as well as his design, fashion and management background with a noted London-based couturier.
Roubi's Edwardian-influenced menswear line started the same year, with this season's collection taking its direction from the young Winston Churchill. “People remember him as an old man,” says Roubi, “yet he was very dapper when he was younger.”
Astrakhan-lapelled greatcoats are matched with chalk-striped suits, while the Edwardian-collared evening jackets and tails remain a strong seller. Roubi has also built up strong relations with many orchestras, including the London Handel Orchestra and Players, as well as being appointed one of the main designers for the clergy of St Paul's Cathedral.
In 2009, Holland & Holland entered into a peer collaboration with Roubi L'Roubi to provide a bespoke service for women. The venture is the perfect match, bringing together a company that holds two royal warrants with Roubi's flair for eclectic and modern designs.
The joint label builds on Holland and Holland's existing ready-to-wear range, employing the famous range of tweeds to provide a luxury made-to-measure service exclusively designed and made by Roubi.
“With every new client,” Roubi says, “it's a thought process, matching their wishes with our design vision.”
