Eleven Years, One Vision: The Story of RCANO

Just a year ago, we were exploring Rafa’s new collection in one of the trendiest boutiques in Mexico City. Shortly after, when FMFW was launched, he was there to support the platform and showcase his latest work. Since then, our hectic schedules have rarely aligned, so we had to do this interview online.
We’ve known each other for about 15 years now, and I still remember when you first started thinking about stepping into design. Looking back, what was the biggest challenge on this journey?

Since I was a kid, I liked fashion, but I didn’t know in what way. My first real inspiration for getting into the fashion business came when I moved to Hong Kong and started meeting people in the scene — seeing you and Jovie doing editorials for a magazine, photographers running around. At the time, I was a model and also studying for a business degree, but I felt drawn to taking photos, styling shoots, and being more involved creatively.
While I was doing a study abroad semester in Cape Town, South Africa, I was lucky to find a job at GQ magazine as a fashion stylist. That experience really opened my eyes to the fashion world. For a couple of years, I worked in different styling-related jobs, but I realized styling wasn’t my thing. I wanted to design clothes. I knew moving into design would mean starting from zero, and my biggest challenge was accepting that fashion design was my destiny — no matter how many years it would take to succeed.

Foto: Diego Velasco

Now that you’ve built a self-sufficient brand with your own atelier in Mexico, what do you think is the smartest investment a designer can make when launching their brand?
You can create amazing designs, but if you don’t know how to sell them — costs vs. pricing, marketing, distribution — people aren’t going to buy, and your brand won’t be profitable. My advice is to find a partner you can fully trust, someone who understands business. It’s extremely hard to design, produce, market, and sell all at the same time.
Many designers give up after their second collection when they don’t see immediate growth but keep pouring resources into their brand. How do you push through that stage and not give up?
It’s been 11 years since we launched the brand, and we’ve had good years and bad years. From the start, we knew it would be a difficult road — no salary, no holidays, and a lot of investment in a project without knowing if it would succeed. The plan was for my sister (co-founder) and me to work part-time elsewhere so we could have another source of income while the brand slowly became self-sufficient. This required patience, very long hours, and big sacrifices, but we always kept our heads up. We’ve had to adapt our strategies several times to stay relevant and find the right target market, but we’ve always stayed true to our vision: offering authentic designs with the best quality while creating a great experience for our clients.

Speaking of resilience, I want to ask you something more personal. I know you went through a moment in life that turned everything upside down. What did that experience teach you?
Having a brain tumor made me realize just how quickly things can change. I learned not to take time, health, or even simple daily moments for granted. I discovered an inner resilience that only emerged when I had no choice but to fight. It was a hard and difficult time in my life, but it made me more mature, focused, and strong. I reevaluated what really matters in life and learned who truly stood by me — friends, family, and even strangers. I became more selective about the people I keep around me and let go of those who don’t contribute to my personal growth. Now, I live life to its fullest, doing what makes me happy and fulfilled. I wake up every day thankful to be alive and eager to keep creating, designing, and setting an example for others.
And now, tell me — where is your brand today? What’s new after Miami? Give us all the details on your latest collection!
This year we launched a collection inspired by the Year of the Snake, and we’re now working on our new winter collection featuring wedding suits as a major project. Our focus is on expanding beyond Mexico City. Thanks to a huge demand from women wanting RCANO suits, we’ll be launching in September a women’s line of stylish, comfortable, and avant-garde suits, shirts, and pants. Our next collection will be a mix of men’s and women’s suits.

We also recently collaborated with Mexican jewelry brand TTEN to create a “Thunder” ring made of sterling silver.