Clarence Ruth Takes Us to Church with his New York Fashion Week Debut

It was a prayer on an overhead speaker that marked the beginning of the Cotte D’Armes By Clarence Ruth New York Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2025 presentation on September 9th. The warm, faraway pre-recorded voice filling the space with anointing words was none other than the mother of Cotte D’Armes founder Clarence Ruth. Once the room was christened with an “amen,” models came walking down a swanky atrium at The Ned NoMad featuring a podium with a cross reminiscent of a church pulpit.

Clarence Ruth is a New York-born-and-raised artist, designer, author, and founder of Cotte D’Armes. Ruth has emerged as a designer to watch, amassing an impressive portfolio of collaborations with major industry players such as LVMH and Tommy Hilfiger. Ruth notably comes off the heels of the Mercedes F1 x TOMMY HILFIGER x Clarence Ruth collection. Ruth, commissioned to design a piece commemorating Disney’s centennial has also penned children’s books including Colors De La Runway. 

In an interview with BET.com from the busy backstage of his debut New York Fashion Week show, Ruth spoke of the origin of the Cotte D’Armes name, which translates to “coat of arms” in French.

“I have a very strong military background. I’ve never been in the military, my mom never allowed me to,” He laughed. “My mom was in the military, My father was in the military, and I was born on a military base- West Point… [Cotte D’Armes] is a direct reflection of that.”

The ready-to-wear brand, known for its elevated approach to denim, merging military-inspired elements with rebellious flair, drew inspiration from an unlikely source for its NYFW debut: Ruth’s upbringing attending Sunday church service.

“The collection itself was inspired by a memory. And the memory was of my childhood. My mom, growing up, was a pastor, overseer, and so…we would be in church all the time,” Ruth recounted. “…I just remember as a kid looking at the women in the church just having the big hats, being just draped so nicely. And even as a kid, I’m like ‘man, like, they look amazing,’”

Ruth cited his formative experiences seeing elegant church fashions as defining his understanding of “everyday wear,” which he explored through a contemporary lens. 

 “In the modern day, everyday wear is like, athleisure- sneakers, slippers, you know? And I’m like, man, it’s such a drastic difference,” Ruth shared. “But I was like, hey, what if I blend it to create a fresh perspective? And so that’s exactly what I did. So I took the more elevated high [fashion] and then took the athleisure and paired them together.”

Fatherhood has been another significant source of inspiration for Ruth in his career- “Father first,” is a way of life. Ruth’s 9-year-old son, Christian, curly-haired and suit-wearing was also backstage, witnessing his father in action.

“[Fatherhood] changed my whole perspective on life- on how I work, how I navigate, how I do business. Everything is surrounded and inspired by him, his future,” Ruth said, gesturing to his son. “…he’s heavily the core of my inspiration, and that’s why I always say ‘father first.’ Because I’m that before anything else, I’m that before I’m a designer, creative, artist, author. I am a father,” he continued.

Since becoming a father, two career-defining moments have shaped Ruth’s trajectory. The first was meeting iconic designer Tommy Hilfiger.

“Growing up as a young kid like you know, I would see Aaliyah wearing [Tommy Hilfiger] and being super inspired by the Tommy brand, being in school wearing Tommy…I used to emulate Tommy’s designs and his logo,” Ruth recalled. “…I entered [Hilfiger’s] New Legacy Challenge, and…having a full circle [moment] of him being in front of me, being able to present, talk directly to him, I think it changed, changed quite a lot for me.”

A second career-defining moment for Ruth was working as a Creative Director for the Chinese Government’s Xiqiao Road project, resulting in the most-watched show during Shanghai Fashion Week FW 2015. Ruth, worked on the project for about 3 years, helping shift perceptions of denim manufacturing in China. 

“Living in China and having to work with people that don’t talk English first…adapting to the way that they live, but also vice versa, them understanding a black male,” Ruth explained. “We would produce collections for Shanghai’s Fashion Week every year to help showcase new techniques or styles.”

The Cotte D’Armes debut fashion week presentation was an impressive showcase. Distinctly constructed denim jackets met classic church-inspired hats and veils. Sleek, skintight athleisure pieces were in concert with red-white gingham prints and suit jackets with denim corset detailing. Technology was also incorporated, with structured hoop skirts lit underneath with a heavenly white glow. 

Regarding this moment, Ruth said, “I feel extremely blessed, and I feel like I have an obligation to kind of represent in a way- not just for my brand and myself, but for other black and brown creatives… You don’t see many of us being able to be on the [CFDA] calendar and show at this level. And so, like, yeah, I felt like I need to represent for us. We’re out there. We can do it. We have the talent.”

Ruth’s words of wisdom for emerging Black designers and creatives? “Understand that your journey is extremely important and that your journey is part of the story that you can implement into your design or whatever that you’re doing that’s going to make you signature and special to your own self.” He continued, “For me, it’s military, it’s thinking outside the box, it’s opening up people’s minds to think a little different…What’s your journey? What is it that’s bringing you to where you are? And what can you give to the world? Be confident in it.”

Clarence Ruth certainly understands his own journey- from sketching and winning art competitions in childhood to attending fashion school, all the way to his present-day NYFW debut.