Petra Stellam: A Couture Brand’s Redirection on Womenswear

Photo Courtesy of Luis Ruiz. Photographer: Hope Obadan. Co-creative Direction: Krusain.

Petra Stellam, a Houston-based couture label, is launching a pop-up event, joined by Richard+Grace, in May. An immersive and interactive shopping experience with installations will unveil a precollection before the upcoming June/July runway show. Petra Stellam will release its version of ballet flats and new garments to the public.

“We will stick to what we want to do, [couture],” Founder and Head Designer of Petra Stellam, Luis Ruiz tells me.

The heart of Haute Couture flourishes within his brand due to his drive to continue creating art, regardless of how mainstream fashion markets itself to society.

Luis Ruiz left Char eight months ago to focus on his fashion brand, Petra Stellam. Ruiz’s brand leans into contemporary, interweaving, eccentric materials into clothes. His clothes create a phenomenon– curating a je-ne-sais-quoi the industry hasn’t seen yet. His redirection on womenswear draws in nuances of bringing ordinary things to life and imaginative wearable art.

Petra Stellam spotlights women and embraces modern femininity while empowering a woman’s self-assertiveness and confidence. The couture label is “unseasonal,” and Luis Ruiz “does not believe in following the traditional runway calendar of producing a new collection every six months” he says. “That is just impossible for us at the moment because we have a small team, and we believe in putting out a new collection when we feel it is the right time.”

“Each item in the upcoming June runway collection utilizes a new design process, research, a new approach on silhouettes, new textiles, new fabrics, and will be unveiled soon,” Founder Luis Ruiz tells me.

The team at Petra Stellam is working on their new collection, which will be ready for their summer runway show.

“We are going to stick to what we want to do,” Luis expanded on his reasoning behind Petra Stellam’s intentions.

Luis Ruiz’s goal is for his label to stay true to itself, not adhering to traditional fashion industry rules and guidelines. “I don’t want to rush into making a new collection. I want our work to be our best, and it takes time to produce couture,” says the Head Designer of Petra Stellam.

Even the fabrics Luis chooses for his couture items stand out from most fashion houses. He prefers rare, uncommon fabrics such as cotton piping, mohair blend wool, recyclable bags, and patterning paper.

“We choose any fabric suitable for our desired look, ranging from mohair blend wool to leather. Instead of choosing cotton yarn, we chose a rarer material to construct “The Loose Knit Dress,” pictured right.

In 2017, Luis Ruiz was a 17-year-old, dreaming of creating his own fashion label.

“I took it one step at a time, learning through classes and experience,” the Head Designer describes how Petra Stellam sparked as an idea back then. “The idea for a label came to my mind, but I didn’t have the capabilities to start a brand at 17,” explains Luis Ruiz.

Ruiz made a remarkable breakthrough by starting his independent fashion label, cultivating art following his creative direction.

“I narrowed down what my intentions were when I made the brand and what I wanted to focus on,” says Ruiz about his background behind creating his brand. “I learned as I went at a young age and officially launched the brand with our debut show in 2022, ‘Materials, Stories, and Other Objects.’”

“My favorite pieces are the gradient sequin dresses, constructed from upcycled buttons in a gradient-like pattern—completely handsewn, and the rope dress,” says Luis Ruiz.

“The Rope Dress” from his 2022 collection, “truly started the idea for the full ‘22 collection.” The dress was “made of a full spool of cotton piping draped on a mannequin.” The dress is pictured left.

Petra Stellam S/S ‘22 runway show, “Materials, Stories, and Other Objects” was the label’s debut in Houston, Texas. The unconventional materials turned furniture rope, plastic grocery bags, pattern drafting paper, and traditional fabric into functional yet stylish ensembles. It’s forward-thinking and out-of-the-ordinary fashion.

Luis Ruiz’s artistic vision showcases his creative process behind Petra Stellam. He has an eye for detail and a gifted passion for creating clothes that make people think. He cares about how his clothes make women feel, evoking a person’s emotions through his work.

“There is a dress made of patterning paper [in the upcoming collection] and the stiffness of the materials gives it a new look.” Pattern drafting is crucial to their designs and the construction process of couture garments.

Ready-To-Wear S/S ‘21 is available to view on the site. Petra Stellam keeps its target audience on its tiptoes, peering into a window of possibilities, resurfacing what fashion can do for the world. The brand conveys a story to viewers, becoming a testament to the art of womenswear.

“In 2022, I built the Petra Stellam website. The site has been updated and restructured numerous times since then. I oversee everything we do at the label,” says Ruiz.

Petra Stellam is direct-to-consumer and available to shop S/S ‘22 and Ready-To-Wear ‘21. The price fluctuates from $200, upwards of $1800, reasonably priced for ready-to-wear.

“Petra Stellam has a small team of five to six people,” explains Luis Ruiz.

“A few people help with new ideas, designing, and socials. We’re a small team, and we are not at a level where we want to take on additional staff.”

The relationship fashion shares with its client is to visually beautify someone’s physical being, enhance their shape, and simultaneously physically express the client’s creative vision for the world to see. It is whatever you define beauty as. It is not purely for validation from someone else.

The color palette of Petra Stellam ‘22 “The Button Dress” leaps from (top to bottom) black, gray, white, cream, and then to gray again. The buttons “represent abstract sequins,” and were handsewn to the dress, as over 1000 individual embellishments.

“For example, the blazer dress [2022 collection] with corset boning was created by pulling references from other designs within the collection. Each dress utilizes different textiles, techniques, methods, and results in different looks,” Luis Ruiz tells me.

“Each look within the collection is a separate construction, with a technique used to construct each item,” Ruiz passionately tells the story behind several notable pieces of his 2022 collection. The fabrics range from knit, embellishments, recyclable bags, wool, silk, leather, etc. The stitching on each couture item is different because it requires a different application and method of creating the garment.

“It takes at least 80 hours for each couture item to be handmade—a little over two weeks to construct each one,” says Ruiz.

“The biased dress is also one of my favorites,” Ruiz adds. The garment is constructed of pinstripe wool and utilizes a weaving technique to create a boxy fit, pictured left.

“We are very hands-on and oversee everything. When we do manufacture, we are still making most items in-house. We pull references from designs within itself, within pattern drafting,” Luis Ruiz explains how Petra Stellam stands out among newcomer designers. “Petra Stellam is made to order, so we don’t waste fabrics or overproduce items.”

Petra Stellam sets a friendly camaraderie tone towards the audience. The connection between the consumer and the clothing label is similar to friendship. Loyalty and sincerity are fundamental to a long-lasting relationship.

“It works both ways in marketing. It gets the brand out there for normal people. We’re not at that scale to need to meet certain goals a month for profit,” Luis Ruiz will firmly stand behind his brand’s motivation.

Within Petra Stellam's ‘22 collection, each look is uniquely constructed through various methods and approaches to fabrics. The looks showcase different textile skills, intercorrelated with no theme, and unconventional, yet tell a new story.

Petra Stellam’s Instagram looks like a big collage and mood board. It’s reminiscent of its 2022 collection—not cohesive and standing out from competitors by going against the grain. Ruiz plans to take on a new social media manager who will help run the social pages for the label.

“Petra Stellam is focused on its expertise in creating couture clothing and will not move toward the direction of full ready-to-wear,” Ruiz emphasizes how his brand will not shift direction away from couture, but keep pushing the boundaries of what modern couture is.

A stranger can judge your outfit negatively or positively, but how you feel in your clothes is between your mind and your soul. It is inexplicably unchangeable. No one else can control your emotions. A coveted dress can transform your confidence because beautiful clothes inspire enlightenment. Luis Ruiz’s hope for Petra Stellam is to elevate a woman’s confidence through his designs.

Will you be attending Petra Stellam’s pop-up event in May? Comment below!