Rivay
ELEVATED MEN’S CLOTHES, RIGHT IN TOWN
PHOTOS: JENNA JONES
RIVAY is a brand of men’s clothes, furnishings and accessories that’s the lifework of Bedford-native Jon Ruti and now also the shared mission of his wife, Katie Boiano. Jon established the brand a decade ago in Manhattan, selling his men’s collection out of the back of an English military trailer hitched to an old Land Rover Defender on the streets of Tribeca…and Rivay’s flagship retail store, located at 633 Old Post Road in Bedford, right next to the Bedford Playhouse, is now celebrating its first anniversary!
Rivay is a welcome oasis in a world with precious little for the discerning guy. The clothes look cool and feel elevated. Everything is a ‘small-batch’ Rivay design. Like haute couture, but for everyday wear.
Jon grew up in Bedford. “I had an eye toward fashion but, following in my father’s footsteps, I became a lawyer, and did a stint as a Prosecutor in the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office,” Jon recalls. “After a while at that, I determined I needed to follow my passion, and go out on my own to create my own clothing brand. …at the same time I was making the life-changing move, I met Katie, who was a really big menswear designer with a fancy degree in Design from the University of Cincinnati. Although she couldn’t work on Rivay while she was working at brands like J. Crew and Bonobos, her enthusiasm and support were critical for me in getting started and in developing the Rivay brand.”
“Right from the start, I designed and manufactured all the clothing, from scratch. We’ve always sourced the finest fabrics from Italy and Japan, and in the beginning I produced everything in the Garment District in Manhattan,” Jon explains about first getting Rivay from design to reality. “I was having all the fabric delivered to our apartment and then taking the subway to deliver it, bolt by bolt, to have two dozen shirts or a few dozen pairs of pants made.”
“In 2015, I began selling the line out of the back of a vintage Land Rover, and then I hooked up an old English military trailer in order to ‘expand capacity’. We called it ‘The Mobile Unit’, Jon smiles. “I would go out at 5 a.m. every Saturday and Sunday morning to get my parking spot on Duane Street in Tribeca, then go back at 8 to start selling. There were plenty of cold and rainy days that weren’t too much fun, but the whole experience was validating. Guys saw the quality…and wanted to have these pieces! I think the customers understood that the clothes are exceptional, but that they also liked the unusual experience of talking with the founder while standing on the street behind the vintage Land Rover! We have lots of customers today who were customers of the Mobile Unit. I didn’t do any advertising, and bootstrapped the entire business by plowing all the money from sales into making the next batch of clothes.”
“I had to ‘park’ the business during Covid,” Jon continues, “and Katie left her corporate job. We used the pandemic to revamp Rivay. We moved all of our manufacturing to Portugal, we worked - together! - on new developments and design improvements, and we planned for how we would display and sell our men’s clothes once the world returned to normal and we could open a retail store. When the space in the Bedford Playhouse Building became available we knew it was right. I was raised in this community and Katie and I live in South Salem, so I feel like I know my customer. Our clothes work. Our niche is rugged but sophisticated. We carry pants sized 30 through 36 and shirts from S through XXL. And we have a heavily curated collection of furnishings and accessories like Rivay baseball hats, Alden shoes, Helio Ascari leather goods, vintage collectibles, and books to round-out the offering.”
Katie adds, “Our store is only 200 square feet, but it’s working! We feel like there’s a real energy, and that things are happening in Bedford! We’re friends with Jenn from Duchess, and James and Nic from Ohho, and Lyn and Will Reardon from New York Stoneware, and like being a part of Bedford’s vibrant boutique retail community. …And Jon doesn’t have to stand outside in the rain behind The Mobile Unit to sell clothes!”
“Our designs evoke images of someone like the most interesting man in the world sitting in a bistro in Paris, driving across the Moroccan desert, or checking out an art gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico…or maybe hanging out at the Bedford Post or the Inn at Pound Ridge,” Katie continues.
There’s nothing new about a Chambray shirt, but Rivay’s Italian Chambray is something special. Everything about Rivay is timeless and familiar!”
“It’s kind of poetic for me that Rivay is practically in the shadows of Ralph Lauren’s home,” Jon reveals. “I’ve always admired his American style, and the way he got men thinking about how clothes make them feel. My mom bought some of Ralph Lauren’s first ties for my dad because she thought the wide design would work with his tall frame. …I’d like to find some of Ralph’s success, but at least for now my personal and everyday hands-on involvement with the brand and with my customers is critical! I still feel an attachment to every customer who wears Rivay!”
