RAD HOURANI – FASHION’S COOLEST GENDER-BENDER

RAD HOURANI IS A NEW PIONEER IN GENDER-BENDING FASHION. THE STYLIST TURNED FASHION DESIGNER HAS JUST RELEASED HIS NEW 2010-SPRING/SUMMER COLLECTION, WHICH IS SURREAL AND GOTHIC, USING ABSTRACT SHAPES WITH A FLOURISH OF DARK, SOMBER COLOURS. DRESSING IN A NON-CONFORMIST, ANDROGYNOUS FACADE IS A FASHION STATEMENT TO SAY THE LEAST, BUT ALSO A TREND THAT HAS BEEN SEEN IN MANY PREVIOUS HIGH FASHION CATWALK SHOWS OVER THE YEARS. HOURANI’S EXPRESSIVE USE OF AN ANDROGYNOUS BLEND, WITH OUTLANDISH SILHOUETTES, MINIMAL COLOUR AND DYNAMIC SHAPES, OFFERS A FRESH NEW APPROACH IN THE WORLD OF FASHION DESIGN.

A mass of black, skinny, shiny, geometric shapes and reflective, futuristic layered fabrics, he sends a volcanic wave down the clean, white catwalk. Heels send a potent message, as the male and female models featured in Hourani’s catwalk show are wearing the squared, chunky heel with style and grace. Skinny slashed trousers, with a mixture of PVC/ leather style fabrics, scream new wave emo/goth, very much informed by the indie rock scene. With sharp, intricately cut shoulder lines, the clothing is built heavy on top, and as you work your way down, the silhouette felt lighter and skinnier in shape and fit.

Since his first collection in 2007, Hourani has shown his flair for the minimalist, the abstract and the surreal. His look, as well as his collections, are inspired by a new generation of designers who see fashion as mix and match of identity and gender role playing, from Gaultier and Galliano, who have toiled with sexuality, creating new masculine and feminine guises through their high fashion catwalk shows.

The collection is very much a futuristic blend of new age warrior meets indie kid. The catwalk marches of models were very difficult to distinguish, who was male or female? A deliberate approach to setting alight an array of dominate looks that can be worn by either a man or a woman, maybe. From gender bending to the clothing consisting of rich blacks and greys with hints of white. His previous autumn/winter 2008 collection used an electric red, mixed with blacks and greys also. The layering adds to the look of an armored, shield-like affect, with a hint of strong shoulder pads, 80′s style; think Prince and Grace Jones.

I got to put some questions to Rad Hourani to see what inspired this boundary breaking designer. This is what he had to say:

What inspired you for this new collection?

It’s just a transformation from the season before. I don’t really make a ‘statement’ with each collection. Therefore I do not start every new season with a specific theme or concept, but rather try to establish continuity from one to the next. I always wanted to work with metallic fabric & texture and I found these 100% silver chains and some metallic zippers, but I never really liked zippers, and I thought it would be great to do something different with zippers that can be useful and can give a metallic effect. You can make jackets sleeves shorter or transform the jacket into a vest, trousers into shorts and even on the sides you can make things tighter with the zippers so there’s a transformation element. I also wanted to focus on my signature look and pieces that I started since my debut; my main colours are black and white, my straps pants, my open elbow sleeve, my vest/top/dress, my skirt/pants and my half leg leather pants.

Black is featured throughout in this collection and many of your previous collections. How would you convince Anna Wintour of U.S Vogue magazine to include it in her run though for the magazine? As you know she hates black…

I am more attached to the notion of purity and by choosing black simple, stark lines. I strive to blur gender boundaries; apparent simplicity, but refinement in details and if I end up using all black for a collection, why not? Black is mysterious, chic, unisex, slick and timeless. Fashion for me is about clothes transcending simple functionality and gaining symbolic, evocative power by engaging in a dialogue with their environment and their time. It’s a tool for self-expression and self-invention. Anna Wintour need to set up trends for her magazine each season like all other editors to keep the fashion machine going, which I respect, but I’m not into trends or fashion, I’m into style in which I focus on my signature look. I don’t need to be the one who makes the boldest statement every season, I’d much rather commit to my personal aesthetics and that of the people who like to wear my clothes. There’s nothing scarier than making fashion, or anything else, for that matter, that everybody agrees on.

You have said your designs are ‘sophisticated modern classics for anti-conformist individuals’. Can you explain further?

Circumstances have brought me to move around from an early point in my life, and I’ve felt compelled to continue on doing so; for this experience has made me consider things in a wider perspective, with no restrictions. I want to convey this notion into my line, and design clothes that can be worn anywhere, anytime. I hope to reach people who do not define themselves primarily as men or women, who go beyond the classical demographical criteria, with no limit of age or national identity. I also try to find the right balance of something that’s not too gothic, funky or rock ‘n’ roll, something that has no reference of one limited style. You can mix my pieces with any style without looking contrived or overdone.

Androgyny, and this asexual feel to your collection, as well as previous ones, is very much a statement within your work. Why is that?

It doesn’t make sense to me why a woman will wear a dress or high heels and not a man. When I say unisex, it’s really in looking at the lines. They are straight, there are no curves: they don’t have a feminine or masculine. It is completely genderless. I believe that using what I would like to wear, as a starting point to the design process is the most truthful and straightforward approach, for it allows me to stay focused on my aesthetic statement and also assess my commitment to wearability, functionality, and comfort. I design from a virgin point of view, trying to elude classical ready-to-wear rules that made us believe that women and men deserve different approaches. My pieces are timeless and freed from any gender differentiations.

Your work borders on cutting edge, yet timeless in some ways. Is that a deliberate approach, and why?

Yes, my clothes have erupted from this world of mine. They are asexual, aseasonal. I’m into unisex, timeless, long, straight, sharp, black, slick, geometric shapes and layered silhouettes that, by the use of noble, fluid materials, come alive through the movement of the wearer. They come from no place, no time, no tradition, yet they can be home anywhere, anytime. They exude a sense of discreet chic, the essence of timeless style, drawn on a monochromatic and graphical canvas. I never went to any school after high school for that matter and I guess my influences are the gathering of my own personal experiences and observations over the years; not something somebody told me to do or think. To that end, my collection might be more personal.

RADHOURANI.COM

Words Joe Tehrani