“WE are humans. We need to express what’s happening around us.” Khalid Qasimi told me ten minutes after the closing of his SS20 show at London Fashion Week Mens, a display of military-inspired pieces, minimalist styling, and sun-bleached tones. Among the stress of the backstage, Qasimi explains the core meaning of the show. Never one to shy away from stigma, Qasimi builds the themes of his latest collection around political tension in the Middle East, but not in the way you might expect.
Qasimi uses fashion as mode to reimagine a kind of Utopia, creating in the venue – the space underneath a rail bridge in Shoreditch – a collection that permeates positivity. Khalid states, “We’re in a very tense moment, and for us we wanted to create something that was sensual and free. That’s the message we want to give out.” This sense of freedom and escapism in the collection is a new route for Qasimi as a fashion house, and every small detail of the show adds to its meaning.
Even the catwalk – lined with coffee as a base, which Qasimi later assures me is recyclable, is poetic, as well as fitting the colour palette, “the colours of the coffee sat beautifully with the collection.” The smell of coffee pays homage to Qasimi’s Middle Eastern background, yet the sounds of trains above act as a constant reminder of urban life. Qasimi tells me the colours of the collection, sun-bleached neutrals and monochromes, are reminiscent of his childhood, stating that “these faded colours remind me of growing up.”
The strongest looks in the collection were the pieces the tailored pieces, including the final look of the show, a leather trench coat. Featuring a new broader silhouette than seen in previous collections, Qasimi presents an extremely fashionable Utopia at LFWM.
by Emma Hart