Qasimi fashion show premiers Menswear Fall/Winter 2020 in London.
Qasimi is a London-based fashion brand with a Middle Eastern heritage founded in 2015 by Khalid al-Qasimi. The brand focuses on crafting understated and refined garments from a perspective that reflects its multicultural origins.
The brand’s narrative centres around the idea of an urban nomad who’s endeavours takes one on various journeys across the Arab world – a culture dialogue and exchange, seeking to unite rather than divide through the powerful medium of clothes.
Qasimi was built upon four pillars: architecture, colour, military and messaging.
Architecture informs the approach to design – thinking of the body as a landscape, and garments as the structures that clothe it. It also underpins the philosophy behind the label: that clothes are to be lived in.
Qasimi’s colours are inherently influenced by the Middle Eastern hues of where desert meets sea. Subdued and exotic, they can be interpreted as uplifting and breezy with an earthy weight to them.
The military influence stems from the designer’s memories of growing up during the Gulf War where although removed from any direct conflict, the repercussions of warfare were never far from home.
Finally, messaging has been at the core of Qasimi since its inception as a means for the designer to express his views, allowing him to weave politics and poetry into his collections; deftly and delicately exploring subjects ranging from the strained relationship between the Middle East and the West, to his own life experiences.
Sadly, in July 2019, Khalid Al Qasimi passed away. Born in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates but educated in the UK, Khalid forged a unique perspective of the world around him and was able to channel that through his work as a designer.
He was a strong visual communicator who wanted to move people, to get them thinking and questioning the world around them. He raised awareness through his support of the #blacklivesmatter movement touched upon in his AW17 collection, and through his passive objections to the wars in Syria and Afghanistan and those affected by them. This consequently resulted in the brand’s collaboration with War Child – a charity for the silent victims of war: children – in 2018.
In September 2019, Hoor al-Qasimi, Khalid’s twin-sister, assumed the role of creative Director continuing the legacy of her brother’s work. Hoor is a practicing artist and curator, as well as the President and found Director of Sharjah Art Foundation (SAF) and the internationally respected Sharjah Biennial. Having a similar upbringing to her brother she shares many of the same sentiments with regards to current affairs and global issues, aesthetic and the arts.
Qasimi currently shows as part of London Fashion Week Men’s and is stocked Internationally – in 50 stores, 30 cities, 15 countries.
