In a world divided, now more than ever collaboration is vital.
For AW25, Hoor Al Qasimi continues her mission to use fashion to highlight and uplift artists and creatives across the globe. This time, she joins forces with Māori artist Emily Karaka, whose emotive work dives deep into themes of ancestral history, language, and connection, and tackles issues including territory disputes, land loss, and political oppression. Across huge canvases, the resilience of the Māori people is laid bare in a cacophony of colour, as brush strokes are intermingled with bold expressions of language and age-old Māori phrases and statements.
With Karaka’s work the seed of inspiration for AW25, the collection blooms into life in a series of signatures QASIMI is known for. Louche shirts matched with loose trousers speak of the silhouettes of the Middle East and North Africa, while slouchy windbreakers and worn-in hoodies emphasise the casual ease inherent to the house. Sleek tailoring is softened through curved shoulders and roomy fits, and outerwear, as ever. Further expanding QASIMI’s proclivity for modular clothing, throughout the AW25 collection are details allowing the wearer to create their own unique garments, with zips, studs, buttons, and adjustable seams allowing transformation in seconds – the shadow of a shirt sleeve becomes a contemporary artwork in itself, while a simple A- line skirt cuts away to become a unique spiral that snakes down the legs, revealing as little, or as much, as desired.
Qasimi
In a palette of rich browns and deep sand, punctuated with flashes of indigo, maroon, and golden turmeric, as ever, texture is key, as luxurious jacquards and frayed seams rub up against a unique trompe l’oeil motif that from afar appears like mohair. With the clothes taking on the role of canvas, details drawn from Emily Karaka’s works breathe life into the offering in new and unique ways. Seen across a succession of garments, the artist’s brushstrokes are reinterpreted in technicoloured thread, her etchings and words of resistance embroidered across chests and up and down sleeves, as Hoor weaves her words and images into the fabric of QASIMI until each look tells not one, but two stories. As Hoor hones in on Karaka’s seminal painting “He Kakano Ahau” (2014-2015), the language they use may not be the same but commonalities are easily found in the way they communicate creatively. “Renowned Māori painter Emily Karaka’s use of colour, language and text to depict Māori land rights and historic treaties, was the inspiration behind the AW25 Collection. Through bold prints, intricate embroideries and changeable silhouettes, this collection reflects not only the ongoing struggle for Māori rights but also other indigenous struggles around the world. Karaka often references other oppressions and colonial histories as an expression of solidarity – something we all need to do at this present time” Hoor Al Qasimi.
“He Kakano Ahau is one of my favourites and I think one of my most beautiful works and embodies strong lyrics from the Waiata (song) – ‘And I can never be lost, I am a seed born of greatness / language is my strength, an ornament of grace / Descended from a line of chiefs, He Kakano A Hau’. The work resembles the Taneko (weaving) I did as a teenager, the red, black, and white on the blood red background, and the intertwining blue strands representing the waves of the sea and rivers on which Māori travelled from Raiatea to Aotearoa, New Zealand.” Emily Karaka
SHOW CREDITS:
CREATIVE DIRECTOR – HOOR AL-QASIMI
STYLIST – RAPHAEL HIRSCH
CASTING – SHELLEY DURKAN
HAIR – LAURENCE WALKER
MAKE UP – CRYSTABEL EFEMENA RILEY
SHOES – NEOUS (WOMEN’S) AND ATELIER INSCRIRE (MEN’S)
JEWELLERY – FREYA DOUGLAS FERGUSON
MUSIC – MIMI XU
CONCEPT/SPATIAL DESIGN – LEON KACINARI
VIDEO – PREMICES FILMS
LIGHTING – HYDRA DESIGN
RUNWAY PHOTOGRAPHY – GREGOIRE AVENEL
PRODUCTION – BON AMIS PRODUCTION
ARTIST COLLABORATION – EMILY KARAKA
PR – PURPLE
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