Limitless
 |
| Rad Hourani © Rad Hourani |
Rad Hourani is mainly
an artist without boundaries. Photographer and fashion designer born in 1982 to
a Jordanian-Canadian father and a Syrian mother, he moved to Montreal at the
age of 16 where he completed high school. There he started his artistic career
as an art director, moving to Paris at 23 working on photography and video and
creating his first UNISEX collection. In 2007 he launched the brand being only
25 and in January 2013 he became an “invited member” of the Chambre Syndicale
de la Haute Couture in Paris. He presented then his first Paris Haute Couture
show becoming the first ever designer to present a UNISEX Haute Couture
collection in the history of fashion, and the first Canadian to be amongst the
greatest creators.
One of his most recent projects is a collaboration with designer Pedro da Silva's VAVA that was presented during the Berlin Fashion Week along with an art exhibition by Rad Hourani entitled “EYE”.
One of his most recent projects is a collaboration with designer Pedro da Silva's VAVA that was presented during the Berlin Fashion Week along with an art exhibition by Rad Hourani entitled “EYE”.
Why did you
decide to make a career in fashion design?
I never thought of myself as being in “fashion”, I
have always been interested in aesthetic in general, not necessarily fashion.
My work is about a complete lifestyle in which I express a form of being that
is free from any limitations.
Why do you think
fashion design is not considered as an artistic discipline?
I consider it as a form of art as the way you dress is
a form of expression. I’m not sure who decided that it is not… It never made
sense to me who decide or consider what, I just use design as one of the
disciplines that I feel comfortable to express myself in, as much as in art,
photography and soon film...
How would you
describe your style?
Timeless, genderless, raceless, ageless, nationless,
limitless.
What are your
biggest influences in your art and in your life?
What I observe everyday in my life, my brain is my
biggest influence through what I see, feel and live.
Don’t you think
we live in a society obsessed with image?
Images influence our life, society and the world we
live in through what we are conditioned by. Our obsessions come from our
desires to attend perfection through our illusions of what is perfect… Beauty
is everywhere, yet perfection is nowhere...
How do you see
the fashion scene right now?
Not interested…. trashy, fast and boring, everything I
didn’t like in the 90’s, I’m not interested in recycling. And everyone is
trying to do “unisex" in such a not unisex way, doesn’t make any sense to
me.
Do you think
Paris is still the centre of fashion?
Paris is a very inspiring city, but I think the whole
world is the centre now because of the internet.
Do you feel more
free when you work as a photographer than when you work as a designer?
It is a different process of work, but I feel more
free when I create my art as it doesn’t need to be wearable. Art has no
limitations when it comes to creating.
Could you
explain us a memory from your childhood?
Innocence and being unconditioned were my biggest
memory of being a child. I wish I can stay as pure as that all my life...
An interview by Juan Carlos Romero
Rad Hourani
Photography courtesy of Rad Hourani
All rights reserved