Float on

Qasimi SS23: a blissful adventure through the chaos of life
By Bailey Slater | Fashion | 13 June 2022

“Legacy is not just about what you leave behind,” says Hoor Al-Qasimi, “It’s also what you do going forward.” Nothing could tell you more about the guiding spirit that’s been leading her design ethos as she continues to honour the codes of her late brother at his eponymous label, Qasimi.

SS23 saw the designer fuse the label’s penchant for subversive military silhouettes with a renewed sense of nomadic rigour, introducing new, highly-technical fabrics to a pre-existing mix of sartorial ingenuity. Harking back to the brand’s FW21/22 collections, this season Qasimi looked to the outsider spirits of the Tuareg people, as well as those in the Saharawi and Sahel regions of the Sahara Desert, as a frame of reference for dressing well in the most extreme of climates and living outside of society’s conventional parameters.

Presented via a film and accompanying imagery, a sense of utility and function wove itself between pearl-adorned shirts and their large rope macrame sleeves, a keen nod to the art of pearl diving and the seafaring spirit of the Gulf, or woven market bags in blisteringly bright colour combinations. While militaristic finishes adorned Swiss army work jackets and thermal zip necks. Tailored tunics in vivid ocean blues folded across the body with clean, oversized blazers hung delicately from relaxed shoulders and elegant tent-dresses offered the kind of effortless glamour synonymous with great design.

Really, this collection is about Qasimi’s inner-adventurer finding strength in the madness. Amongst a world of turbulent and chaotic change, they stay hopeful, ready for whatever curveballs life throws their way.

GALLERYCatwalk images from Qasimi SPRING-SUMMER-2023





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