Rad Fashion

In the yard of the SoHo Grand Hotel in NYCity last night, Jordanian born Rad Hourani added a new layer on the dark, brooding androgyny to which he is an indisputable devotee.  Under the new moniker, “Rad by Rad Hourani” & shown in a presentation format that was divided into two vignettes with an often indistinguishable line between the men’s & women’s offerings, the collection didn’t depart from Hourani’s signature geometric, layered, close to the body, offerings in blacks & grays with a far too infrequent dash of color, in this case crimson red, but rather strengthened this theme into a mantra of sorts to which he seems to be married.

The collection, his diffusion of the designer price point Rad Hourani Collection, was fresh & modern, but not in a new, never before seen way.  Rather, it was a further refinement of the edgy, downtown, Euro (specifically Berlin) inspired offerings that he and a few others routinely create (Camilla Staerk, Unconditional & Helmut Lang (the one designed by Mr. Lang proper that is) among them).

The silhouette was loose & geometric over super skinny.  The colors were few… namely black, gray & a lone red, a lone navy & a few in white.  The colorful pieces were true standouts for their pigment alone.  The one piece that is most memorable was the crimson red coat that was literally aglow under the lighting.  It was so luminous that it seemed to be otherworldly.

Mr. Hourani seems to have a knack for this sort of fashion & he has consistently shown collections that are immediately recognizable as his own.  Androgyny is so much a part of what he does that this collection brings me back to the late 80’s NY nightclub scene, where the boys & girls were at times singular in aesthetic.  I caution the designer however, to be sure to differentiate the high & low collections enough that there is a reason for both to exist.

www.radhourani.com

-pq