Rad Hourani's Aggressively Androgynous Style

By Nandini D'Souza
September 14, 2010

Rad Hourani, center, with models wearing his designs (Portrait of Rad Hourani: Max Abadian)

At some point, every designer toys with the masculine-feminine motif. Rad Hourani takes it to the extreme. His specialty is an aggressively androgynous look that is so genderless, it loops full-circle back to sexy, no matter if it's a man or woman wearing the designs. The self-taught, Jordanian-born, Canadian-raised designer introduced his collection in Paris in 2007 at the age of 25 and soon moved his presentation to New York, where editors have embraced him. (Pick any powerful glossy and he’s been featured in it). They appreciate his razor-like focus on pin-straight pants, architectural jackets, lean and minimal lines and total lack of buttons. Last year, Hourani launched a secondary line, RAD by Rad Hourani, based on the same unisex concept as his original collection but in less weighty fabrics and at lighter prices. Here, Hourani, who shows his Spring 2011 collection at Fashion Week today, talks about his ever-evolving esoteric leanings.

The Inside Source: What was your inspiration for fall 2010, in stores now?

Rad Hourani: When I’m designing a collection, I don’t think to myself that I am designing a new collection necessarily, because it’s all an evolution from the collection before. In designing my collections I design from a virgin point of view, trying to elude classical ready-to-wear rules that made us believe that women and men deserve different approaches. I'm inspired by the idea of creating something that can't be defined by a limited category. Things that have no reference from the past. I believe the only way you can attend to this kind of inspiration is by observing everything around you. I'm inspired by things that make me curious about them and make me react in a new way.

TIS: What is your favorite piece in the collection from fall 2010 (shown below), and can you speak to its versatility?

RH: All my designs are made to be unisex. I don't really have a favorite piece as I won’t design anything I don't need or want, but if I have to pick one piece, it would be the transformable leather jacket, as individuality can be expressed with the help of this single jacket that you can transform into 15 different ways: a vest, a jacket, a skirt, a backpack, a cape and many other ways in which style can be taken in many different directions…androgynous, sensual, feminine, masculine, etc.

TIS: Can you tell us a little bit about spring 2011?

RH: My objective is to create garments that can be worn by anyone at any time, so I subvert the biannual fashion calendar to some extent by fusing and blending seasonal stereotypes into an adaptable system based on seasonal collections identified only by their sequential number. I'm excited about what I feel like wearing today and tomorrow. You'll definitely see new unisex transformable shapes and more in my next collections.

TIS: Black often dominates your collections; you've even been known to request all-black attire at your after party. Why is black so important?

RH: I am more attached to the notion of purity and by choosing black, simple, stark lines, I strive to blur gender boundaries. Apparent simplicity but refinement in details. Black is confidence, modernity, clarity and the ultimate absence of gender. Everyone can wear black. It’s a color that shows the person more than the clothes. I don't see why I'd wear other colors when I'm very comfortable and happy by wearing black cloths that have all details and constructions that I'm satisfied with. I sometimes wear white, grey, dark blue or red. It depends on the mood I'm in; it’s not something that I plan in advance. It's like what you see on my catwalks—it's a reflection of a myself, so whether it be red, white, silver or grey, it’s really a reflection of the way I’m feeling at that point in time.

TIS: Tell us a little bit about Rad by Rad Hourani, how does it differ from your main line?

RH: The two collections equal one concept. While the Rad Hourani line functions as a laboratory, and experiments with new shapes and fabrics with a couture-like approach, the RAD by Rad Hourani collection focuses on styles and silhouettes of the same unisex signature look offered in different materials and a more casual transformable fit. Both unisex lines are sold in the same stores, maintaining a broader-spectrum offer around one signature style.

TIS: And what's next for the main collection?

RH: In September 2010, the RAD by Rad Hourani Collection #2 will also mark the implementation of an innovative concept: through the season-and-genderless quality of the clothes, the styles revealed on the runway will simultaneously be available in stores and on Rad Hourani's own online shop.

TIS: Which designers do you admire, new established, men's, women's, etc.?

RH: I admire designers who have a complete vision, who pay attention to all the details of their brand's image, and take that vision even further in abstraction and refinement, all the way into the field of art. Early Pierre Cardin, Azzedine Alaia, Coco Chanel. But I prefer to keep no past in my head and to always think that today is my first day on this planet as I love having a free spirit all the time. In design for example, I try to strip my sources of inspiration of any obvious iconographic reference, concentrating rather on their essential, bare energy.

TIS: Do you remember your first search and/or purchase on eBay?

RH: I think it was in 2002 when I discovered eBay. I was looking for a dvd of "La Notte," one of my favorite movies.

Favorite eBay searches and why?

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