Toronto Fashion Week: RAD by Rad Hourani Fall 2012

Rad Hourani continues his gender-bending way of dressing into his diffusion line, only without the 'cheap' part

Photo by Christian Allaire
Designer diffusion lines are becoming one of the biggest rages of the season, whether we approve of it or not. This month we had Marni for H&M; on Tuesday we had MATIS by Lucian Matis; Wednesday launched the newest, super accessible Joe Fresh line, which offers high fashion looks for less. Not wanting to miss the bandwagon, Jordan-native designer Rad Hourani (who lived in Montreal during his youth) took his turn at a diffusion line this fall — only without the ‘cheap’ part. 

“RAD by Rad Hourani is really a ready-to-wear line. I don’t consider it as a second line or first line; Rad Hourani is more of the signature laboratory — that’s where the ideas come from, where I do photography, film and all that,” said Hourani. “My inspiration is always about what I feel like wearing. This collection I felt like wearing green, so I studied the colour green and picked up all the shades that I liked from it. I ended up only picking two shades.”

Photo by Christian Allaire
The line kept true to Hourani’s signature gender-bending aesthetic; both male and female models sported puffy reversible jackets in mixed materials (wool on the outside, crepe on the outside — or vice versa), as well as skinny black pants in a stretch or leather. The colour palette remained strictly to green, brown, or black, and was done in either a solid or colour-blocked combination. “I said to myself unisex would be the right thing because I don’t see the world by being a male or female, or by being black or white, or by being fifty years old or ten years old,” said Hourani. The collection also focused on leatherwear, a Hourani favourite, done in full jackets or on lapels, sleeves, backpacks, oversized messenger bags, and waist-cinching belts. Leather harnesses were also styled on top of coats – which, after the show, a model fussed with: “I don’t know how to put this back on.”

Hourani is a self-taught designer, which makes his focus on craftsmanship even more remarkable. Many of the items he showed on the runway were his first attempts. “I’ve never done a hoodie before… I’ve never done a puffy jacket before. I manipulated the fabric to give it more of a strong shape without being drapey and more structured. It was a manipulation I did with fusing and working with techniques on the fabric,” said Hourani. “It’s also the first time I do reversible clothes. The jacket you can wear on the outside as black, or on the inside as green — or vice versa. I like the idea of having two pieces in one.”

Photo by Christian Allaire
Although the pricepoints on the diffusion collection is significantly less than his namesake label, don’t be counting pennies just yet: the collection ranges from $100 – $2,500 in price, with jackets coming in at roughly $800 and up. But fret not, because you get what you pay for – Hourani has kept high quality materials and finishes in the line, not to mention versatility, which is something you just won’t get at an H&M collaboration. 

All photos by Christian Allaire

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