NEVER PARTED
Hoor Al Qasimi is pushing boundaries with renewed vigor and purpose as the physical and philosophical heir to the Qasimi brand.
By LAURA BOLT
Photography MOUS LAMRABAT
It’s been said that talent runs in the family, and the Al Qasmi twins are certainly evidence that that may just be true. Born to Emirati royalty, both Khalid Al Qasimi and his twin sister Hoor were and are creative forces in their own way. Hoor made her name as a powerhouse in the art world, shaping the artistic legacy of Sharjah. The Central Saint Martins educated Khalid, meanwhile, had been making waves in the fashion industry for over a decade with his eponymous line Qasimi, which explored concepts like identity, politics, and culture through sharply designed clothing and his romantically hopeful vision of the Middle East’s future.
Khalid’s label was a proud representation of his country and heritage, as well a platform for the designer to explore issues of home, representation, and poetry. “Qasimi is a way for me to discuss what's going on around us, whether it is politics or economics,” he once said, later adding that “there are always different ways of viewing things. With my background, politics is very much embedded within our situation in the Middle East. We are always discussing politics, at home, over dinner, it’s present in conversation all the time. That’s something that I don’t necessarily see in fashion: politics within the clothes, translating politics and history into fashion.”
Unfortunately, a dream realized became a dream deferred when Khalid Al Qasimi died unexpectedly in 2019 at the age of 39. Still in mourning, Hoor Al Qasimi vowed to keep her brother’s vision alive by seeing to it that his work at Qasimi hasn’t been in vain. With the caveat that, “It will always be my brother’s office, my brother’s team, and my brother’s label,” Hoor took the reins of Qasimi as Creative Director and is now honoring her brother’s legacy while building a future for the brand that is distinctly her own.
“His aura is still present at our London studio, with his original sketches lying around. It’s a strange feeling knowing that your twin is longer with you,” says Al Qasimi. “So, occasionally, I’ll scroll back to our log of phone messages and revisit references that he was heavily inspired by.” She relied heavily on the existing team while infusing the work with her own sensibilities. The challenge was to create a living memorial and honoring clothing, techniques, and certainly people from the past, while firmly stepping into the future.
When she began to work on the label, Al Qasimi admitted that the steep learning curve was easier to navigate due to her connection to her late brother, saying that, “Fashion is new to me. So, one of the biggest challenges will be to learn and absorb as much about the industry as I possibly can. Luckily, Khalid and I always played as a sounding board for each other in our separate endeavors, him for me with art, and myself for him in fashion – so I feel well connected to it.”
As she explored a new realm of creative potential, Al Qasimi expanded not just her mind, but also the brand, introducing a new womenswear collection to the label. For Hoor, “Rather than a couple, the Qasimi woman is very much a soulmate to the Qasimi man. They are two parts of one story.” It was a move that felt poetic, representing the new feminine energy that flowed through the house, proof that the end of a life can still open the door to expansion and the power of memory doesn’t have to fade.
Under Hoor’s tutelage, the brand found its stride by taking inspiration from the past to build it’s future. “The brand wanted to look back at its cultural heritage, more specifically textiles from the Arabian Peninsula”, she said of her debut. “We used it as patchwork in the jersey collection and on accessories, as well as entire pieces of outerwear, trousers and headwear. Like the weavers, at Qasimi we also interpret the world around us to try to make sense of things, imparting our own creative input into the garments we design.”
While she’s undertaken the new endeavor with courage and vigor, Hoor has remained faithful to her background in the art world, using her knowledge as inspiration for her work. A constant champion for underrepresented groups and political activism, Hoor has built a career advocating for and highlighting artists that speak truth to power and aren’t afraid to ask tough questions. Judging by her work so far, it’s a passion she intends to bring to her role at Qasimi.
In fact, it was her experience directing the Sharjah Biennial which led to a collaboration with American artist Nari Ward, for which Ward created a rap dubbed We The People that evoked themes of racism and youth culture. “The overarching concept of the collection is about diversity and change through unity, civil responsibility and equality,” she said of the inspiration for the collaboration. “So once the protests against anti-black racism began, the collection started to take on a new, more profound meaning, reinforcing the brand’s mission to address political and social issues.”
Addressing social issues has always been central to the DNA of the Qasimi brand. In a past “False Flags” collection, Khalid experimented with ideas about immigration, militarism, and globalization, imbuing his clothes with a deeper message than simply looking smart. Speaking of his boundary-pushing designs, Khalid once remarked “It’s very easy to self-reference in my opinion, and whilst I touched on Middle Eastern style… it really wasn’t so much about my background as it was about ideas of movement. The idea of mixing two opposing ideas together goes a bit deeper than myself. There was this idea of pacifying military clothing, minimalizing it. At the risk of a touchy subject, there were ideas of terrorism as well. This is more about the state that we’re in and the symbolism of certain things. To a Western person, some aspects of traditional Middle Eastern clothing are perhaps seen as aggressive or threatening, but if you look at it from the other point of view, the traditional Western military outfit could be much more threatening, or indeed terrorizing. It’s about how you view things and the ways we create meaning.”
Ultimately, creating meaning remains the throughline of Qasimi, no matter which Al Qasimi twin’s hand is driving that meaning. Aligned in their mutual curiosity, artistic and worldly upbringing, and confidence to stand up for what they believe in, it’s become clear that Hoor is truly both the physical and philosophical heir to the Creative Director throne.
The East-meets-West dichotomy is another brand fixture that Hoor intends to continue to explore, noting that “the brand’s connection with both the West and East epitomizes Khalid’s (and my own) identity. We grew up between the two worlds and so London was home to my brother and therefore a big part of Qasimi’s identity.” It's a logical step for a woman who once said about a biennale, “Why country representation? Nobody’s from one country!” It seems that for both Al Qasimi twins, at the end of the day, pushing boundaries is just another way of making connections.
Only time will tell what Hoor will dream up at Qasimi, though it's a safe bet that weaving traditional Middle Eastern fabrications and styling with a global slant will always be part of the brand. Just as she had to let go of her brother, it’s clear that Hoor has a uniquely deep understanding of the ideas of permanence and legacy. “I don't like the word permanent very much,'' she has said. “For example, with monuments that you walk past every day – at some point you end up not noticing them anymore. They just become a normal part of the landscape. So if you're trying to engage with your audience, it is more interesting to have thought-provoking interventions.”
It is a heavy task, stewarding the vision of someone you have loved and lost, while also steering towards continued relevance in the ever-changing world of fashion. “I don’t feel like he’s gone sometimes, and I often dream of Khalid,” Hoor has said. Now that his dream is one they both share, it’s only fitting that he continues to have a place in hers. Qasimi will no doubt continue to be a compelling presence with a rich and complicated past, present, and future, but if there is one thing that will remain true, it’s that where love is concerned, some dreams will never die.
