Amiri (Q2633)
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American fashion label
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Amiri |
American fashion label |
Statements
As well as British jazzman Yussef Dayes playing up in the bandstand—awesome—this Amiri outing featured plenty of performers from across contemporary culture who were here just to watch and listen. Christian Nodal seemed especially taken with both Dayes’s flow and Amiri’s show. We were back in the Jardin des Plantes. Following last season’s old Hollywood production, the designer tweaked his focus from screen to stage to build new medleys over his rapidly expanding catalog of house standards.His big bandleader jackets were wide of shoulder and low of skirt, providing drape and movement down from high-tied shirt ribbons to mid-thigh on skinny-hipped bootcut pants. This silhouette epitomizes the 2020s remake of a ’90s movie about the ’50s approach that works so well for him.Exploring the birth of cool (Miles Davis was mentioned) through a contemporary prism, Amiri applied crystal detailing over patterns on tailoring and knitwear. Embroidered florals were layered over tonal monogram print on camp collar shirts. Smart two-tone loafers gleamed with keepsake hardware. The intense pastel accents on knits and outerwear contrasted with monochrome, camel, and washed indigo. Amiri is not too shy to play his codes on repeat, and there were new versions of his drum bags and embroidered satin jackets.Said Amiri: “We can sell clothes, which is great. But the goal for an artist is to create emotion. I want people to look at something and make them dream a bit.” Dreamy as look was feel: A quick backstage check confirmed the lightness and flex of tailoring that was the equivalent of a 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air retrofitted by Tesla. It was fun to see the designer’s sons at the show, collating their own mixtapes of future-memories and codes.
20 June 2024
One of many interesting details in Samuel Hines’ excellent new GQpieceabout Mike Amiri is that the designer graduated summa cum laude from his history major at UCLA. Seeing the pattern of human behavior across time—how politics, morals, and aesthetics swing back and forth through the centuries and decades, with only the occasional jolt of disruption or breakthrough to upset the rhythm—is a pretty powerful asset for a fashion designer. Tonight Amiri showed his understanding of that pattern with a collection that retold overlapping moments from the past in a way that you suspect will strongly appeal to those currently inhabiting the present.The context of the collection was LA, Amiri’s home turf and a city where he, I’m told, has become more widely worn than anywhere else. The set was loosely staged after the auditorium of a movie theater from the talkies era. The clothes, ingeniously, mixed their references from two periods further down the line; the 1950s and the 1990s. Said Amiri: “I was thinking of the mid-’90s era young actors, like a young DiCaprio, as they were at the cusp of their breakthroughs—becoming real cinema artists from their TV beginnings. So they’re dressing up but still being themselves. You’d see tailoring that almost looked thrifted in some ways, and mixed so that it gave you that chance to show up to something formal, but with a bit of informality in your own personality.”The results played out as finely as the jazz clarinet—smooth—on an excellent soundtrack. Amiri’s wearable encapsulations of the metamorphosis into aspirational maturity mixed ’90s kick pant shapes with revival ’50s motifs including softly boxy lounge suit jacket shapes (OG Brioni) and luxuriously realized out of time textures like fleck. Jacquards depicted Old Hollywood landmarks. There was a new house monogram that had its own historical echoes. Skate sneakers, luxe-grungy cardigan knits and jeweled beanies were amongst the fresher generational accents.Referring to his movie theater set, the designer said: “There’s this David Lynch quote that I love, where he says: “curtains can be both hiding and revealing.” There’s that feeling of mystery in waiting to see what comes next.”
18 January 2024
There’s an endearing ingenuity to Mike Amiri. His clothes are as earnest as his approach to dreaming up the stories that support them. This season, the Amiri character is enjoying a transatlantic adventure, traveling from his native California in search of a European summer. The south of France is his destination.The story is not unfamiliar to Amiri. “I’ve been coming to Paris so much to do the shows, and our presence has really been growing here,” he said backstage. “I wanted to connect that growth to the man and his evolving aesthetic.”The show took place at the Jardin des Plantes, with models crisscrossing the gardens on their way to a gravel runway with a bar at its center hosting influencers and celebrities. The venue lent itself to Amiri’s seasonal story. Highlights included shirts and long shorts made with woven leather in a nod to Parisian bistro chairs, tweedy pieces with floral embellishments on the shoulders (“picture him walking through a garden and the flowers from trees are sticking on his shoulders,” Amiri said), and floral pins made with leftover fabrics.Amiri referenced two time periods: the ’50s and the ’90s, blending the tailoring proportions of the former and the ease of the latter. Most compelling were those tweeds cut into relaxed shirt-and-shorts sets, and bouclés dotted with Swarovski crystals. Leaving the lining fabric to hang off short legs as if the Amiri guy had cut his trousers was a nice touch.There’s been a shift in menswear. Street wear has been replaced by jackets and shorts and dressed-down tailoring. But the truth is that not every man is shopping for a suit. “You have to feel comfortable in whatever you wear,” said Amiri, “Even if fashion evolves, you yourself have to be able to wear it, and not let it wear you.”
22 June 2023
Mike Amiri’s runway was floored with an enormous simulacrum of a vinyl record—way bigger than 12 inch—and up on stage alongside tight live accompaniment none other than DJ Premier was mixing the soundtrack. “Nostalgia is super important to me,” said Amiri backstage. “When I was a kid, whether you were a DJ, a basketball player, or a skater, you listened to Gang Starr, you listened to Premier—that’s what you were obsessed with.”The musical producer informed the producer of fashion beyond providing the soundtrack. Amiri said his time discussing DJ Premier’s musical processes—sampling, mixing, reinterpreting, and reinventing—had infused this collection. Once those models were on the runway, walking the vinyl grooves in Amiri’s skate shoes like they were each a fashion-formed stylus, you saw that the designer had returned in part to that golden age of American menswear, the 1950s. Models carried record crates wearing gabardine jackets with diamond check paneling and cardigan sweaters and knit short-sleeves with elegant branded patterning.Many models wore varieties of Amiri’s newsboy cap, a personal gesture relating to his ’90s headwear of choice, and sported sweaters and jackets featuring graphics from an imagined Amiri record label; on the sleeve of one Varsity jacket was inscribed, “Some artists make music. Some artists make history.” Record crates aside, bags included a cool little tote designed to resemble an Akai MPC sampler/sequencer and record sleeve folios.There were fresh reconstructions of the designer’s remixed take on suiting—unified but never rigid or constricting—in top-to-toe looks of frayed, thread-haloed silk, croc-embossed and bleach-blotched leather, and patterned brushed cashmere. Evening versions included bodaciously sequin-strafed button-downs and pants, some in a sort of camo-like pattern Amiri said was originally assembled from studio scraps collected and compiled: “it’s about making something from almost nothing.”Amiri itself has gone from-not-quite nothing—a scrappy Cali denim start-up that blasted its product by shotgun for patina—to something very considerable in a few short years thanks to the founder’s determination and a powerfully enabling group of supporters. Backstage one of those, Diesel’s Renzo Rosso, likened this emerging American powerhouse to a potential “modern Vuitton.” Amiri demurred at such a bold description—“I definitely wouldn’t say that!”—then added: “one person who I definitely look up to is Mr.
Tom Ford and I’ve been fortunate enough to have some conversations with him. He is someone who has been himself undeniably from the beginning and presented something that is undeniably good. Now his place alongside the European houses is unquestioned. If anything, I’d probably most love to be considered a branch of his tree.” And why not shoot for the stars?
20 January 2023
You can see why Amiri is apparently rivalling traditional Euroluxe menswear marques in certain markets. Through being designed by its founder instead of a gun to hire brought in to keep a last-century name ticking over, as well as through the nature of that design, it is highly relatable both in concept and content. Years ago, maybe 2015, I remember speaking to Mike Amiri about his love for reworking denim by means as extreme as taking it to the desert and peppering it with gunshot. Today, in Paris, you could see his roots remain in denim but also how far he has flourished since by expanding his practice of unorthodox artisanal application.There are now 75 staff in his LA atelier, he said: “where we’re just kind of playing with painting and dye techniques and embroideries.” The collection is now made between the US and Italy (minority investor Renzo Rosso, another denim-rooted success story, was on site today). Technically impressive pieces here included jacquard denim; patched washed denim baseball shirts; embroidered Pegasus bombers with tufted wing sections that fluttered in the (very) warm breeze when the models walked; tapestry-woven bandana print shorts, shirts, and bucket hats; football shirts in embossed croc print leather shaped to fall like the real sporting deal; and vintage patched varsity jackets. The progression of color in the show, from baseline washed-denim blue through a few slowly played out chords to marine green and then blue again, was confidently executed and dreamy to watch.The tucked in jacket suiting was gimmicky, sure, yet it looked pretty good—Amiri said he’d been thinking about achieving a boilersuit effect—and sometimes gimmicks really take off. It worked best of all in an ingeniously finished pinstripe fabric meant to appear as if it had been weathered by sunlight, something especially apt at an outdoor show where several audience members were inspired to go shirtless and catch rays. It’s exciting to see labels from outside the luxury firmament step into Paris proper and give such a compelling account of themselves; this has been a good season for that.
23 June 2022
Mike Amiri is sporting a baseball cap with his brand’s logo on it during a Zoom call. Womenswear models in his resort 2023 lookbook wear the same hat pulled down over straight hair; that’s one way Amiri’s menswear business is seeping into his women’s. The other way is with its swagger.After the brand’s womenswear relaunch several seasons ago, its collections erred precious, without the louche verve of his menswear. Things are starting to net out at Amiri HQ after the co-ed runway show the brand staged in LA this past February with Wes Lang. Now, women wear pants slung low, baggy and pooling at the ankles over cool shearling booties. Their cardigans are oversize and shaggy and their jackets come with adjustable zips and snaps at the side for maximum swooshing movement.“The proportion between the tops and the bottoms this season is really a menswear silhouette,” says Amiri, “but it’s not about taking from menswear directly, it’s about making it her own.” The most exciting piece here is a cropped purple puffa, inspired by moto jackets and with all the bells and whistles of a classic Schott, shrunken into a bubble shape and worn with ultra-low-rise trousers. It’s as if the Miu Miu set—all about abs—took a punky, albeit covered-up turn. Is it a realistic or elegant look? Not exactly, but it is taking Mike Amiri somewhere new as far as shape, structure, and style are concerned. Let’s see where he goes from here.
1 June 2022
A question after last night’s Amiri show at Milk Studios in Los Angeles: Does Amiri look like everything or does everything look like Amiri? With pooling kick flare pants, long tunic shirts layered under bombers, and omnipresent crossbody bags, Amiri’s latest menswear is exactly on the pulse. Look across the ocean at the highest, most uppity echelons of the Paris menswear scene and you’ll find exactly these kinds of groovy L.A. guy clothes. There’s no real point in trying to figure out who came up with it first—that’s a very tired way of thinking about fashion. Who is doing it better? Maybe the more important question is: Who is having more fun?Surrounded by friends, family, collaborators, and a cast of celebrities like Travis Barker, Kourtney Kardashian, Angus Cloud, and Kyle Kuzma, Mike Amiri was definitely having a great time yesterday. The show was a homecoming after years in Paris followed by digital presentations during the pandemic. To mark his return, he struck up a collaboration with the most L.A. artist of the 2000s, Wes Lang, whose pieces are featured in several of Amiri’s American stores. “We didn’t want to do the typical artist-designer thing,” Amiri said before the show. “We wanted something more personal.”Lang’s way of meticulously layering paint and fine linework informed Amiri’s process. The materiality of his garments gets better each season, and here there were hidden-seam patchwork leather trousers, tapestry knits, painted hem pants, and suede, macramé, and knit cardigans. The craft is as elevated as ever, but the thing Amiri fans will take away is swagger. With ultra-high vents in the back of robe coats, layered scarves under knits, and those aforementioned flares, the Amiri silhouette is in constant motion, practically bolting forward.It’s the way Mike himself dresses and the way the crowd of L.A. movers and shakers that amassed for the show do too. Experiencing the Amiri vibe in situ amplifies the brand’s effect and message. He’s not just “the jeans guy,” he’s created a community that looks to him not only for fashion advice but for a new way to be. (Lang’s skulls were crossed with messages of positivity, for example.)Amiri is arguably one of the most impactful menswear designers in America right now. Would it be even more impactful to see his clothing alongside his American peers, the ones who are also innovating in the menswear scene? That will be the next question for Amiri, and for American fashion at large.
9 February 2022
One week from now, Mike Amiri will unveil his fall 2022 menswear collection at an event in Los Angeles. It will be the latest in a series of flexes; during the pandemic, Amiri four stores and dressed J Balvin for the CFDA Awards.So where does womenswear fit into the Amiri world takeover? The collection is decidedly quieter and more straightforward than Amiri’s menswear: less flash, more essentials. “We are focused on adding more codes to the baseline of Amiri’s womenswear,” the designer said over Zoom from Los Angeles, sitting outside with the sun blaring behind him.Amiri’s fall womenswear essentials consist primarily of neutral toned, structured separates like blazers, trousers, and slender crop tops. A-line bomber jackets with funnel neck collars give the collectiona little swing, as do new pleated skirts with asymmetrical hems. Blazers are made from coated terry, emphasizing comfort, and wide-leg cargo pants look comfortable, even if they’re shown with the sort of stilettos that strike fear in Birkenstock-wearing WFH types.A hybridized jean-to-sweatpant that marries denim yokes with jersey trousers is Amiri’s feat of construction this season. Elswhere, the pattern of a cashmere sweater is drawn from tie-dyes the Amiri team made in its L.A. studio. These experiments in craft give a little life to the sleek Amiri woman; let’s hope he continues to bring handwork—and maybe a little more ease—into Amiri womenswear.
1 February 2022
As softly spoken as Mike Amiri, the man, can be, Amiri the brand has never really come off as sensitive. While Mike posts handwritten inspirational quotes on his personal Instagram, Amiri’s brand account features slick glamour shots of boys smoking ciggies at the Chateau Marmont. But as it does for all who settle in Los Angeles, wellness eventually came for Amiri.His spring 2022 menswear collection is a paean to feeling good and escaping the modern world. Serenity is telegraphed not only through Amiri’s ever-loosening silhouettes and many ivory lace and silk separates, but through the spa-like setting of a film and a soundtrack by Black Coffee with the cooing refrain, “wish you were here.” Reached over Zoom, the designer riffed, “What does calm look like? What does health look like? How do you make the clothes feel like an exhale?”That will sound especially woo-woo from a guy who started his brand by making tees for Axl Rose and shooting holes through cashmere sweaters with a shotgun. It is also pretty on-the-nose for how one imagines the Amiri customer is feeling right about now. On television, The White Lotus and Nine Perfect Strangers paint distressing pictures of how the well-off search for wellness. The characters’ wardrobes tend to match the state of mind they want to acquire (through whatever means necessary): airy colors, sensual fabrics, louche trousers with a sort of always-on-vacation spirit. Amiri did speak of capturing a certain escapism with this collection, but rather than get as carried away as The White Lotus’s Jennifer Coolidge in a caftan, he knew to pull back on the fantasy and inject a sensitive new reality into his designs.Texture is the big story, and it comes in beautiful and luxurious new ways. The sorbet bouclés will catch your attention first, giving the longline double breasted suiting Amiri has experimented with for a couple seasons a chubby, sweet weight while making a Baja pullover and track pants feel especially luxe. There is whipstitching and fringed hems on camp shirts and leather hoodies—it’s easy to picture Amiri’s athletes coveting these pieces—and a pair of chocolate ice-dyed jeans that took the Amiri team three days to perfect. The best ideas of the collection come together in its final look: A knit tank with hand-embroidered bandana stripes and buttery patchwork leather pants.
The Amiri dude used to have a bull in a china shop brazenness to him; now he’s ready to emote a homespun tenderness—and he’s got a great bag, too.
1 September 2021
Amiri often showed menswear and womenswear together on its runways in Paris, with women in longline seafoam suiting and boxy leather jackets slotting almost anonymously into Mike Amiri’s men’s lineup. The pandemic and its related lockdowns gave him a moment to reconsider exactly who the Amiri woman is and what she’d want to wear. The 22 looks shown here, for spring 2022, are no longer the addendum to a cool dude parade, but their own sure-footed proposition for how women should dress.Amiri’s year of meditation on womenswear resulted in a collection with what he called a “direct and narrow focus.” It’s not revolutionary, with its button-up trucker jackets tucked into slouchy blue jeans, but a reliance on All American style—and specifically Los Angeles art gallery minimalism—gives Amiri enough of a niche in the market. Leather yoked jeans and a gorgeous chocolate double breasted suit are instantly wantable.Still, for all the polish Amiri’s new woman has, you can’t help but wish she had a little grit. Beautiful, austere clothing feels like something we’d all willingly leave in the Before Times in favor of garments that reflect the lives lived within them. His menswear has that mojo, carrying memories of a life well lived. Amiri is a powerful creative director; chances are his womenswear will have its own mojo soon.
29 June 2021
On a typical Amiri runway, you might see looks styled to be so reminiscent of the rock stars and jet-setters that helped kick off Mike Amiri’s career, you would have to do a double take. That ability to translate the spirit of Keith or Axl into clothing for the common guy is what has helped turn the California designer into one of American fashion’s recent success stories. Despite our pandemic year, Amiri is thriving, his business is growing, and he has just launched a prize for young American designers—so you might be surprised to learn about his new source of inspiration: meditation.He admits to his newfound practice a little sheepishly over a Zoom call. The guy who once thrived on the adrenaline of airplanes and Paris Fashion Week and going out is now taking time for mental resets. Looking inward took Amiri back to the early days of his brand in downtown Los Angeles. He waxes poetic about the environment—a little dodgy, a little gritty—that shaped his aesthetic, and pays homage to it with a loose, layered silhouette and an un-precious clash of patterns and styles. The billiards prints that appear on grungy cardigans and silk camp shirts are a reference to the only thing open when Amiri would sign off work around 2 a.m. Worn by a contemporary cast of L.A. dudes in a video by Cara Stricker, this Amiri collection is the strongest yet.Of course, to fashionable eyes, the vision might not seem totally unique. When I ask Amiri about bringing a version of American style—slouchy suits, high-low styling, rakish Cali flair—abroad, he deflects, making a point about our global world. Still, it’s hard to miss the effect L.A. and its denizens are having on runways. Beanies, white sunnies, and straight-leg jeans are popular at Paris and Milan’s fashion weeks, styled with the same irreverence of the Amiri guy. That’s just what happens when a particular brand’s vibe comes into style. For many seasons, Amiri tried to rise to meet his European peers; turns out it would be them trying to crib his look. All the more reason he should stick to it moving forward.
14 April 2021
On a dreary October afternoon in Paris, hours from the start of a corona curfew that will last at least four weeks, watching the Amiri spring 2021 film created a particular longing for the (relative) ease of pre-pandemic travel. Shot on a supremely sunny day outside the Sheats-Goldstein residence—a gleaming, modern architectural landmark with stunning views of Los Angeles—this on-location runway show transmitted the brand’s laid-back, aspirational vibe, not only through the clothes but also the music (overseen by producer The Alchemist) and casting. If Mike Amiri was unable to bring his menswear to Paris back in July, he was now giving us an escape to L.A., where his growing brand is based.Call it the fashion equivalent of home-court advantage. Even before the Lakers won the NBA championship earlier in the week, Amiri had injected the collection with elevated basketball references, notably the athletic shorts in either cashmere or supple leather that had been edge painted like a luxury handbag. He swapped the Saint Laurent–style boots so omnipresent in past seasons for a basketball-inspired sneaker and imagined a mini basketball-shaped bag that we’ll call a man-audière.More generally, this relaxed lineup came across as one that could be easily remixed in ways that would please customers and retailers alike. Soft in the shoulder and longer in length, suit jackets competed with jean jackets, varsity blousons, and motorcycle styles for MVP (most valuable piece), while dungarees and jumpsuits—short and long, in faded denim or leather—were the season’s statement items. “Number one, it’s about being comfortable, but it’s also an homage to the art culture in L.A.,” he said by Zoom. “We’re in the arts district—we dress like this a lot.”“The foundation has always kind of been basic California—that lifestyle is something that I know really well,” he continued, wearing a top embroidered with the brand’s Bones M.A. logo (which appears inspired by both the New York Yankees’ and Marie Antoinette’s monogram). If this well-executed sampling has contributed to the brand’s enthusiastic and diverse following, Amiri also continues to hold the brand to a high standard; the leather craftsmanship transferred through the screen, for instance. And for every insider-y reference (the Hawaiian and cannabis motifs nodded toOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood), he remains attached to a certain European flair—those bouclé suits and Dior-esque ensembles.
Since 75% of the collection was locally produced this season, Amiri said he needed to consider a more “concise” offer. Logistics notwithstanding, this also explains his decision to show outside any standard fashion calendar. “This moment in time allowed us to experiment a little,” he said. “I always wondered how it would feel to present a collection and deliver six to eight weeks later.”The show’s breathtaking setting, meanwhile, conveyed a level of cachet that he may not have achieved in Paris. Anyone familiar with the residence might have noticed that the rooftop tennis court was temporarily converted into a minimalist basketball court, which Amiri proposed to homeowner James Goldstein, whose dedication to attending Paris Fashion Weeks is second only to his dedication to basketball games. Apparently, the businessman, who is usually mistaken for a grizzled rocker, obliged, telling Amiri that someone else already had the idea before him. That someone: Lebron James.
16 October 2020
As far as muses go, Keith Richards is a seductive one. Mike Amiri zeroed in on a particular photo, taken by Harry Diltz in 1979, that captures the rocker on the tarmac at the St. Louis airport carrying a travel bag in one hand and a bottle of Jack Daniels in the other. What fascinated Amiri beyond Richards’s louche appearance was the lifestyle the photo implies—and the idea that, to some degree, it is attainable for those who are not international idols. “I want people to feel like the heroes that they see,” he offered, as if to say, dress the part and the rest will follow (drinking the part is less advised).Hence a collection that conjured an Amiri-fied jet-set archetype, with looks that reflected someone who makes regular commutes between L.A. and Europe’s fashion capitals (the brand now has a Milan studio to further develop tailoring and leather goods). The result was a slightly wilder spin on last season: some mild tinkering of proportions, some major luggage, and a few too many vintage scarf prints. Amiri boys in bouclé suits and pearls were basically the equivalent of an indie band covering The Stones; purists might question the point, but here’s betting the look will catch on. Frequent flyers have their core pieces that always do the trick no matter the trip and the sheer variety of blazers, blousons, and trenches, along with the range of footwear—from sneakers to low-heeled boots—seemed to respond to this consideration. And while not every pair of Amiri pants proved a perfect fit, the front-pleat leather trousers looked attractive across both the men’s and women’s lineups, especially in all those rich hues suited to fall.Travel and music were most directly referenced in the bags, which at creative extreme took the form of drums, guitars, and passports (you can be an Amiri citizen if not an American), and at size extremes were large enough for a weekend in Paris. Indeed, for something or someone to be aspirational means holding it/them to a certain standard, and this comes across well in Amiri’s collections. Yet there’s something about the brand’s true identity that remains up in the air.
16 January 2020
There is a unique feeling that emerges when a brand seems to be at a turning point—something akin to respect sprinkled with excitement. This came through at Amiri today, as the combined men’s and women’s collections exuded perceptible finesse and focus. “I think you have a big vision and sometimes the vision is not perfectly clear, but you can sort of see the brightness ahead of you,” Mike Amiri said backstage about working up to this moment.Without doubt, the staging—lush white flowers and ferns within the soaring nave of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs—registered far lighter and brighter than the gothic backdrops past. Likewise the tone-on-tone palette, which also leaned lighter and, you might even say, pretty. Perhaps the brightness was already owing to OTB’s recent minority stake in the Los Angeles–based brand. Whatever combination of factors, in this opulent ode to Woodstock, Amiri pretty much found his sweet spot.Which is not to say any of these upscale bohemian looks—from tailored vests over crochet tops to flared pants—marked uncharted territory. But what had previously seemed like contrived mixing and distressing now registered as effortlessly matched. Plus, the perfect fit of each jean and velvet pant was far more evident now that black was no longer the default option. And you need only notice the bursts of color at Issey Miyake and in Virgil Abloh’s third men’s collection for Louis Vuitton today to appreciate how Amiri’s gamble will pay off.Elsewhere, the guitar strap trompe l’oeil on jackets made an embellished encore this season, establishing a brand signature of sorts. Generous-size bags with closures like audio jacks looked luxurious—quite possibly aiming to become a would-be West Coast alternative to Hermès. But the real status symbol, especially for Hendrix aficionados, will be the denim jacket paneled in an airbrushed illustration authorized by the musician’s estate—no easy feat. “I have been asking myself why and how we’ve grown,” Amiri said of reaching this moment. “Authenticity has been the most important. We’re still just a bunch of scrappy kids from L.A. doing this together.”
21 June 2019
There is a unique feeling that emerges when a brand seems to be at a turning point—something akin to respect sprinkled with excitement. This came through at Amiri today, as the combined men’s and women’s collections exuded perceptible finesse and focus. “I think you have a big vision and sometimes the vision is not perfectly clear but you can sort of see the brightness ahead of you,” Mike Amiri said backstage about working up to this moment.Without doubt, the staging—lush white flowers and ferns within the soaring nave of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs—registered far lighter and brighter than the gothic backdrops past. Likewise the tone-on-tone palette, which also leaned lighter and, you might even say, pretty. Perhaps the brightness was already owing to OTB’s recent minority stake in the Los Angeles-based brand. Whatever combination of factors, in this opulent ode to Woodstock, Amiri pretty much found his sweet spot.Which is not to say any of these upscale bohemian looks—from tailored vests over crochet tops to flared trousers—marked uncharted territory. But what had previously seemed like contrived mixing and distressing now registered as effortlessly matched. Plus, the perfect fit of each jean and velvet pant was far more evident now that black was no longer the default option. And you need only notice the bursts of color at Issey Miyake and in Virgil Abloh’s third men’s collection for Louis Vuitton today to appreciate how Amiri’s gamble will pay off.Elsewhere, the guitar strap trompe l’oeil on jackets made an embellished encore this season, establishing a brand signature of sorts. Generously-sized bags with closures like audio jacks looked luxurious—quite possibly aiming to become a would-be West Coast altnerative to Hermès. But the real status symbol, especially for Hendrix aficionados, will be the denim jacket paneled in an airbrushed illustration authorized by the musician’s estate—no easy feat. “I have been asking myself why and how we’ve grown,” Amiri said of reaching this moment. “Authenticity has been the most important. We’re still just a bunch of scrappy kids from L.A. doing this together.”
20 June 2019
Sometimes the interplay of Malibu-level luxury—tie-dyed cashmere “hand-airbrushed in L.A.”—and demonstrative backwoods roughness à la “mud-dyed shirting” struck a discordant note at this Amiri show. Yet if you let the music take you, this was a generally beguiling cover version of an acoustic California troubadour masculine standard, presented alongside its womenswear equivalent.Unusually, the opening movement seemed more evening, unless you are the kind of guy who wears his tight leather pants over pointed black suede stack-heeled Chelsea boots under a black bomber jacket etched in lines of music sketched in Swarovski by day. All black, it played Vibram soled suede bikers alongside tucked-in cashmere combat pants under retro-military tailoring and tailcoats, sometimes frogged. Many of the jackets featured shadow-embroidered guitar straps running above the shoulder and across the body, also in Swarovski.Movement two incorporated first olive and then checks—and python-print chiffon dresses in red and gray for the women. The silhouettes stayed the same, albeit with an additional exhale to long, apparently roughly knit cashmere cardigan coats, tailored cashmere overcoats, and underlayer shearlings. What looked at first like narrow cords of climbing ropes used as belts were in fact chunkily jacked amp cords strung through belt loops alongside dyed coyote tails. There was a shearling-face guitar case—there were a lot of handsome guitar and mandolin cases—teamed with a shearling-face blouson. Jeans patched with panels of fabric used in the outerwear looked good.Toward the end, Amiri faded to very near white. A long beige overcoat was worn with a cream leather shoulder-holster harness attached to two envelope-size leather pockets that rested alongside each pectoral. A contemporary fusion of ingredients you could pitch as Bruno Cucinelli–meets–John Varvatos by way of old-school Roberto Cavalli, Amiri’s fresh-feel arrangements made mostly sweet music.
18 January 2019
“What makes my experiences growing up in Los Angeles different from how the world perceives it?” After asking himself this question, Mike Amiri settled on his conclusion. “It’s so much bigger than skinny jeans and rockers, even though that’s part of it.” Spending his formative years in both Hollywood and Beverly Hills proved fertile ground, as this latest collection delivers a hyper-local, culture mash-up of rock and prep that distinctly nods to the ’90s. “I wanted it to have a personal depth,” he added.Say what you will of originality (partially objective) and taste (wholly subjective), Amiri’s collections result from good intentions and close-to-home grit. Production is now more than 90 percent L.A.-based with the brand actually investing in and supporting its factories. His design team, the core group among his 65-person atelier, employs treatments that can only be done by hand: mending, stitching, stencils, tie-dye, marker drawings. These don’t come through in the photos or even in the show, which occupied the same venue as Off-White earlier this week, and likewise, inexplicably, blocked out an outstanding view of the Eiffel Tower.Like Gucci’s ultra-successful formula, much of the character here comes from reincarnating vintage treasures as glossy status symbols. You might think a collection comprised of such disparate glam grunge ideas—distressed, paint-splattered denim; reworked flannels; blinged-out perfectos; Lakers tribute gear; embroidered and oversize cashmere sweaters—comes together at the styling end stage, but Amiri says he sketches a handful of actual looks and then the rest just snowballs. Among this lineup, the skate pants in striped organza paired with a white tuxedo jacket and slip-ons seemed the purest expression of his wild, West Coast style.
22 June 2018
Amidst a swollen sea of white roses, anthuriums, and artificial candles, Mike Amiri made his official Paris debut today. “You don’t want to be ridiculous but you do want to evoke a bit of emotion,” he said, sleeker and more gregarious than when we met for a showroom visit last season. “I wanted people to walk in and have the reaction, ‘I wasn’t expecting him to go this far.’ I wanted to give the collection its best chance.”Or else, take a chance, for while his music video–esque vigil made for a curious opening salvo, there’s no doubt these rock star, streetwear looks were designed to kick up his cred several notches. To do so, he considered details that attested to workmanship and top-shelf pricing: the hand-painted python, the red velvet tuxedo strung with chains, the shawl collar in studded double-faced leather. Other details attested to all-day attitude: bandanas and chains wrapped around suede boots, blanket coats, surf-inspired separates, and sparkle-dusted denim. And let’s not forget the detail attesting to cult-film vampires: A vintage T-shirt featuring Kiefer Sutherland fromThe Lost Boys, utterly defaced with strass. For a label aiming to feed the fashion whims of athletes, and sell-through imperatives of retailers, these glam-grunge details will hit all kinds of sweet spots.Still, despite receiving covetedNew York Timesreal estate right before fashion week, Amiri remains a question mark. The made-in-Los Angeles, hands-on manufacturing is admirable; the repackaging of Hedi Slimane’s Saint Laurent less so. The look might translate from Venice Beach to the Bowery—and perhaps beyond to the Middle East and Asia. Here in Paris, however, while legs may be skinny enough for his hand-distressed jeans, few guys would dare to do glitter (likewise the women, for that matter, in light of the corresponding capsule). But let’s ride this wave and see where Amiri takes us. “It becomes more real as you get more traction and you get more courage to be audacious about your dreams,” he said, with just the right amount of wide-eyed ambition. “Just seeing this, I’m almost thinking braver and bigger.”
19 January 2018
Amidst a swollen sea of white roses, anthuriums, and artificial candles, Mike Amiri made his official Paris debut today. “You don’t want to be ridiculous but you do want to evoke a bit of emotion,” he said, sleeker and more gregarious than when we met for a showroom visit last season. “I wanted people to walk in and have the reaction, ‘I wasn’t expecting him to go this far.’ I wanted to give the collection its best chance.”Or else, take a chance, for while his music video–esque vigil made for a curious opening salvo, there’s no doubt these rock star, streetwear looks were designed to kick up his cred several notches. To do so, he considered details that attested to workmanship and top-shelf pricing: the hand-painted python, the red velvet tuxedo strung with chains, the shawl collar in studded double-faced leather. Other details attested to all-day attitude: bandanas and chains wrapped around suede boots, blanket coats, surf-inspired separates, and sparkle-dusted denim. And let’s not forget the detail attesting to cult-film vampires: A vintage T-shirt featuring Kiefer Sutherland fromThe Lost Boys, utterly defaced with strass. For a label aiming to feed the fashion whims of athletes, and sell-through imperatives of retailers, these glam-grunge details will hit all kinds of sweet spots.Still, despite receiving covetedNew York Timesreal estate right before fashion week, Amiri remains a question mark. The made-in-Los Angeles, hands-on manufacturing is admirable; the repackaging of Hedi Slimane’s Saint Laurent less so. The look might translate from Venice Beach to the Bowery—and perhaps beyond to the Middle East and Asia. Here in Paris, however, while legs may be skinny enough for his hand-distressed jeans, few guys would dare to do glitter (likewise the women, for that matter, in light of the corresponding capsule). But let’s ride this wave and see where Amiri takes us. “It becomes more real as you get more traction and you get more courage to be audacious about your dreams,” he said, with just the right amount of wide-eyed ambition. “Just seeing this, I’m almost thinking braver and bigger.”
19 January 2018
“How do you make casual look amazing?” As Mike Amiri showed off the sixth season of his namesake label from a Paris showroom, he said this consideration remains top of mind. He described the positioning of his Los Angeles–based brand as, “the blurred line between street and luxury,” which sounded somewhat generic until he began to point out the work that went into making the clothes appear so West Coast cool. Shadowy palm trees had been airbrushed on denim; rips in jeans were patched and sewn over, DIY style; field jackets featured embroidered elements that weren’t run of the mill. But the main message was his push toward tailoring, such that a few highly stylized jackets provided a noticeable counterpoint to all the high-impact (and sometimes also gratuitously distressed) T-shirts and hoodies. The most original version: a white dinner jacket with a printed scarf integrated on the underside of the black lapels.In the wake of Saint Laurent post–Hedi Slimane, Amiri likely sees an opportunity to both preserve and redefine the Los Angeles influence locally instead of appropriated from afar. Certainly, with Justin Bieber, Future, and Keith Richards among those wearing the clothes, he’s already achieved a level of recognition that adds a perception value to his standby bombers and biker jackets. But the fact that he willingly admits these pieces aren’t intended to disrupt men’s fashion suggests he understands the importance of delivering premium product that outlasts hype. “We just want to make the most remarkable products in the world,” he said. However the outside world determines this—and as he gradually expands from menswear with a small women’s offering—his own determination will be stitched into each pair of those labor-intensive jeans.
30 June 2017