KHIRY FALL/WINTER 2022 NYFW RUNWAY PRESENTATION

KHIRY FALL/WINTER 2022 PRESENTATIONNEW YORK FASHION WEEK

“Fights Reveal Futilites”

Creative Direction: Jameel Mohammed

February 13, 2022

New York, NY

Jameel Mohammed continues the storyline from last season with “Fights Reveal Futilities,” debuting a new demi-fine jewelry collection and custom-made garments shown as a part of a performance piece at New York Fashion Week.

(New York, NY.) Feb. 13, 2022 — Afrofuturist jewelry designer and multi-disciplinary artist Jameel Mohammed debuts the latest collection for his brand KHIRY at Spring Studios today during New York Fashion Week as a part of IMG/Endeavor’s Color of Change show alongside House of Aama and Third Crown. 

His presentation is a continuation of the story line from last season’s Flights, Fights, and Fantasies show, an exploration of the tensions between the various options of escapism in the struggle for Black liberation.  This time with “Fights Reveal Futilities,” Mohammed wanted to make a statement about the situational utility and frequent futility of political violence as a strategy for creating durable freedom, exploring the transcendent highs and crushing lows of Black liberation fighters throughout history.

He does this by embodying emotion through all senses during the show through the runway looks, conceptual videos, emotional choreography, and a vocal performance by Mohammed himself. The presentation and performance piece serve as an examination of the history of political violence, and questions the separation between that history and the vulnerable peace we strive to maintain today. Mohammed creative directed the show with the assistance from Bryant Von Woodson. Mohammed arranged, composed, and wrote original lyrics for the show’s soundtrack and live performance.

Consequently, the season’s collection of over 20 new styles of demi-fine jewelry includes earrings, cuffs, bangles, and rings; each reflecting a clean, futuristic presence that is articulated with sharp embellishment reflecting the many spikes, thorns, daggers, and stingers found in nature; a reference to an animal’s need to protect its eggs and its young. The shapes echo the movement from abundance to a lack thereof. Pieces include the X Cuff named after Malcolm X, the Talon Pendant, and the Orb Protection Ring.

This runway collection, Mohammed’s second officially on the CFDA New York Fashion Week calendar, features 16 looks as a response to the jewelry’s spikes and thorns in turn with rips, ties and drapes. The hand-sewn garments balance the jewelry in melodic chaos, representing a battle; external and internal. Look 11 “Even My White Flags Got Spikes” consists of a spiked white mohair dress, lending material dimension to the tensions between our soft and aggressive impulses. Look 1 “Between Two Americas” is worn by Theresa Hayes, is a dress made from two American flags that makes a statement about the political positions of Black people in the country from its inception. Look 12 “Everlast” featured a halter top constructed from vintage boxing gloves shaped into a bra and paired with a colorblocked rainbow skirt stitched from vintage Everlast t-shirts and screenprinted with Mohammed’s own drawing of Vietnam war abstentionist, Muhammad Ali. Three standout looks (Looks 6, 15 and 16) took a sculptural form, consisting of spike shaped balloons in metallic hues, a metaphor for one’s external armor. A crowd favorite, Look 8 is a pink denim set of jeans and jacket, riveted with original KHIRY spike network hardware and draped in tonal rose quartz beads, and finished with an original drawing of an Afrofuturist femme fighter going back in time to slay a Confederate soldier. 

Each look explores the relationship between peace and control, freedom and security, liberation and repression. Mohammed uses his sophomore presentation to continue telling an unraveling story with a focus on raw emotion, nuance, and refined visual form. Mohammed reveals with this collection that he is not just fighting for his space in the fashion sphere but now, existing. KHIRY is and continues to be anything but futile. 

Photo credit: GETTY