B-RAVE

Working with Kareem Aladhami on B-RAVE in 2024 was an opportunity to create imagery that honours both the collection’s roots and the individuals wearing it. Rather than “taking” photographs, I see my practice as building a dialogue, shaping images together with designers, sitters, and collaborators so that the final work feels co-authored, not one-sided.

For B-RAVE, Kareem and I developed a set that referenced both the bustling marketplaces of their childhood in Iraq and the shifting dunes of its landscape. This space became a stage where the collection’s recycled, one-of-a-kind garments could meet the diverse personalities of the people wearing them. Every pose and portrait was shaped with the individual in mind, highlighting character as much as fabric, presence as much as design.

Kareem’s work draws on SWANA heritage, sustainability, and a philosophy of folds and layering that reflects both fragility and resilience. Many of the materials used in their designs are sourced from within their own community as well as other places, weaving together stories of craft, care, and connection. Their pieces, stitched from thrifted, repurposed, and locally-sourced materials, carry narratives of displacement, cultural memory, and transformation, all while imagining gender-neutral futures. My task was to respond to this vision through a photographic process that matched its complexity: layered, multifaceted, and deeply collaborative.

The resulting images are not just documentation of fashion but an extension of Kareem’s call for peace, sustainability, and empowerment, a testament to what becomes possible when art and image-making are built together, in trust and dialogue.

Thank you to this stellar team:
Design by Kareem Aladhami
Photography by Isabella Hewlett
Styling by Kathasys, including Shades by BunteBussis and Bags by Vase Upcycling, gloves & socks by Kathasys
Set Concept by Kareem Aladhami and Isabella Hewlett
Set styling by Kathasys and Isabella Hewlett
Backdrop courtesy of Patrick Rieser
Make Up and Hair by Skye, Marie, Theresa
Talent (in order as shown): Deborah (Interxenial), Yuki C, Kelsey (Interxenial), Hoesé (Interxenial), Madlen Goldberg, Theresa Kovacs, Felix, Katha, Flora, Sarah S (Flare Talents), Aneta, Axel, Natalie Riede, Ruby Sutton, Aunty