With his fan base of Justin Bieber, Pete Davidson, Odell Beckham Jr., Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner, to name a few, Mike Amiri should draw some heavy hitters for his first hometown runway show in Los Angeles on Feb. 8.
But they’ll only be seeing men’s wear. Women’s wear on the runway? “I love that idea,” the designer said, laughing. One day.
Amiri relaunched women’s for spring 2022, which means it’s just hitting stores now, nabbing the windows at both Bergdorf Goodman and Maxfield, which is not too shabby. “It’s been great watching our partners support and believe in where we’re going with this,” he said during a Zoom preview of fall 2022.
And where he’s going with this has really started to crystalize for fall, as he defines his take on “borrowed from the boys” with reimagined elevated denim and tailoring that incorporates California casual and street.
“There’s a certain feeling women get when they put on men’s clothing and that has to do with volume and shape and structure. It’s empowering,” he said. “I want to be able to do those same shapes and structures tailored more to a woman’s figure and keeping in mind fabrication and movement.”
His take on the boyfriend jacket? A double-breasted, coated French terry blazer that was a delicious mix of tailoring and a giant sweater that slides off the shoulders. It looked great, as did his many iterations of outerwear, from easy draped robe coats, to cropped volume puffers and shearlings with wire-inset collars serving some drama.
What is emerging as an Amiri women’s signature, his use of hybrid materials on a single garment — French terry with veined denim, Italian leather with cotton jersey, twill and nylon — elevated jeans, sweats, cargo pants and hoodies to true luxury.
This season he used the hybrid approach on drop-waist skirts, too; a washed black denim waistband that dissolved into a pleated chiffon skirt worn with an exposed seam shearling cocoon jacket and white sneakers was California elegant.
And at a time when Tennessee tuxedos are back in a big way (see Julia Fox’s Schiaparelli couture corset jacket and borrowed Carhartts), Amiri offered a snatched-at-the-waist vintage wash cargo military jacket and baggy pants set that was sexy-sophisticated.
Sleek faux-fur coats with a slight sheen; the perfect black leather cargos; spidery patchwork knits; leather tanks and cropped T-shirts; pointed-toe boots, structured clutches and shoulder bags added to the ever-growing Amiri women’s universe, which is being showcased in full in the brand’s four retail stores and counting.
Next stop? Runway.