Examples from Rami Kadi’s Fall/Winter 2016 collection. Photographs courtesy Rami Kadi.
Franz Kafka, meet Rami Kadi.
In Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis,” Gregor Samsa wakes up one day only to find he’s a bug. It would be Kadi’s greatest nightmare.
But he’s taken his entomophobia and run with it, creating a fall/winter line inspired by various insects and called “Lucioles,” or “Fireflies” that uses glow-in-the-dark materials.
Through this collection, the Lebanese-American designer tells the story of his own metamorphosis, challenging whether fear can form beauty.
Spending more than 400 hours perfecting select styles, Kadi fashions black-and-white pieces that range from gowns with insect-like embellishments to trousers with built-in capes of ostrich feathers and Argentine fox. He adds beetle-shape trimmings and lace to replicate a spider’s web.
Fascinated by fireflies, Kadi dedicates several pieces to these magical creatures, which bubble up from a sea of grass in the evenings. With silk and sequin leaves married with luminescent embroidery, the couture hints at a reawakening under moonlight, just like its evanescent muses.
For more, visit rami-kadi.com.
