The Mixer, I’m sure you are wondering where that name comes from. The reason I call him the mixer is because a designer with a background as thoroughly mixed as Omer Asim is quite unusual in the fashion industry. Born and raised in Sudan, he moved to London to enroll in the Bartlett School of Architecture. After that, he completed a postgraduate at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He then trained as a psychoanalyst with the United Nations Development Program, and eventually turned his hand to fashion through a string of internships with the likes of notables such as Vivienne Westwood. A mixture of architect, economist, politician, psychoanalyst and fashion designer defines what Omer Asim is, hence the moniker: The Mixer.
The beauty of Omer Asim’s designs comes from his sartorial skills, conceptual cuts, and simplistic colour scheme of black, white, navy, browns and greys that allows the design of each garment shine through. His cuts are sharp and unexpected, but still manage to incorporate volume. He skillfully designs and sews with his own hands, striving to create a characteristic style through layering fabric and texture. And one thing that is worth-mentioning is that he does not use high-tech machines to sew or cut his material. This man with a handcrafting obsession only does it himself or asks his trusted and skilled intern to do it by hand.
Another unique aspect of his design is that it is non descript of gender, which makes his work hard to pigeonhole. He is unconcerned with gender, preferring to work with a black template when he makes his pieces, pieces he is in complete creative control of. He said his initial interest in fashion was in the avant-garde, but now he thinks ‘avant-garde’ has become yet another fashionable term to signify something very desperate! I counteract that by approaching the avant-garde from the other end, through the basic and pre modern.
Omer Asim as a brand had 1129 followers on Instagram, 3871 likes on Facebook. His own website is still coming soon.
Omer Asim launched his first collection in 2009 during London Fashion Week, and just had his new collection showcased in LFW this year. The collection was flawlessly composed and we are looking forward to more distributions and social media information from this brand with strong personalities.
