THE MEDIUM OF COSTUME

Rad Hourani is perpetually aware of the power of aesthetics at large and how a person’s ensemble of outer garments has the capability of evoking nuanced characteristics. In using his own reflections, he examines the restrictive narrative around gender normative tropes of clothing. These have an impact on our daily lives through heteronormativity, gender privilege, homophobia, cissexism, and other forms of prejudice.

The predetermined societal declaration of gender enacts expectations to dress according to certain gender-specific codes. Society often neglects the inequalities caused by the containment of human expression through the body. Rad Hourani asks the question of how consumerism and art must become self-reflective in areas of codifying masculinity or femininity through cuts, colors, shades, motifs, and textiles.

By using the medium of costume to comment on this bone of contention, Rad Hourani explores ways of breaking down conceptual divisions. Through his art practice, he challenges the media and mass society, which uphold limitations through aesthetic conformity. His perspective aims to use this discipline to support an embodiment of liberation through the wearer.

RESEARCH

In pioneering a non-binary dressing narrative within consumer industries and artistic platforms, Rad Hourani's process involves challenging the validity of conditioned standards for male and female clothing. He reflects on the first garments, originating with the sole purpose of clothing the body without the interference of gender association. Initially, clothing served the practical function of protecting the body from natural elements. In time, attachments to wealth, nobility, patriotism, and religious identity were asserted, and conceptions of gendered codes of dressing were adopted, remaining to this day.

His vision of an entire gender-neutral wardrobe diverges from the typical association of cross-dressing, where flamboyant clothing and theatrical motifs still carry boundaries of gendered connotations. Specifically, with the application of a flared outline, tailored cuts, and accessories. His methodology differentiates from the role and functions of uniforms or androgyny, as these terms still cater to classified concepts. Before this time, although "one size fits all" or unisex pieces like t-shirts and hats had existed, there was never entirely a ready-to-wear collection with a sizing system specific to all.

CONCEPTION

In order to create a complete genderless wardrobe with a chart of sizes generated from his iterations of non-gendered patterns, Rad Hourani studied the varying human anatomy for two years. He dissects the body with precision to understand human morphology and uses the medium of architecture and geometry as a tool to construct alternative garments. The collections, conceived as transformable silhouettes, articulate flexibility in the expression of one's identity, which allows the wearer to express their own multiplicities. His innovative concept challenges the strict duality of gendered patterns that are the basis of clothing construction, from the manufacturing industries to formulaic design schools.

INVENTION

In 2007, Rad Hourani created the first entirely Gender-Neutral ready-to-wear collection in the history of fashion by inventing patterns with a specific non-gendered sizing system. In this way, the agency of costume envisions an existence free from limitations and conditioning of the self.

The result is groundbreaking in the context of counterculture or historical trends in costume. The creation was exhibited at the Dominique Fiat Gallery in Paris via an installation of a runway performance. The ensembles depict a composition of ageless forms with neutral lines, timeless textures, and a dichromatic color palette of black and white. The minimalist schemes establish the neutrality of the artworks and initiate a dialogue of new possibilities by using symbolic vocabulary and propagating the meaning of dressing.

This revelation eradicates binary conditions and objects to the coercion of dressing according to society's superimposed idiosyncrasy. Upholding a baseline of equality, the unisex work paved the way for boundary-pushing creations of the future, applying non-binary terms, such as: genderless, agender, genderfluid, non-gendered, all genders, ungendered, human, and others.

© 2007 RAD HOURANI

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