SOCIAL IMPACT

Rad Hourani attracted a global audience by using costume as a medium to introduce a new sizing system specific to entirely genderless wardrobes, generated from the invention of gender-neutral patterns. This unprecedented unisex concept in Rad's ready-to-wear and couture collections addresses issues of gender identity and inequality, highlighting their ties to mainstream codes of dressing.

From 2007 to 2014, Rad used the discipline of runway to break through the divisions inherent in mainstream consumerism. This practice served as a zone of activism, fostering emerging dialogues and public shifts. Rad collaborated with politicians and other creatives, involved live musicians during biannual installations in New York and Paris, and was hosted internationally by various cities and institutions.

PERFORMANCE ART

Rad applied principles of architecture to how each garment would move with the wearer, crafting works with movement in mind. Rad's runway performances incorporated body movement and gestures to conjure symbolic meaning, projecting confidence and self-celebration as an aesthetic disruption of social barriers. Persisting in challenging stereotypical narratives, Rad questioned the strict separations of men's and women's wear collections that form the basis of the fashion industry.

The conventional catwalk, historically conceived to showcase the latest trends, perpetuates consumer anticipation through the release of seasonal collections made available in stores six months later. Rad rethought this model, focusing on a sustainable anti-trend strategy aimed at producing timeless pieces that were simultaneously available online as they were shown. Rad's mantra, "genderless, raceless, ageless, nationless, limitless," aimed at changing the systematic conventions of the catwalk, was frequently reiterated in media interviews.

Rad's walking art shows were presented at ground level, unlike the typical raised runways, with the catwalk situated between rows of seating, eliminating separations between guests and models. Elements of live music and specific lighting were added to create an inclusive ambience of belonging.

Choreographed performances revealed the ensembles, with forms evolving in motion. This allowed for expression to manifest in the performer through given instructions: walk slowly to the beat, sharply turn, march forward without stopping, and more. Their attitudes conveyed metaphorical understandings of traits like determination and perseverance, symbolizing purity through their delivery as living sculptures. As the choreography progressed, the models coming together at the end symbolized human union.

ACTIVISM

Rad's years of diligence among worldwide institutions included frequent international press events, exhibitions, lectures, conferences, and livestreams. Rad's creations were carried by 250 locations in 30 countries and presented at several events globally, despite the economic crisis in 2008 and the absence of present-day social media. Rad's vision evokes radical change and revolutionizes reality.

Rad Hourani forges space for niche discussions around societal and institutional biases through evolutionary activism concerning the impact of fundamental normative codes. Through art practice, Rad demonstrated the impact of physical expression, from the runways to the streets, for wearers to upend societal conformity. The transformative nature of geometrically neutral proportions demonstrates an unlimited language of silhouettes, rejecting the binaries of costume. The work is groundbreaking in the context of historical trends, like the garconne look of the 1920s and the peacock revolution of the 1960s. The depictions on the runway propose non-gendered definitions of cuts and forms, encouraging deliberation to empower individual narratives.

© RAD HOURANI

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