Ms Reem Alasadi
MA Coordinator of MA Textile Design and MA Fashion Design
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Reem Alasadi is MA Coordinator of MA Textile Design and MA Fashion Design within Winchester School of Art at the University of Southampton.
A famous fashion anthropologist once said that there are really only two camps in fashion world; costume and uniform. This was correct till Reem exploded on to the Fashion Scene in the early 21st C and turned all definitions upside down.
Iraqi born, and living in London since her teens. Reem Alasadi has approached the fashion scene with her somewhat unquenchable drive and passion for design. Her creations always have their own unique signature to them, a personality of their own that seems to enhance the wearer.
The signature on all Reem's clothes is artisanship and handcrafted excellence. She applies the same magic to salvaged and re-worked clothes as she does to ready-to-wear and couture pieces. The hallmark of an item by Reem is integrity and originality, she manages to put together the most surprising elements and somehow they always work. Mixing metaphors is Reem's signature style, a delicate Victorian slip sewn onto an army jacket, trimmed with antique lace and fur. It is often almost impossible to tell if her clothes are antique or original.
Since 2005, Reem has run shows as part of Tokyo Fashion week, a collaboration with the cool department store Laforet in the heart of Harajuku. In 2007 Reem entered the London Fashion Week arena with a show entitled 'Beautiful Agony' as part of ON||OFF, the important names in fashion all came to show their support, Lucinda Chambers (fashion Director Vogue), Sarah Mower, Karen Franklin etc all who have been long-time fans. The show was packed to capacity, with many people unable to get in.
In 2009, at London Fashion Week, Reem broke all the rules and sign-posted a revolutionary new way of showing, working and selling a fashion collection by combining two seasons on one runway.
REEM the brand went strength to strength showing once a year:
- A Beautiful Agony Collection SS/AW08 in London and Tokyo
- Charlie Says Collection SS/AW09 in London and Tokyo
- Bubble and Squeak Collection SS/AW10 in Tokyo
- God save the queen collection SS/AW 11 in Tokyo
- Twisted Oliver Collection 2012 in Tokyo
- Entrapment collection SS/AW13 in Tokyo
- Daddy take me to the Circus SS/AW14 in Tokyo
The idea was born to open a pop up shop once a year from November to December a period of 5 weeks in Harajuko, Tokyo, while showing.
In Dec 2013 Reem Alasadi was offered to head the visual merchandising department of LANE CRAWFORD in Hong Kong and China. There she organized and changed the way the department worked – apart from, of course, being creative, she introduced thinking in sustainable and ethical ways, ‘’how to reuse our old props?”- , so ‘PLATFORM’ was created. This is where new curators and artists from Europe and China were invited to recycle the old props and turn them to new art pieces.
From May 2014 to now Reem has returned to the UK to work with the Winchester School of Art as MA Coordinator of MA Textile Design and MA Fashion Design.
As a senior lecturer to the MA and professor mentoring the PHD students she is also an ambassador to the school. With her vast knowledge of retail and design from start to finish she brings a huge amount to the MA’s and other students,
Reem also brings in influential speakers such as the legend Caryn Franklin and Paul Alger from the UK Import and Export who works closely with the British Fashion Council.
Reem has a professional relationship with Lucinda Chambers who has been a huge support and a big fan of REEM. She even called Simon Eard of the British Fashion Council while Reem was showing Lucinda one of her collections, demanding they allow REEM to show on schedule at LFW (as she believed REEM was the next big thing since Westwood).
