Ashi Loungewear featuring model Georgina Grenville. Photo Thibaut Theodore Babin. Courtesy Ashi
Mohammed Ashi may be holed up in his Paris apartment but he’s cooked up an entirely new line poised to launch next week. Ashi loungewear is announced as the fashion house’s defiant response to Covid-19, a creative leap, considering its raison d’être is couture. “I like to take things into my hands,” he says over the phone. “It’s not an easy moment for anyone. I’ve reached out to a lot of people, most are unclear; it’s a foggy situation.” He’s gathered together all of those uncertain notions and stitched together something new.
His thoughts turn to couture; will it survive? Not for the moment, he concedes. “All of my clients have postponed their events,” he shares. “Azzedine Alaïa is looking down on us from above and saying, ‘I told you so,’” he chuckles, surrounded by new greenery, having bought fig and banana trees, and endless flower bouquets since lockdown in an effort to bring the outside in.
The idea to launch loungewear—Fifties-inspired roomy shirts, loose trousers, and long, silk robes—had been simmering for the past three years. “Clients want something easy. Now, people will not invest in newcomers but in products they can afford. The new norm is easy and affordable,” he states. Prices will range from 250 to 500 Euros while fabrics will remain innately luxurious. 100% cashmere and silks, pure cottons, and linens. “Really high-end fabrics sourced from Italy when they went into lockdown,” reveals Ashi. Everything is unisex and intended to fit large, ranging from sizes 38 to 56.
Ashi loungewear. Featuring Georgina Grenville and her daughter at home in Paris. Photo Thibaut Theodore Babin. Courtesy Ashi
Ashi called on Georgina Grenville to embody the launch story. The South African model is best known as the original 90s Gucci girl by Tom Ford and shot by Mario Testino and Steven Meisel. If in the past, she incarnated the independent, sexy woman, for Ashi, she embodies thoughtful introspection, love of self and others. “That’s her house and her daughter,” reveals Ashi of the intimate images captured in Paris. The former muse of Tom Ford and Versace has long been in the couturier’s mind for a collaboration. “For the loungewear, I wanted to use someone who wasn not your typical model,” he says. In a husky voice, she also narrates the video featured above, the forlorn script written by Ashi.
Ashi Loungwear featuring model Georgina Grenville. Photo Thibaut Theodore Babin. Courtesy Ashi
From Monday, each month, Ashi will release five looks on Ashistudio.com, conceived in Paris under confinement and made in Florence. Proceeds will go towards families affected by Covid-19. “I will also feature two couture dresses, with a full couture story each month, on a different theme, and with a different shooting. At the end of the day, I am known as a couturier, but I’m not going to follow any fashion schedule, at least until the end of 2020. Join Ashi Studio Live on Instagram with Vogue Italia deputy director Sara Maino at 7pm Paris time, 8pm Saudi time, 9pm Dubai time.
Creative Concept: Ashi
Model: Georgina Grenville
Director/ Photographer: Thibaut Theodore Babin
DOP/Videographer: Cheyne Tillier-Daly
Stylist: Gaultier Desandre Navarre
Production: Weird Fishes Studio
