Mohammed Ashi tells the details of a spiritual journey in which darkness and light intertwine. He also presents a collection that dances between surrealism and realism.

Mohammed Ashi tells the details of a spiritual journey in which darkness and light intertwine. He also presents a collection that dances between surrealism and realism.

His Riyadh Air crew collection features cashmere pieces, silk scarves and hats inspired by the 1950s (Riyadh Air)

Mohammed Ashi, another designer who gave us his perspective on the relationship between darkness and light, and the real and the surreal, with a tangible influence from Cristóbal Balenciaga. He also excelled in transforming materials and fabrics into sculptures, but unlike others, he achieved other goals during this week dedicated to haute couture. On the evening of the same day, he presented a collection of clothes and accessories that he created for the crew of Riyadh Airlines, which he said was inspired by the golden era of the global aviation sector in the fifties and sixties of the last century.

At 11:30 am, Ashi set an appointment for us with his collection for Fall/Winter 2024-2025, which differed in detail from what he presented for the flight crew, and was similar to it in that it took us flying between the clouds and above the clouds. Its title “Sculpted Clouds” may be a coincidence, but this does not prevent us from guessing that flying was on his mind.

By 10:30, the crowds were starting to arrive, and the atmosphere outside the Monet du Pagé building, just a few minutes from the Louvre, was buzzing with activity and excitement. A number of influencers and guests were posing in his designs, giving us a glimpse of what to expect from his show, or so we imagined.

We enter the hall and the atmosphere changes, and any preconceptions we had outside are erased from our minds. Suddenly, the sunlight disappears, replaced by darkness, dispelled only by the flash of cameras as A-listers such as Michelle Williams, Sadie Sink, Tom Hollander, and Calista Flockhart are photographed. This is the first time the latter has ever attended a Paris fashion show, as she avoids the spotlight, but she needs it after her return to the art scene as the star of Sam Shepard’s famous play “The Curse of the Starving Class,” which won an Obie Award in 1977 and is currently being revived on Broadway.

Smoke was seeping from the sides of the catwalk to enhance the atmosphere of mystery and excitement, while plants were scattered to create the impression that we had moved to another planet, while a moving mural decorated the wall.

Mohamed Ashi dispels this mystery when he explains that he chose “Sculpted Clouds” as the title of this collection; to introduce us to a surreal world “full of warm human feelings and experiences”, adding that his idea was never to completely separate from reality, but rather to distance “our souls and limbs” from the fast pace of life that we live today. From this perspective, he imagined a parallel world that he wanted to be ideal and realistic at the same time, reflecting the struggle we live between darkness and light.