10 Questions with Ali Khan

Ali Khan is a Doha-based Artist and Fashion Consultant with a diversified experience that includes design, forecasting, merchandising, retail, and academics and uniquely encompasses a mix of high-end luxury and street fashion. His academic affiliations include such prestigious schools as HEC Paris, the Royal College of Art London, FIT New York, and VCUQatar, where he is an Associate Professor of Fashion.

His award-winning works have been showcased consistently in New York and London and are part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Art in Nelson, New Zealand. He is regularly invited to fashion weeks around the globe as an influencer, publishing his reviews and photography in various academic journals and fashion magazines as well as presenting his research at Design Conferences around the world.

He is currently working on a new collective platform, ‘Le Fool, ’ which aims to bring a diverse and critical perspective to the creative industry.

www.le-fool.com | @le_fool_official

ARTIST STATEMENT

“The boundaries between Art, Luxury, and Fashion have all but disintegrated. Each industry borrows aesthetical choices or business development ideas from the other as well as partners with them in collaborations.

As an artist of color with an extensive and diverse background in the fashion and luxury industries worldwide, creating art that encompasses the three industries has been of natural interest to me.

As artists, we must reflect back to society with honesty and authenticity through our unique personal life experiences. Hence, in my work, I always aspire to reflect and comment on such contemporary social themes of politics, activism, and pop culture that surround my daily life to decipher contemporary masculinity, sexuality, and power dynamics in a global and connected world

Now, more than ever, we must raise a voice of diverse opinions, multilateralism, pluralism, and multiculturalism to stand against mainstream narratives of conformity and herd mentality to push the conversation forward, even if it might be uncomfortable or controversial at times.

In technique, although I draw heavily on my skills and training in the craft of fashion, I am passionate about not being limited to a singular medium but rather being consistent in the themes and topics that I choose to work with. I feel each theme guides us to the appropriate expressions for each subject matter as part of our work process, and hence my body work thus far contains everything from photography to film to digital art to textile craft and fashion design.”

— Ali Khan

INTERVIEW

Let's start talking a little bit about yourself. You are an Artist, a Fashion Consultant, and an influencer. What is your background, and what inspired you to pursue this career?

Well, I wouldn't call myself an influencer in any way. I don't think anyone can be an influencer knowingly unless they just want to be a billboard. Having said that, my background is in fashion design, I was educated in fashion, and my career has been working for fashion brands as well as running my own fashion house. Eventually, I evolved towards working as an artist because it gave me more freedom to be myself and express more succinctly what I wanted to express. But I still love fashion and the power it has within society and I continue to be involved in fashion academics and consultancy, but my interest is now more about macro and larger trends and influences fashion has within the culture in that it exists. It's still a more honest representation of society and its desires than any other art form.

Tell us more about your studies and work experiences. What are the experiences that shaped the artist you are now? Did you have an aha moment along the path, or did you have it all clear from the very beginning? 

I don't think there was an aha moment, unfortunately. I loved working in fashion and never thought it would ever change but eventually, over the years, the direction where fashion was headed as a business with celebrity-centric and social media-based brands, it was clear the craft of fashion was getting lost, and without it, fashion is not of much interest to me. A designer/luxury brand cannot behave like fast fashion, and when it does, there is no point for it to really exist. I savored singularity and wanted to strive for it. There was too much copying and pasting happening in the fashion industry and, for that matter, in the art world now as well. I mean, we are at a point where even fine art is borrowing more and more of the fashion business model. Collaborations, exclusive drops, etc., all in the name of driving growth. I think we have to come full circle, having gone through the cycle of mass production, and we must get back to singularity, turn the tables and borrow the original fine art concept – embrace the singularity of that one special piece. Afterall, this is what being sustainable truly means as well, if we want to be honest.

You work with several mediums, from photography to digital art, fashion design, etc. What is your preferred medium, the one you feel the most drawn to?  

Having been trained and worked in fashion, it continues to be a medium that I find most comfortable. But I am again and again drawn to film as I feel that it is really the most complete art form, as it encompasses all other mediums within it and hence provides the most thorough medium in which to fully express your views. It also depends on the theme and project, of course. I like to work with different mediums because it is important to find the optimum medium to express for specific projects, and not every medium is best suited for every theme.

As a fashion designer, how do you design your pieces? What are your influences and references? 

I don't like the idea of categorizing things or defining structure for your work – I think it limits the potential of what can be done with an idea. If an idea can hold my attention for a long enough time, then it is worth developing regardless of any preconceived rules. As far as influences are concerned, influences have to come from yourself, your life, and the world around you. That is the only way to produce something authentic and unique to your lived experience.
For me, a key reference in my work has always been understanding contemporary masculinity as an artist of color, working in a global environment. That's a very interesting subject matter to me, to see how masculinity is defined in different places, and how global masculinity is influenced by pop culture, what is macho and what is not. 

Do you have any role model or figure you particularly look up to in your art, style, and design? 

Stanley Kubrick is one artist/director that I feel is truly exceptional. The amazing body of work that he has been able to produce, working in diverse genres and creating such unique visuals, using music as part of storytelling, shows someone who is in complete command of what he wants to express. I mean, what can compare to "2001: A Space Odyssey"? Although Dr. Strangelove still remains my favorite, not to mention that it is still so relevant today.

In your statement, you say that your work aims to reflect on social themes, such as "politics, activism, pop culture that surrounds daily life to decipher contemporary masculinity, sexuality and power dynamics in a global and connected world." What do you think is the role of art in addressing such themes?

I think an artist must stand for their values, whatever they may be, and must reflect back to society what he or she feels from it. I think the role of art is thus to help us navigate our culture and feel and understand the truths that exist within our societies. Art should help develop empathy and pluralistic point of views to help create a more open, tolerant, and inclusive society, keeping the culture dynamic and alive. An artist with no point of view is merely serving the commercial interests of the ruling class.

You work at the intersection of Art, Fashion, and Luxury. Is there anything else you would like to experiment with? 

I do like to experiment with different things as I feel that always leads to better, more authentic ways to express certain themes, and it's great that there are always new technologies and innovations popping up to play around with. Lately, NFTs have been all over the news, and everyone is getting in on it. I would like to eventually try it as well, although I am never very eager to jump in quickly. I like to take time and understand it and see how I really feel about such things before delving into them. It has to add further value to your work and can't be just for the sake of using it because that is the trend.

What do you think of the art community and market? 

The art community, like any other community, is not perfect and has its flaws. You will always find people that are dedicated and passionate and fully committed to their profession, and then you will always find opportunists and imposters taking advantage and exploiting the community. It is important to know how to differentiate and find like-minded people – it can be hard, but they do exist. It is just a matter of staying patient with it.

What do you hope to accomplish this year, both in terms of career goals and personal life? 

This year I really want to focus on getting 'Le Fool' collective off the ground and hopefully develop a diverse like-minded community around it. I have an art residency in Japan during the summers and I hope to develop some new work as well finish my long 'in the making' book on Tokyo Fashion.

Finally, any shows or publications where our readers can find your work?

We (Le Fool) recently took part in a group show at the CICA Museum in Seoul, South Korea, and were also an official selection at a film festival in Vienna, but I think the best way is always to go to our website le-fool.com for the latest projects as well getting in touch with us. Social media, Instagram – (mine: fashion_film_fetish and Le Fool: le_fool_collective) is always good for staying updated of course. We welcome all with the shared values of Le Fool to join our collective.
I also regularly write on fashion and pop culture for the academic journal 'Fashion, Style & Popular Culture' if you are interested in the written part of my work.