Opportunities for an emerging designer to showcase their work on a global platform are crucial, it helps to get their pieces in front of the right people, ultimately leading to success and growth within the fashion space. It can be challenging for a designer to pull this off themselves, which is where Global Fashion Collective (or GFC for short) comes into play. GFC, which is an expansion of Vancouver Fashion Week, focuses on helping these creatives showcase their work across the New York, Tokyo, London, Milan & Paris fashion week cycles, providing a support system for those who may not have had one otherwise.
What began as organizing underground raves in the ’90s has now evolved into the global shows they’ve been producing since 2001. During the chaos of New York Fashion Week, Broke Magazine spent some time getting to know Founder Jamal Abdourahman and seeing his vision for Global Fashion Collective come to life. “I always have wanted to do something big. Anything I did. Even the first time when I was doing a show, I had this coordinator that told me we could only have 8 models because the space was so small. I was like no, I need 20!”
At the core of Abdourahman and GFC lies a commitment to fully supporting designers within their network. GFC seeks out creatives who are pushing the norm and recognizing that fashion is more than just clothing. The support extended to designers by GFC is pivotal in nurturing creativity and fostering diversity within the fashion space, allowing them to focus on bringing their visions to life.
On the February 9th, the Global Fashion Collective runway saw Fair Enough’s cartoon-coded garms, Rea by Rhea’s collection titled “Eternal Threads” drawing upon the significance of individual colors and their importance in Indian culture, and Get Some Sleep’s latest collection challenging society with a universal question “Is it normal to think this much?”
As for day two? No show was remotely the same. Naoko Tosa and the Sound of Ikebana brand is taking her new media art & turning it into fashion, hoping to empower her audience to live their lives more creatively while Yu Qian presented YILLIAQ which intended to capture a dialogue between mental wellness and clothing – with hopes to acknowledge and extend love to socially anxious individuals.
Alex S. Yu, another of the 14 designers represented by GFC that were showed within two days of NYFW, noted that Abdourahman and GFC team has been right there with him all along the way since his brand’s inception 10 years ago. Yu’s collection was inspired by his daydreaming. His nod to Alice in Wonderland through his show’s visuals, music and bright patterns all came into play when presenting his collection.
The visuals and music are just as important as the clothing with Yu doing it all himself. He designed the background that played as the models walked down the runway, in addition to mixing and editing the show’s music. He mentioned that he spends a lot of time curating and discovering sounds and imagery that represent his personality and ultimately conveys the specific message behind his collections each season to the audience.
The two days with GFC was packed with talented designers, and Abdourahman and his team made the shows run seamlessly, from souring the venue to casting models. “I enjoy the challenge of producing a show, putting it together, inviting people, coming up with a concept.”
Abdourahman has not lost sight of his core mission since the beginning of GFC. His team continually supporting the vision of creators who are brave enough to share beautiful designs and concepts for the world to enjoy cycle after cycle. “It’s about highlighting people – uplifting people. It’s the best way to get glory.”