When it comes to rock ‘n’ roll fashion, Mike Amiri is the name on everyone’s lips. His eclectic blend of punk rock DNA and 90’s streetwear has made AMIRI the powerhouse it is today, favoured by celebrities such as Gigi Hadid, Justin Bieber and BTS. Following its recent launch on our shores, we now have the chance to shop it in person with the Autumn/Winter 22 collection which has arrived in Sandton City at the brand’s first pop-up in South Africa.
A creative dialogue between Mike Amiri and contemporary US artist, Wes Lang, this season’s collection fuses the bridge between design house and art studio. Each garment has been treated as a mix-media canvas, with Lang and Amiri’s distinctive styles combining to create wearable works of art.
Dressing K-Pop superstars like BTS has not only skyrocketed Amiri’s popularity, it’s also a full-circle moment for the designer. Before his entrance into the fashion world, Amiri wrote songs and performed as part of the Korean hip-hop group; Drunken Tiger. Between his musical background and his childhood spent surrounded by graffiti artists, skaters and musicians in the heart of Hollywood, Amiri has created a luxury brand that toes the line between art and design.
With a strong focus on customisation and intentional distressing, AMIRI’s signature destroyed T-shirts, buckled boots and vintage-looking leather jackets have skyrocketed this namesake brand into a luxury label with a significant international distribution and sales of over $40 million (about R713 million). AMIRI is one of the first menswear brands to be manufactured primarily in Los Angeles, with the manufacturing process being as unique as the clothing itself. Amiri achieves his destructive aesthetics by shooting garments with a shotgun. Though Amiri himself is guarded about the exact details of who does this or where it is done, he’s proud of the inherent uniqueness it brings to his line.
Don’t miss your chance to experience the art of his design. If the past is anything to go by, (AMIRI once sold $275,000 worth of clothes in the first three hours of a six-week pop-up) these designs will be snatched up in a flash.
The AMIRI Autumn-Winter ‘22 collection pop-up is currently at Sandton City, Diamond Walk, Johannesburg for a limited time.
