by Yasmin Mostafa
The road to fashion design is never a linear journey filled with definitive timelines. Which is precisely how Haidar Abul Hassan’s talent culminated in opening his streetwear label, The Open Season in Kuwait. Haidar’s pervasive artistic talent and interest for fashion has always been an innate version of him, spawned by his love for music, pop culture, and the international rap scene.
Back in his impressionable study years in San Francisco, California, Haidar’s exposure to fashion started from the top. American rappers, the likes of G-Eazy and Naph de Pharo would ask him to scout rare finds or style them for music videos or concerts. While producing and appearing in his own music videos as a hobby in his studio back in San Francisco, a dual passion that satisfied his appetite for music and the American rap scene, Haidar turned away from donning mainstream luxury brands, and displayed a strong affinity towards rarer unique fashion forward pieces. Because he dressed himself in rarer exclusive items it made a strong statement about his unique sense of style and caught the attention of other music rappers and artists. His love for fashion started out as a consumer dressed in niche luxury Japanese labels, the likes of The Soloist by Takahiro Mayashita, Needles, Evisu and Venmont. “Music videos goes hand in hand with fashion,” He explains. “If you want to get out and style a music video you need to put fashionable items on people, including myself”.
While this early experience of dabbing in fashion in the States, primarily styling in the realm of Music videos, gave him the right yield to propel him into the fashion game. Haidar didn’t have a clear goal in mind when to launch his own brand and start making his own clothes, and it was not until he earned his Bachelor’s and moved back to his hometown, Kuwait, did he feel manufacturing in Italy a part of the vision for his future brand, an idea that emerged out of his obsession with Virgil Abloh’s own footsteps in based fashion house. With time on his hands back in Kuwait, after his last job at Disney, family members nudged him to begin his design career locally after seeing him illustrate and sketch at a mad pace at home. Thinking he was compromising on his ultimate dream of making clothes in Italy, Haidar dropped his stringent plans with manufacturing in Europe for the moment and experimented with a simple start. He tested a few of his initial illustrations for Ramadan kaftans and daraas to be made locally. When his kaftans sold out in one day, this simple experiment prompted him to think that his dream of fashion design “and his vision for a new audacious brand” can be realized in Kuwait too. Fast forward to the birth of his new daring brand, The Open Season.
What’s the story behind the name “The Open Season”, one might ask. Haidar’s music and lifestyle continually eschews conformity as a daring artist and prompts us to go beyond the safe confines of our mentally rigid paradigms in life. In the same way, when restrictions are taken off hunters during the open hunting season, Haidar defies restrictions and refuses to be defined by the four seasons of the year, and in a close metaphorical resemblance to a hunter’s instinct, his first gut instinct and his original vision guides his journey and his next creations. “I can “drop” any fashion piece like a puff jacket in summer and still sell it” he says with confidence. He’s not bound by the four seasons of the year, which is why you will note a lot of versatility in his pieces like detachable sleeves, or a detachable tail to a long puff jacket, or a detachable hoodie, unlike other jackets on the market. He can release a puff jacket in the middle of winter and take its dual functional aesthetic through to autumn or to spring.
Haidar Abul Hassan looked up to four prominent design icons in the realm of global fashion throughout his formative years that have influenced the whole aesthetic and pervasive design style at The Open Season. His dominant inspiration was Virgil Abloh, Creative director and founder of the Milan-based fashion brand/house OFF-WHITE, whose design aesthetic is a mash-up of luxury and streetwear and influenced the whole aesthetic and style behind his brand, The Open Season. A look at one of The Open Seasons’s staple pieces of the label, the Pink Varsity Bomber Jacket, was inspired by the LV Varsity jacket, a Collab between LV and Virgil Abloh during his tenure and creative director role of menswear at LMVH.
The essence of The Class of Infinity Varsity bomber jacket which comes in one color pink, for men and women, a unisex item of clothing, is that it speaks to you” Let’s belong”. It daringly sets the tone for the brand which meets you with the ultimate controversial flair. “Let’s be bold and daring, let’s be part of a like-minded cult, an exclusive Open Season club.”
While The Open Season label owner understands the human psyche, that controversy might take time to sink in with local fashion savvy people, particularly a pink jacket for men, he didn’t quite expect for his daring and cult aesthetic to be absorbed as quickly as the Varsity was in demand in Kuwait and abroad. Which prompted him to revisit his planned production of the Varsity Jacket in much bigger quantities than that intended for the launch.
One of the earliest pieces of The Open Season Label, is the detachable long brown puff jacket inspired by another idol of his, Alexander McQueen. Other than his impeccable craftsmanship, and silhouettes and cuts, Haidar loves McQueen’s unique interpretation of Beauty, his attention to the not so obvious beauty details in life that he swiftly transforms into globally resonating fashion motifs. Fueled by daring designers and designs and not going safe, he re-created a piece in Alexander McQueen’s fashion book, The Savage Beauty, the McQueen Coat Dante one piece Military Matador Coat AW ‘96. It inspired the silhouette of the down jacket at Open Season which was influenced by his love for Mc Queen’s silhouettes and dramatic cuts.
Haidar’s pieces always acts as a medium of expression from designer to consumer, in the search for human stories to shed light on. The Wounds heal Capsule is part of a human story. A deconstructed fashion piece, this artful Jacket is a beautifully expressive patchwork of stitches, bandages, mixed media, and faux fur furnished from a vintage Valentino jacket to imitate real skin. The physical form of a human body is resilient and puts up with physical and emotional wounds for life and has the powerful capacity to always heal. So, in essence through his Wounds heal deconstructed Jacket, Haidar is continually reminding us of the power of the Human Body to heal. Pain can be translated to art, and it is in his DNA to always make good out of the troublesome situations in his life. Whether rapping about his life challenges or raw deconstructed designs making their way into his sketches, Music and Fashion remain his two best forms of expression.
One of his bestseller shirts and number one selling item at B Hype Store in Dubai, a celebrity concept store in luxury streetwear, frequented by global celebrities is his “Al Onsor” shirt, a grey vintage T shirt translating to “element” in Arabic and representing his musical alter ego or his twin musical domain. Also, SZN “Season” black T shirt also translated to Arabic and serving as a culture reminder to our heritage and roots by printing a picture of a Bedouin inspired woman donning a face veil on the back.
In the brand’s appeal is the cult aesthetic which is repeated once again in another ready to wear, the “SZN Heritage Hoodie” which transcends the cult side of the brand to empower the wearer, a ready to wear reddish brown hoodie and paired with a voluminous skirt on the model to infuse the overall tone and aesthetic needed for the brand which is mashing up luxury and streetwear together.
Haidar’s extensive knowledge on fabrics is owed to Prof. Gale Baugh at San Francisco State University, a single fashion class he took casually to add extra points to his university credits score. Famous for co-founding and her contributions to The Wear Movement, and author of the Book, The Textile Directory Kit, Haidar was taken under Prof. Gale Baugh’s wing and served as a fashion illustrator in her classes, in a satirical twist of life, after initially failing her class. This wakeup call fed into his debut as a fashion designer about sourcing and textiles from someone who was “big game” in the fashion industry, and affiliated with New York, Paris and Miami Fashion Weeks.
Haidar’s latest addition is his Freedom for Palestine Capsule, one in black and white which almost sold out. All 100% of the profits go to The Red Cross Association.
Don’t be tempted to expect similar styles for future items as Haidar’s process of creation does not stem from popularity of his music videos or his previous pieces but his internal chaos of emotions and moving from one new inspiration to another. He tries to maintain a balance between satisfying people’s love for certain aesthetics and his internal chaos machine churning one daring and veracious idea after another. “I love to design for people with similar mentalities in mind, people who listen to the same music or wear similar types of designs or who’ve lived between different cultures,” he says. Moving from one era of the business to the next, Haidar was adamant at first to see his baby brand thriving and focused more on dropping Capsules, or single pieces/collectibles. After the success of many pieces of The Open Season Label, Haidar hints to us about building a cohesive collection for the brand in the seasons to come. Stay Tuned for more releases and exciting future plans by The Open Season Label.
TRUTH OR DARE QUESTIONNAIRE
How would your mother describe you in one word?
Ambitious
How would you describe your mother in one word?
Everything to me
What is the most ridiculous question you’ve been asked?
In the states, I was once asked if Kuwait is in north or South California?
What is the most spontaneous thing you’ve ever done?
Several actually. A Deconstructed denim piece was spontaneously designed and I free styled it. I have a lot of unplanned design approaches to whole outfits without initial illustrations. Last Bunka event I was put on the spot and spontaneously MC’d cause of my rapping background or music background.
What is your theme song?
“My eyes” by Travis Scott” Or “Carnival” by Kanye West.
What word in the English or Arabic language do you wish you had invented?
“Al Onsor” meaning element which is my musical alter ego.
Where would you like to live?
I’m comfortable in Kuwait, but If I had a choice I would like to live in Japan because I’m in love with their culture which is infused with their arts. Its very clean and I love Japanese anime, fashion, traditions, Japanese food.
What is your dream retirement location?
Turks and Caicos Islands. It’s a beautiful island. The water there is crystal clear and it’s in the middle of nowhere. Zanzibar would be my second option. Either or.
What is the first famous quote that comes to your mind?
“Stand for something, or fall for anything”
Which animal best describes your perfect partner, be it in business, or in life?
A Wolf. A Wolf never folds under pressure. Move as a pact and are defined by a unity. They all think in the same way.
Do you miss anything from your childhood and if so, what is it?
The cartoons I used to watch on Cartoon Network. Made me who I am today. Dexter, power puff girls. It’s all about the imagination, the color palettes and the unreal sketches it’s not about real life.
If you could change your name, to what would you change it?
I would stick to my name because it really stands for who I am. The power behind my name means a “lion” in Arabic. Ruthless on the war field.
How would you describe your handshake, in one word?
Sealed. (The Deal). Also, Respectful.
What is the toughest part of your character?
Impulsive. I’m the kind that shoots first, asks questions later.
Who is your favorite historical figure?
Machiavelli. He was brought up in a struggling life in prison. I don’t believe in things coming easily in life.
What in the World do you least desire the most?
Dishonesty with anything.
What do you think is lacking in the World, which if there were more of, would make the World a better place?
Unity. No racism, no labelling, no supremacy over another race. More equality.
Why do you think most people who do, like you?
I’m Creative, relatable, easy to talk to and fun loving.
Finish this Sentence: Happiness is….Achievements, I’m a workaholic and love to reach my own milestones in life, towards my ultimate goal, whether that be from small daily tasks or to my bigger life ambitions.
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