Mike Amiri’s lesson’s on staying cool and grounded

From the streets of Los Angeles to the global stage of luxury fashion, AMIRI has defied expectations, continually expanding its international presence and redefining modern style. At the helm, founder Mike Amiri masterfully blends California’s countercultural roots with the opulence and cinematic allure of Hollywood.

Fresh off their AW25 showcase at Paris Fashion Week, AMIRI has unveiled its newest store in Riyadh and marks one year at Dubai’s Mall of the Emirates, milestones that called for a visit from the visionary himself. We sat down with Mike to dive deeper into the essence of the brand and uncover what makes this collection particularly meaningful to him.

Firstly, congratulations on your recent PFW showcase. What was the inspiration behind the show? Any specific film or musician that prompted it?

There’s always music and cinema in everything I do. And, it’s like. Very character-oriented, but this one was more specifically geared towards the nightlife culture of Los Angeles. The little places that locals know, the ones you may not see on your regular visit to LA. If you’re a local, there are these places that are kind of special and have a bit of history in them. I really want to dress people in a way that they could be either at a bar or clubbing, or do something optimistic.

The collection was an ode to your hometown of Los Angeles. Do you feel as though California and your upbringing influence all of your work?

I think it’s always like a starting point for me because what differentiates Amiri is our foundation. Being from California, in the context of global luxury, it’s quite rare to have a house based in LA. So I always want to stay within what’s true to us and what’s honest to us.

But those characters and that inspiration travel throughout the world. So sometimes it’s juxtaposed in Europe in the summer, but it’s still the LA guy and how he would interpret that life.

So what’s your favourite thing about home? Is it the history or the culture or..

I think for me, it’s kind of what it represents. Los Angeles, of course it has great weather and cool style and all these things, but to me, Los Angeles represents a place where dreams are chased and dreams are found. And then the music scene evolving and, The Laurel Canyon era, and all these young kids going to houses in the hills and forming bands, and then the eighties on Sunset Boulevard where kids were coming from the Midwest and all over the world to be discovered and, and in the Roxy and the Troubadour. The list goes on, it’s new beginnings and hope.

Completely, a friend of mine actually recently compared the UAE to California, saying the emerging skate scene here feels a lot like what happened in California in the 70s.

Yeah, I definitely think I see that. I mean, the UAE is also becoming much more diverse. There’s that weather connection, of course, which is quite nice, but ultimately it does kind of represent a lifestyle and a chasing of dreams aspect that California has.

Do you see any differences or similarities between consumers in the West vs here? In terms of your consumer base.

I always use the word community rather than consumer because people are introduced to my world sometimes by fashion, but sometimes because of what I represent. It’s that dreamer’s mentality. The small brand amongst the big brands, you know? The “one that could make it if you just try”. These are the people venturing into our community. But the biggest parallel that I seem to find is that the age demographic of he people in the store and the people interested in the brand is pretty diverse. You get sons and fathers shopping together, and I think that’s something that I’m very proud of.

There was also a long awaited womenswear debut on the recent men’s wear catwalk. What prompted that?

I think as we’re building the brand and evolving it, we have different levers to pull.  Sometimes it’s a category, sometimes it’s shoes, sometimes it’s handbags, and women’s wear has always been a lever we’ve really wanted to give more attention to.

I stepped back for a second and realized that I didn’t want it to be something separate. I didn’t want her to be separate, and I didn’t want her to have less power than him, you know? I don’t believe it was his girlfriend. I believe she was the one with the power. So I wanted to put them on the runway together because they worked seamlessly.

The strength was there. It’s a woman in a suit, which is quite powerful and empowering, or it’s her in a beautiful knit dress; she’s taking ownership of her body and strength.

So, was there a narrative on the runway between the genders? What story were you telling?

Yeah, I chose to put the women in tailoring for almost all of the looks because I believe that tailoring represents something traditionally found in the masculine. And watching a woman be able to carry that in a way that still preserves her femininity. And it doesn’t limit her access to “his” cool. It makes it her own. It was important for me to find the balance. 

What’s the future of the brand, especially for womenswear?

I think women’s wear is something I’ve kind of been more and more obsessed with, specifically because there’s so much to do. There’s like a certain consistency between men’s styles that they deviate less and perhaps at a slower pace. Womenswear is given the scope to be more exciting. There is so much to play with. So it’s become pretty fun for me.