Fashion is constantly shifting, reverberating between the old and new, innovation and a reworking of trends for a new time. Dylan Mekhi stands out as a revitalizing voice, not one that necessarily shouts but reassures that everything is going to be okay. A Central Saint Martins graduate with stints at fashion powerhouses like Telfar, The Row, and Helmut Lang, Mekhi could easily have fallen into the trap of industry conformity. Instead, he's carved out a niche that feels both timely and timeless-but most importantly, all his own. BREDA caught up with Mekhi in his Manhattan studio and spent some time photographing him in his space wearing the Silver/Smoke Nocturne Time Ring, a ring that fit naturally with the maximalist approach to accessories that Mekhi is drawn to.
Through this Q&A it becomes clear that for Mekhi, fashion isn't just about clothes - it's a tactile language, a way to tell stories that resonate across boundaries of gender and culture. His approach is refreshingly grounded in community and connection, a far cry from the often-aloof world of fashion. Mekhi's designs, unisex, multifunctional, and deeply personal - invite wearers to become co-authors of their own narratives. It's a democratic vision of fashion that feels particularly poignant in our current moment. As we delve into his creative process, his views on gender-fluid fashion, and his commitment to craftsmanship, Mekhi offers a glimpse into a future where fashion serves as a bridge between art, identity, and emotion. In an industry often accused of superficiality, exploitation, and creative shortcuts, Mekhi's thoughtful approach feels like slipping on a perfectly tailored jacket that you never knew you needed.
How do you aim to create intimate or personal connections between your designs and the people who wear them?
My work is all about community and connection, so one of the main core purposes of what I do is to make those connections and essentially invite the people who wear my work to collaborate with me and be a part of the process. From my perspective, only half of the work is finished once it leaves my hands; it gets taken the rest of the way once it interacts with the wearer, and they make it their own.
All of the work I do is specifically designed and patterned to be as unisex and multifunctional as possible. This allows any and all people of all genders and sizes to be a part of our story and have it evolve with them as they grow and change themselves.
As a designer, hands are essential to your craft. How does the physical act of creating with your hands influence the outcome of your work, whether through sketching, sewing, or styling?
I am an extremely tactile person. So, from the very genesis of any work that I’m doing, whether it’s my own collections, a custom piece for a client, or my work for other brands - it always starts with a feeling. Even if it’s just the memory of a feeling, how a wicker rug felt under my feet at an old friend's apartment in London, or how the pimento leaves felt in my hands in the backyard of my childhood home in Miami - all things are born from the same place. So from there, from sketching to pattern making, to draping, sewing, and styling, keeping grounded within that very initial and emotional cerebral reaction to a physical feeling is absolutely the MOST important thing.
How do you view accessories as part of the storytelling process in fashion, particularly when it comes to showcasing individuality?
To me, accessories are absolutely everything!I tend to view clothing in a very archetypal and character-driven way, very cinematically. So, thinking about how a look or a garment can drastically change the character into infinite possibilities due to the accessories and how it’s styled is beyond fascinating to me.
I am very much attracted to grand, minimalist silhouettes when it comes to clothing itself. For me, the more amorphic the shape, the better. So, when it comes to accessories, especially jewelry, that’s where I tend to go crazy and have fun. My go-to look tends to be a blob of fabric draped around my body, with multiple rings on every finger, chains, and pendants tangled around my neck, and bangles stacked to my elbows. A dance between minimalism and maximalism.
Your designs often incorporate oversized silhouettes and neutral tones. How do you balance personal expression with creating pieces that resonate universally?
My work is an introspective, autoethnographic vessel - used to dissect, deconstruct/ reconstruct, and celebrate the queer, black Afro-Caribbean / Black American experience.
Combining both cultures and experiences to create one solid image. Out of many comes one person, one family. Ultimately, it is a self-portrait. The culture of the work articulates a unique approach to design that is founded on sharp tailoring, architectural construction, and rich, high-quality textiles. Through a process informed by broad research encompassing personal experience and connection, critical theory, as well as literature and history, the work embraces a multiplicity of perspectives, proposing a distinctly raw notion of luxury via a hybrid of American and Afro-Caribbean approaches that ultimately can translate and evolve into a vast plethora of different realities for anybody willing to open themselves up and be enveloped by it.
What excites you most about the future of gender-fluid fashion, and how do you hope to contribute to its evolution?
For me, I’ve never understood and have never conformed to gender-exclusive fashion. The idea of something being “menswear” or “womenswear” is extremely foreign to me, especially in the time we’re living in when there are so many more openly talked about layers to identity and representation that shouldn’t have to be forced into a labeled “wear” when wanting to express yourself through clothing. What excites me the most about the future of this way of thinking in fashion is not the idea itself (because designers centuries ago have been working and thinking this way) but the hopeful reality that buyers from major department stores, websites, and other accounts that house designers work will be more and more open to curating their buys in a very open minded and unisex way.
It is my opinion that if the work is presented to the public in a very clear and easily approachable way, there will be no need to be stifled and stunted in this extremely dated way of thinking about clothing and its relation to the body and personal identity.
Can you walk us through your creative process, from the initial concept to the final product? How do you decide which materials and structures best serve your vision?
My process is extremely varied, completely depending on the type of project I’m working on! Whether it’s a project for my own work, or for a custom project for a client, every way of working is very organic and takes its shape in a way that is best suited for what is needed for the desired outcome. But generally, I always begin with a feeling. Some sort of guttural reaction or question that needs a response. Everything I do begins from a personal place and acts as an outlet for me to physically manifest some sort of representation of a feeling, which then ever evolves into a figure or body of work that shapes-shifts and takes different shapes once it is born into the world. The process tends to always begin with extensive research, mainly through books, research papers, articles, stories, history, fables. Deconstructing the research into pieces that can be highlighted and then come together in a relevant way to sort of “wabi-sabi” together into a new reality.
For clients, I tend to begin that conversation with reference images and sketches because that’s the easiest way to represent and clearly explain an idea and concept. But personally, I’m much more of a 3-D, tactile person, so I’m always drawn to the physical form. Draping, cutting up, knotting together, styling - sort of a life-size collage with different fabrics, old samples, or vintage garments that I find inspiring and can then inform something new. I find self-referencing to be extremely insightful, using old work to evolve from and reference to inform newness.
From there, it becomes very formulaic; pattern making and sketching from informed silhouette experimentation, sewing samples, and fitting on models or the specific client. Once the fit is perfect, we go into creating imagery through photo shoots or through performances that ultimately best represent the initial feeling that sparked the project at its origin.
How do you see the relationship between fashion and artistic expression evolving in the future, and what role do you hope your work will play in shaping that evolution?
When I was around 12 years old, I discovered the work of Lee Alexander McQueen. At the time, I was already interested in fashion, but more in the costume design realm because of my insatiable interest in film and theater, more specifically storytelling and performance. But through his legendary work, I discovered that there is a world and a career where a designer can create a brand universe where real people can experience the work and wear it in their everyday lives while also creating a performative and artful expression around each collection!
In today’s industry, I find that the vast majority of brands are more focused on empty, soulless spectacles for views and viral opportunities rather than innovative high-quality designs.
One of the reasons I’m excited to be a part of the evolution in the creative cultural zeitgeist is by creating mindful, intentional, quality product while also crafting world building, performative theatrics around the designs in showcases and collaborations that bring back that sense of magic that legendary designers of the past were so innovate in spinning and pushing it into the future.
Images by Roger Gallegos.
