Fashion

Twenty Years In, Mohammed Ashi Is Still Sculpting the Impossible

BYKhaoula Ghanem

July 13, 2026

Few designers have altered perceptions of Arab fashion quite as profoundly as Mohammed Ashi. The Saudi couturier had established himself as a singular voice, one whose sculptural silhouettes could stand comfortably alongside the grand maisons of Paris. Since becoming the first Gulf designer to join the official Haute Couture calendar in 2023, his rise has felt long overdue. Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Zendaya, Queen Rania, Kylie Jenner, Jenna Ortega, and Teyana Taylor have all gravitated toward his work, drawn to garments that occupy the rare space between architecture and emotion. Two decades after founding Ashi Studio, the designer returned to Paris with a Fall 2026 Couture collection that looked both inward and backward, reflecting on history while questioning what remains of identity once history begins to erase it.

Working almost exclusively in black, ivory, faded metallics, and ghostly shades of parchment, Ashi stripped away the distractions of color so that construction could take center stage. The resulting silhouettes felt inhabited by figures suspended somewhere between memory and myth. References to Renaissance Florence, aristocratic portraiture, military uniforms, and the legendary 1951 Ball of the Century hosted by Carlos de Beistegui at Venice’s Palazzo Labia drifted through the collection without ever becoming a theatrical costume.

The collection’s central idea was dehumanization, and Ashi explored it with remarkable restraint. Faces disappeared beneath sculptural veils, oversized hats, and mask-like headpieces that concealed expression rather than revealing it. The effect was quietly unsettling. Identity dissolved beneath layers of tailoring, embroidery, and impossible proportion, leaving only silhouette behind.

That silhouette has always been Ashi’s greatest strength, and this season it became even more exaggerated. Corsets compressed the waist before erupting outward into dramatic volumes that projected from both the front and back of the body, creating shapes that seemed almost anatomically impossible. One ivory look paired a sharply cinched corseted bodice with enormous pannier-like hips before dissolving into an ethereal cloud of wispy tulle, the proportions recalling eighteenth-century court dress while feeling entirely futuristic. Another sculptural white mini dress, complete with a visor obscuring the model’s face, balanced razor-sharp pleats against a sweeping train lined with distressed feathers, creating a silhouette that felt simultaneously bridal, militaristic, and alien.

Elsewhere, Ashi demonstrated his extraordinary command of texture. A barely-there corset appeared to disintegrate beneath cascading strands of charcoal fringe that shimmered with every movement, transforming the body into something almost liquid. A bronze gown, draped asymmetrically across the shoulders, dissolved into impossibly long trailing tassels that brushed the runway behind the model like fading brushstrokes. Another look layered smoky tulle beneath an embroidered corset whose scrolling black motifs resembled wrought-iron balconies or baroque ornament weathered by time.

Perhaps the collection’s most remarkable achievement, however, lay in its treatment of materials. Leather was manipulated until it resembled porcelain, while metal and glass became structural rather than decorative. Real insects were embedded within garments like specimens preserved forever beneath glass, while mirrors, hourglasses, and tiny bells appeared throughout the collection as recurring symbols of time, memory, and mortality.

That fascination with illusion extended throughout the collection. One crystalline silver coat shimmered with embroidery so dense it resembled frost creeping across a windowpane, while beneath it a voluminous satin skirt introduced a welcome softness that prevented the look from feeling overly severe. Another gown scattered glossy black discs across nude tulle, creating an optical effect somewhere between decaying lace and celestial constellations. Rather than relying on surface decoration alone, Ashi consistently used embellishment to distort perception, encouraging the eye to question where fabric ended and sculpture began.

Marking twenty years since the founding of Ashi Studio, this collection felt less like a celebration than a statement of intent. In doing so, Ashi reaffirmed what many in Paris already know. He is no longer simply one of the Arab world’s most accomplished couturiers. He is one of couture’s most compelling voices, full stop.