‘moms’: A polyamorous relationship between London, the Middle East and Southeast Asia
‘moms’, the brand created by Mohammed Omar Macalino Salkini , elevates everyday London wear with Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian influences, and completely unique pattern cutting. The ‘moms’ collections twist London streetwear into androgynous and multi-cultural garments that tell a story of a man’s journey growing up in the UK and having Syrian and Filipino heritage. The two images below showcase the boldest designs of Omar’s, and are the book covers of the ‘moms’ novel. Both looks use cleverly placed zips on the skirts to create a trouser-adjacent illusion at the front, and I personally thought of Vivienne Westwood with the unconventional zip placement combined with the tartan design beneath. The all leather outfit (bottom left) has a harshness too it which is softened with the pink tartan cut-outs, and is one of the more unapologetically street-wear designs by Omar. The green and pink print-work outfit (bottom right) is the magnum-opus of Omar’s print skills. He has ingeniously overprinted the imagery to pull the fabric in-between the ink, and the ensemble has childish joy and simultaneously an haute couture seriousness.
The designer, who goes by his second name Omar, was born in Dubai and moved to Manchester when he was four. Attending Ravensbourne University in London to study fashion, Omar is now part of an incubation programme which allows him to continue to use the facilities of the university to produce his clothes: “it is an amazing thing because having a studio is not cheap, and having access to all the equipment is amazing.”
During our phone call I naively asked Omar why he decided to call his brand ‘moms’ - not realising that is is an acronym for his full name. Omar chuckled and told me “some people do call me Mom now which is kind of funny.”
Omar’s work is an amalgamation of his different cultures; it is London streetwear with Syrian and Filipino influences, and it turns everyday wear on its head. A staple of the ‘moms’ brand, and a personal favourite of mine, are Omar’s wrap skirts (see below). The skirts are an homage to Sarong’s which are worn in the Philippines during the hot months, yet Omar’s design injects a formal element into the garment with the woollen tartan pattern, a juxtaposition of Filipino heat with British cold. The grey wrap skirt creates a simpler yet more luxurious effect, and paired with the shirt, tie and pinstripe blazer, it offers an androgynous look of sophistication but at the same time non-conformity.
Omar speaks to me passionately about his green waterproof windbreaker (below) which is made of a natural water-proof fabric from a Scottish mill : “instead of making an Arcteryx jacket which is using toxic chemicals to make it waterproof, I have found a Scottish milled fabric which is completely natural and you can treat it like a rain jacket. The coat is also hand-stitched and- from a cultural aspect- there is a lot of beading in the hood, so it pulls in certain cultural ties.” Typically raincoats are created using either Polyvinyl Chloride or Fluoropolymers, both of which are considered some of the most environmentally damaging plastics due to the toxic chemicals that they release throughout their lifecycles.
When looking at Omar’s work it is impossible not to notice his print work. I got the sense from our phone call that the designer is slowly moving away from the inclusion of print work in his garments as he rarely mentioned the technique during our conversation, however his unique prints remain an iconography of ‘moms’. Some of Omar’s first releases included shirts, t-shirts and sweatshirts emboldened with colourful floral prints, which are overprinted to create a warped effect of the fabric in-between the inks. The prints evoke pure joy, and have a youthful look that can be embraced by people of all ages.
What I find astonishing about Omar is that he has achieved his dream of becoming a designer largely by himself: “I haven’t had any external investment”, but he hopes that 2025 is the year that he can grow his brand and solidify himself in the wholesale market: “I need to take that leap of faith this year - it is now or never.” Omar’s journey discovering fashion is not a typical one. An expected response when asking someone why they became a designer is that their parents were artistic, and they grew up loving Haute Couture designers, but Omar actually planned to become an architect.
“I went to college after sixth form because I failed my AS Levels, and I was intending to do architecture but then I found fashion through my tutor Angela- she put me on the fashion path. I had to convince my parents that I wanted to do fashion, and then after six months I just realised that I love clothes.”
It is clear that Omar has a lot of admiration for Angela and her pushing him to pursue fashion: “She was very optimistic, she cared about fashion so much and she cared about her students so much, it inspired me to pursue fashion as a job.”
Omar ends our phone call by teasing me about a collection that may be coming this summer: “I really want to tell you more about this new collection that is coming in June but I want to make sure it is all together first.”
