Designer Boris Bidjan Saberi opens first store in New York

By

Jean-Paul Leroy

Published
Sep 11, 2014

Boris Bidjan Saberi began his career in the mid 90s. Known for his very personal interpretation of Levi's and military-style clothing, he began working with leather in 2003, designing his first handmade accessories, which featured plenty of craftsmanship and experimentation, for the label UCANFUCKW.

In 2007, the designer launched his men’s ready-to-wear brand, setting up his studio in Monistrol and then Barcelona, and presenting his spring-summer collections in Paris as part of the official calendar. His style: functional and sophisticated, inspired by the street, by skate and street-culture, combining "instinct with tailored precision”, using a monochromatic palette of colors, floating shapes and rigid geometry, while playing with materials ranging from cotton to leather, to felt, vinyl and tar.

The designer innovates in particular when it comes to the materials themselves, dreaming up with his own brand of transparent leather, a material used in certain exclusive pieces not often sold in stores, but rather presented on the catwalk as part of his “Blood” and “Mechanism” collections.

Producing the entirety of the primary line in Barcelona, Boris Bidjan Saberi worked at the same time on another line produced in Portugal for fall-winter 2013 called “11”, named for his birthday. Inspired by numerology, street-culture and music, 11 was intended to be both functional and durable, more technical and more affordable.

Meanwhile, the leading designer became involved in various other projects, including an exhibition of his tar sculptures in Berlin as well as several collaborations. For fall-winter 2013, for example, he worked with the Spanish designer Miguel Muñoz Wilson on a pair of boots for Wilson’s label "Munoz Vrandevic”.

He also worked on a pair of industrial-style sunglasses with the brand Linda Farrow inspired by science fiction and the seventies.

And in April, he collaborated with the urban fashion site 24 Kilates, offering his take on the black and white sneaker Insta Pump Fury for Reebok.

Currently distributed worldwide, Boris Bidjan Saberi opened his first store on Greenwich Street in New York on September 5. "The energy of this city is very similar to the dynamics of my team and my brand,” said the designer. “We chose a quiet neighborhood and a 2000 square foot store, where we emphasized the location’s the industrial side through lighting and bespoke metal furniture."

Boris Bidjan Saberi thought up the general design himself, including among the decor a statue that was presented at the Angewandte Kunst Museum in Frankfurt during its “Outer Dark” fashion exhibition. It will stock the designer’s entire range, with the exception of line 11.

Alexis Chenu