Aligned by passion and faith, and driven by identity, JOSHUA MOHAMED is a brand that effortlessly integrates the differing backgrounds and beliefs of its founders, Joshua Fawole and Mohamed Abdourahman, into an inspiring perception of fashion creativity with a collection that celebrates one’s individuality within the world. Challenging the status quo through classic takes on trendy streetwear since December 2020, JOSHUA MOHAMED embraces the idea of stepping out of the norm by finding common ground in constructing luxurious streetwear garments that not only stand against time, but band together contrasting generations. “Challenging the status quo to us means not being tied to a single place, a singular way of doing things, or a singular way of thinking.”

As Fawole and Abdourahman combine their love of fashion with their knack for creativity, their differences remarkably began to co-exist as the ideas for the brand came to life. Abdourahman says, “It came at a perfect time as we both had been separately planning what to do with our deep interest in fashion." The two steer focus and inspiration from their individuality that sprouted from their contrasting cultures and life experiences, ultimately finding homage in their collections through meaningful artwork and designs resonating with their individuality. The inspirations behind the themes of JOSHUA MOHAMED's designs derive from their own global exposure, personal relationships and contemporary interactions, making the brand a bind between personal experiences and their passion to create art in clothing form. 

JOSHUA MOHAMED is committed to bridging cultural backgrounds and fashion through their pieces by emphasizing their belief that fashion holds the power to unite people of various cultures and focusing on the diversity of style. Everything is created with intention and they work with individuals who represent JOSHUA MOHAMED's morals and values, helping to increase the scale of their brand as a whole. Often seen adorned in JOSHUA MOHAMED crest logos displayed on a number of garments, recent collections have included such quality pieces that reinforce the focus on luxury with the pride that is taken when associating with the brand's products.

‍JOSHUA MOHAMED was formed as a collaboration of two minds, backgrounds, and religious beliefs, however, JM pieces also celebrate one’s individuality within this world – in what ways have your individuality found homage in your collections?

Our individuality has found homage within our collections through meaningful artwork and design elements that resonate with us, based on the similarities found in our respective definitions of the particular theme of the collection.

‍Fashion has a way of sending messages in the most creative ways and the message JOSHUA MOHAMED has embraced is the notion of challenging the status quo through classic takes on streetwear. What does “challenging the status quo” mean to you and why do it through high-end streetwear?

Challenging the status quo to us means not being tied to a single place, a singular way of doing things, or a singular way of thinking. We accomplish this through high-end streetwear as it’s the vessel we can best express ourselves in and be heard. We challenge the status quo by merging our different backgrounds when creating in order to connect people globally, and build a community of diverse yet like-minded individuals.

Fashion has a way of sending messages in the most creative ways and the message JOSHUA MOHAMED has embraced is the notion of challenging the status quo through classic takes on streetwear. What does “challenging the status quo” mean to you and why do it through high-end streetwear?

Challenging the status quo to us means not being tied to a single place, a singular way of doing things, or a singular way of thinking. We accomplish this through high-end streetwear as it’s the vessel we can best express ourselves in and be heard. We challenge the status quo by merging our different backgrounds when creating in order to connect people globally, and build a community of diverse yet like-minded individuals.

‍Your collections are established around themes of the simplicities of unification and most recently this philosophy that “all individuals are global citizens.” What were some of the inspirations behind these themes, and how you’ve applied them to your capsule pieces?

All the themes behind the brand are expressions of our backgrounds and life experiences. Inspiration behind the themes come from our own global exposure, relationships with family and friends, and interactions with the different people we have connected with. We apply this to our capsule pieces in our artwork where we can express these ideas visually and translate this inspiration into creativity.

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There is a constant tug between uniformity and diversity within fashion and JOSHUA MOHAMED blends the two almost seamlessly. Why mesh both? What inspired this collaboration of the two and in what ways did you want it to resonate with your audience?

To mesh both allows us to grow the JOSHUA MOHAMED community while also remaining true to our core values. JOSHUA MOHAMED is a vessel for freedom of self expression and creativity. With reference to this and by blending both uniformity and diversity, it allows our audience to find relation in the brand and to themselves, and this realization is what attaches the audience to the brand.

The brand stems from the integration of backgrounds and ideas, also focusing on the overlap of fashion with religion. What drove this experiment in blending passion, faith, and fashion and how have your separate backgrounds affected JOSHUA MOHAMED'S creative process?

When we sat down to establish our brand, we had to decide its purpose. After narrowing down on the different paths we could take, we ultimately decided for the brand to simply be a reflection of us. We come from different backgrounds, yet share similarities, and we thought that blending the two would be something special and authentic. JOSHUA MOHAMED is not only synonymous with our names, but also our beliefs.

Because of our separate backgrounds we are able to explore different ways to tell our story through our clothing. When we fuse our different understandings of things, we are able to reach a diverse community.

JOSHUA MOHAMED integrates luxury fashion with contemporary streetwear in unique ways that can be described as almost timeless. What makes fashion timeless to you and how did you approach your pieces with that philosophy?

What makes fashion timeless to us is the ability to use classic silhouettes and sustainable fabrics to construct pieces with a purpose that can be worn and remembered over a period of time, rather than adhere to current trends. Approaching design with this philosophy narrows our focus to creating with intent and finding the best ways to construct garments that remain relevant.

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