Unmasking Nahar: A new chapter

Many great icons in the fashion industry have made their way into the spotlight through a lot of hard work, dedication, persistence, perseverance and belief that they can make it through in a very difficult field. The world of fashion is not for the weak, it requires strength, wit and livelihood, it requires a lot of reading and analyzing and understanding the latest trends, the ideas behind them and understanding what is suitable for the people and what is not.
What does he do? Is he a stylist? Is he a model? Is he an art director? There are the questions that Nahar bin Mohammed often gets. “I’ve done it all basically. I had to cover all these aspects because there is no one to fill the positions, I juggled through them all and never declined an offer, thus the confusion,” he said.
Also known as “Nahar the Mask”, Nahar is a Saudi fashion stylist, probably one of the most famous in the whole country, and one of the first known fashion buyers.
The mask, what was once a unique signature of his style, is finally getting a break and the man behind the mask is ready to reveal himself to the world.
So many mysteries have revolved around him but one thing for sure is that this young man’s ambitions and participation in the fashion scene has not gone unnoticed. The mask as he likes to define it is a character he added to represent one of his styles, yet it’s simply a mask and there was nothing fake about his dedication to giving all that he’s got to the fashion scene in the region. Nahar’s first interview since adorning the mask was with our colleague Rima Al-Mukhtar five years ago, and now he’s ready to give his first exclusive again to Arab News after taking off his mask. This is Nahar’s new chapter, writing the first lines of a fresh new page and with so many highly anticipated surprises about who Nahar is and what he’s all about. Here’s his story.

You’ve been a mystery since you showed up in the fashion scene in the region, all because of your mask. There isn’t a single picture of you not wearing it but you’ve decided to take it off and reveal yourself, why now?
To be honest, I’ve had a plan since day one; I knew there was an expected expiration date to this character. I agree that the mask added a sense of mystery as to who my identity is but it’s just a mask, an addition to my identity, a character I created that represented me at the time. My decision was a well-planned one, in order for me to move forward and open a new page in my career, I needed a fresh start and to add a new chapter to my career, the mask had to go in order for me to jump into new projects and start focusing on more productive ideas and get them working. There came a stage in my life where I found myself unable to create anything productive or contribute anything on my behalf to the fashion world, I was stuck in time and to survive in the industry, you need to work and contribute.

It seems that you needed a change; you needed to distance yourself and think clearly about your next step. What step did you take in order for you to move forward in an ever evolving world of fashion?
We still live in a society that doesn’t fully comprehend fashion, it’s more materialistic now than ever and that’s a misunderstanding, it’s not about what brand you wear, it’s about style. Another misconception is that you don’t just have to be a designer in order to survive in the fashion world; there are so many fields involved that no one ever understands. During my hiatus, I decided to go to London and take courses at the London College of Fashion in fashion buying and merchandising. In order for me to move forward, I wanted a backbone throughout my advancement, and at that time I decided it was time, it was time for me to go for all the projects I wanted to catch up to.

Was it holding you back?
In a way, yes. I have to be honest with myself before I’m honest with the world. There were the positives and negatives to adorning my mask, some of the negatives included preventing me from pursuing so many opportunities that came my way. Every artist is unique when they have their personal character different from those around him, that’s the role my Mask was playing. The concept was intriguing but with time, things change and so do feelings. On a more personal level, I felt I was starting to develop a dual personality and it started to scare me. Once the negatives started trumping the positives, I made the right decision at the right time.

With your decision in place, you’ve mentioned that you have a lot of ideas that you can’t wait to reveal and many exciting projects coming up, what hint can you give and why now?
Having worn the mask for five years, it helped open up so many doors for me and through it I’ve progressed a lot, I’ve learned many traits and I’ve dipped my hand in many different fields of fashion to find myself and find what my true purpose is. The mask was a stage in my life, a stage of discovery and now I’ve found exactly what I wanted to do to move forward.

Regardless of what society believes, fashion is a very important aspect of our lives, it represents an individual’s style. You’ve been educating many through your work and collaborations. Since you first started in the field, do you see a positive change happening?
Fashion is a behavior, it’s not something you pull up and that’s it. Fashion goes deep and represents your personality. Through my interaction with people, it became easier for me to read people and understand their personalities in terms of colors, in terms of shape and in terms of style, it speaks a lot about that person. Fashion among both men and women has come a long way, there is a better understanding but still, they miss a lot of key points. Style is personal, showing off is not. Social media plays a major role in defining style, people are now posting their outfits, inspirations, designer pieces and talking about them. I do the same on my Instagram and Twitter, both using the name Naharofficial. I do have to give credit to many who seemed to steer away from the low riders, they’ve come a long way from the low hanging jeans trend but I emphasize greatly on the word because I still believe as society, they need to be a lot more educated.

You speak of educating society, why do you believe that?
In-depth fashion was just recently introduced into society, we’re talking seven years minimum, yes we have many brand stores such as Chanel and Burberry and others but society still lacks knowledge behind these brands. There’s also a shortage of people working in the field of fashion other than bloggers, designers and what not. There’s a lot more than just designers and creators of wardrobe and bloggers wearing pieces. For example, there is a fashion school in Riyadh that offers fashion designing courses. Why restrict it to only fashion designing? Why not expand it to fashion marketing, blogging, fashion photography, fashion styling, fashion journalism … there are so many fields out there that can combine both education and passions or hobbies together.
Tell us about the challenges you encountered in your career to help pave the way for all who are seriously interested in investing their time and make their careers in fashion.
The best way for them to learn is from a mistake, and I’ve made a lot over the years, it’s a natural up and down cycle until you get it right and know where your place is in the fashion sphere.

A lot of people want to know who you are; there was a mystery to you but now that you’ve opened up a new chapter, who is Nahar?
I’m officially a fashion buyer and I understand the confusion, and to make it easier, fashion buyers are those who decide what to buy this season. They attend fashion week in London, NYC, Paris and Milan, where they decide what ensembles are best to bring back to the stores. They always broadcast the latest trends, trend sourcing, collaborate with designers and they’re people who are responsible for the whole designer collection. It’s a fun career.

From your point of view, can you explain the difference between a fashion buyer and a boutique owner who supplies her store with different worldwide brands?
For fashion buyers, it’s not about personal taste, a fashion buyer has to be aware of the latest trends, consumer needs, understanding the collection and buyer connection (if it’s suitable for this category or not), and more. The difference between a fashion buyer and a boutique owner, is a boutique owner will buy what they think is best according to their own taste, in the end they’re just sales. Fashion buyers’ preference isn’t important; it’s the consumers who make the whole point of acquiring a certain collection.

Are you excited about your new chapter?
Very!

It feels like you have so much drive and energy in you that you can’t wait to do everything you have ever wanted to do.
I want to do everything possible, I want to fulfill the projects, I want to introduce Saudi society to fashion buying and more, I want to write a book, I want to … as you can see “everything possible” is the right term because it’s true. The fashion world is one that provides so many opportunities; all you need is imagination, belief and a strong desire to do it.
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