Kopf ist gefickt aber outfit ist nice

We spoke to HARAM’s founder, All Amin, about detours to becoming a designer, launching her first handbag collection and plans to expand her business.

Keen to break the stereotype that eco equals ugly, 26-year-old Kurdish designer All Amin established her brand HARAM after relocating from Nuremberg for a compulsory internship four years ago. Her side hustle quickly evolved into a full-time business, leading her to drop out of fashion school and set up home in Berlin. Currently run from her bedroom, the one-man production band specialises in upcycling trainers into bespoke accessories that ooze Y2K princess.

Whether spinning threads into Haram Hello Kitty scarves or fabric carnations and coins into traditional Klaw headdresses, the heterogeneity of her designs never ceases to make her 20k+ Instagram followers marvel. A self-described “creative allrounder”, when Amin isn’t digging out second-hand sportswear, she can be found sketching tattoo designs and inking Berliners. After all, aren’t tattoos the perfect zero-waste accessory?

Her latest creative venture – upcycling trainers into handbags. We take a sneak peek at HARAM’s first handbag collection in this editorial Kopf ist gefickt aber outfit ist nice (Head is fucked, but outfit is nice).

Œ: Your path to becoming a fashion designer was far from linear. How did HARAM come into existence?

Amin: To be honest, I never took fashion seriously enough to consider becoming a fashion designer. From a young age, I found the fashion world unaffordable for people like me. Growing up as a child refugee in Reutlingen, other topics were more present, but fashion in the context of making a political statement always aroused my interest.

I somehow ended up in fashion via different detours. I started studying Civil Engineering but I was dissatisfied. I wanted to take the step of further developing myself creatively so I changed my course to Fashion Design. Since then, fashion has been a challenge for me to face my fears and give the world a part of me that can enrich or inspire others. That’s what has been driving me until now. 

I didn’t conventionally start my brand because my basic requirements didn’t make it easy for me to let my brand grow faster. But still, I’m patient with myself and my situation. When I’m ready, I will initiate the process of hiring a team.

Œ: How would you define HARAM’s core values and mission?

Amin: HARAM is here to break the stereotype of sustainable fashion and bring more visibility to the upcycling agenda. It doesn’t have to look ‘eco’ to be sustainable. I noticed how differently people perceived upcycling after seeing my range of designs.

That’s when I realised how much potential upcycling has in the big sustainability discussion, especially for younger generations. If we can get the next generation excited about the idea that sustainable fashion can look sick and be worth consuming instead of new fashion, hopefully, there will be a bigger shift in the long run.

Œ: Could you tell us the backstory and inspirations behind the Kopf ist gefickt aber outfit ist nice editorial?

Amin: The project Kopf ist gefickt aber outfit ist nice deals with the feelings of today’s generation. We’ll all have to deal with the long-term effects of climate change in due course. Above all, we’re also aware that we’re not so innocent when it comes to continuing to support one of the most polluting industries, namely fashion, through our consumption habits and behaviour.

We have become so used to our Western standard of living that it is difficult for most of us to give it up. Going without chic clothes is almost impossible. And this is exactly where HARAM tries to bridge the gap between looking dope and being sustainable at the same time. In this sense, headaches are inevitable for our generation, but at least we can still manage to look good handling them!



Œ: You’re preparing to launch your first handbag collection, which are featured in this editorial. How’s that going?

Amin: I’m still in the process of preparing the products. The next step will be to ship my trainer handbags to artists and musicians who inspire me. Hopefully, once my work is released and promoted there will be an increase in demand from the right audience.

Œ: Despite running your brand alone, you are miraciously turning out new items every few days. What is your current production process?

Amin: At the moment, I’m working on mini-collections, which I try to publish weekly. My new strategy is to create limited edition one-offs and drop them every Sunday night. Thanks to my ADHD, I get bored of the same designs so quickly that I try to keep prototyping them to stay in the workflow. But I’m still doing custom pieces on request.



Œ: Where do you see HARAM in the next five years?

Amin: Hopefully, HARAM will consist of a permanent team of the right people who also realise the brand’s potential. Through successful cooperation, we will have established a functioning, exemplary brand within the international market with a strong sense of sustainability that impacts how the next generation consumes fashion.