Karim Guest New York
The design concept behind his collections.

Interview with Karim Guest on October 8th, 2022
The Red Room at The Connaught, London
by Sean Ashby

Knowing Karim Guest since 2004, I can best describe him as a citizen of the world, whose résumé contains impressive positions and collaborations with leading fashion labels and companies in the US, Europe, the Middle East, and the Far East. I had the pleasure of working with him a couple of times over the past two decades. 

Over the years, this passionate traveler has employed his talent for design not only in the fashion world, but also in commercial and residential interior design, landscape design and art consulting.  

In 2018 he launched his own fashion brand. A luxury knitwear collection for men: Karim Guest New York – adding womenswear in 2019. 

“Fashion Design is influenced by so many different things that I love… to start with it is all about colors, patterns, textures I find in nature and in art. People I see. Places I visit when I travel. The past and the present. By new technologies, by the future” states Guest. 

Guest, when I asked him in 2019 why he wants to add womenswear, replied: “Women first bought accessories such as hats and scarves from me. Then they started to add my essential crew and V-neck sweaters and double-faced blazers and coats to their orders – all produced in Fibre Nobili Cashmere. However, I did not find that the shapes were ideal for them as they were based and fitted on a man’s body. So, I decided to launch the womenswear collection designed on the same concept.

One of the most important principles in Guest’s designs is the almost meditative reduction to the basics. His lines and silhouettes are straight forward with no frills. His designs dress every woman and man without dressing them up. They are authentic, combined with ultimate comfort and a very luxurious touch.

“My collections are meant for people who have come to a point in their lives when all wardrobe experiments are over. They buy designs which are realized in sustainably produced, non-toxic and natural materials of exquisite qualities which are made by true craftsmen. These educated and experienced clients are looking for timeless, essential, and somewhat seasonless pieces which work from day to night and from week to weekend. 
My shapes always follow the architecture and the proportions of the human body. They are pure, simple, and not complicated. Besides how someone looks in my designs, it is equally important to me how that person feels when wearing a piece of my collection. 
Another aspect of me creating such pieces is my reduction of colors and loud patterns – I mainly focus on hues of black, blue, grey, greige, camel and sand tones with the occasional accent color. Sometimes, I add a stripe, a pattern story, or a surface structure, but never in a busy or loud way. I base my collections on this design principle. Karim Guest New York is designed to feel modern, luxurious and to reflect an urban lifestyle.”

Guest is wearing his double face one-button Fibre Nobili single breasted oversized Sport Coats in black, Fibre Nobili cardigan in black and essential black crewneck t-shirt combined with a light grey cashmere cargo sweat pant. Accessories are a dark navy cashmere scarf and a dark navy cashmere hat. 

I am wearing a double face Fibre Nobili Karim Guest oversized coat in black with the matching extra-long scarf and hat. A cashmere-cotton polo in white and a charcoal wool-cashmere trouser.