Like the night slowly gives way to daybreak, so do the traditionally black on black layers of Rad by Rad Hourani. His Spring/Summer 2012 show was focused on the positive vibrations of the colour blue in all it's shades, blending in with his signature unisex uniforms to create a spectrum that shifted from darkness into light. Beautifully set to an ambient soundtrack by Nico Muhly, Hourani transformed a modern take on the tuxedo jacket; wrapped, belted and cropped into an array of looks that emphasize taking the power of style into one's own hands.

Dazed Digital: What are we seeing tonight?
Rad Hourani: I wanted to do a study on the colour blue, so the only colour that you saw today was blue in all its shades. Navy blue, purple blue, light blue, baby blue, dark blue, black blue…all the shades. I like the idea of using one color every season, the last collection was a study on grey and this collection I wanted to work more from darkness to lightness.

DD: Why the color blue?
Rad Hourani: I feel extremely thankful and happy for everything that's been happening to me and I wanted to celebrate self-love and self care, I feel blue reflects that. It's healthy, medical, positive; it's something that's very intuitional and a color of being healthy and taking care of yourself. I feel like that's why I put it there.

DD: How do the shapes fit into that theme?
Rad Hourani: I've always liked the idea of transformation, so the collection is actually six pieces transformed into 22 pieces. I wanted to work a lot on the tuxedo shape and how one reads the tail in the front and back - like sometimes the front of the pant is shorter than the back and vice versa; I wanted to work on these kinds of proportions. It's also something seasonless and classical, a bit preppy but not in a bourgeois way, in a modern timeless way. 

DD: What is the importance of designing unisex?
Rad Hourani: Everything that I do is always unisex, so every piece is in the group is made for men and women. I wanted to show different personalities with this show - I went extremely sensual, extremely feminine, extremely masculine - and it's to show that you can wear it the way you want it. I love the idea of people who don't put limits on things or put things in one category, and I think this collection is also to show that you can do it your way.