Children of the 1980s were the first to hear: “You can grow up to be anything.” Dreamers of that generation aspired to be astronauts, pop stars, secret agents, computer wizards and professional athletes. Abdul Al-Romaizan, founder and creative director of newly launched Italian fashion house RAMZEN, had a unique childhood ambition of his own during his formative years in the ‘80s.
“Growing up in Milan, I was fashion-obsessed,” says the Saudi native. Among family treasures is a Polaroid picture, snapped when he was about six years old. “Little Abdul is sitting in an armchair, enthralled by a runway show on TV,” he describes. From a young age, the glossy pages of fashion magazines captivated him, too. “I was fortunate as a child to have so many memorable experiences of the arts, as I toured museums and landmarks in the world’s great cities,” Al-Romaizan reflects. “Nothing, however, stirred my passion like fashion,” he says. “It is an art that is as much about attitude as it is about design and materials.”
Al-Romaizan’s creative journey has taken him in a multitude of directions since he returned to Saudi Arabia after completing his education in the United States. He’s designed heirloom pieces for his family’s jewelry-making enterprise, as well as for Italy-based Villari porcelain. He has composed music, written poetry and, most significantly, he has conceived, designed and produced some of the Middle East’s most exquisite weddings and events for royal, celebrity and government clients: enough to fill three books he authored to showcase his technological achievements and artistic philosophy.
All the while, fashion was his favorite means of self-expression, and as Al-Romaizan moved among fashion’s elite, he was encouraged by designers and friends to embrace the challenge of designing his own line. Their confidence reawakened his long-held childhood desire to make clothing that not only turns heads but becomes part of the wearer’s life story.
Even still, Al-Romaizan has taken his time bringing Milan-based RAMZEN to life. A perfectionist by nature, he’s been on a multiyear quest to invent the brand, decode its DNA, source exotic materials and create looks that evoke the exuberant, carefree ‘80s, while propelling fashion forward. His inaugural collections for men and women, which debuted online in mid-July, invite fashion-forward men and women to break free and be edgy and impulsive once again.
As Al-Romaizan at last finds himself exactly where his youthful mind envisioned, he is humbled to be in the midst of his idols, who have made Milan an international fashion capital, and grateful to all of the Saudi artists, creators and visionaries who are blazing new trails and gaining worldwide recognition for their talents.
“As we have worked to bring the world of RAMZEN to life, my passion for fashion has only intensified,” says Al-Romaizan. “The RAMZEN brand may be new,” he says, “but this is what I was born to do.”
RAMZEN is wearable art for thinkers, risk takers and romantics… for individuals longing to express the hidden nuances of their own uniqueness. For designer Abdul Al-Romaizan, it is a regression to the exuberance of his early-’80s childhood: a rebirth that allows him to grow up once more with fashion’s conventions as his playthings, just waiting to be turned upside down and rearranged. Wearing one RAMZEN piece is a statement; a full ensemble speaks volumes. Yet, nothing about these styles is flashy. RAMZEN exists at the intersection of on-trend and classically elegant. RAMZEN clothing can be worn with confidence and enjoyment by fashion lovers of all ages, genders, body shapes and sizes. It is the spirit and energy of the wearer that makes each RAMZEN piece beautiful.
Owner and Creative Director Abdul Al-Romaizan was born in Saudi Arabia, grew up fashion-obsessed in Milan and was educated in the U.S. He has traveled the globe, finding inspiration for his own artful creations, jewelry designs and event productions in both the beauty of the past and the eclecticism of the present. In the realm of luxury weddings and celebrations, he has been a creative force, designing experiential celebrations on a monumental scale that capture worldwide attention. Along his journey, he has become both a friend to the world’s foremost designers and a fashion icon in his own right. Now, he has created a world of his own: a world called RAMZEN. Born of passion, RAMZEN reawakens the idea of fashion as a universal art form and luxury as humanity’s birthright. As with everything he has created, RAMZEN’s fashions and lifestyle products will continually expand the notion of what is possible, making Al-Romaizan a designer whose work will always be surprising and never easily characterized or defined.
