In many cases, one believes that what they see only possesses a clear background. A repeated idea bought and sold anew, adhering to the expected rhythm of life, or perhaps a piece duplicated by design. Yet, time has always proven that there is something..even if by the breadth of a single hair..capable of breaking a repetitive loop across hours, days, years, and perhaps history.
In building every brand founded on artistic principles and values, the journey has always traversed distinct stages: either beginning with a single name that seems to be both the beginning and the end, or passing through different names, each sufficient for an era in time..starting from Souls Out Brains, passing through Refugee…
What then of Poorarzhangy?
Let us turn back the wheel of time.
The Origins & The Spark
It all started with Amin Poorarzhangy; a 25-year-old young man born in Bandar Abbas. Whose life journey led him to leave for Germany at just 14 years old. It all began from the moment of his arrival and the moment he held a paintbrush for the first time… Perhaps the brush was an indelible part of a creator’s life; after all, the world of art is an intersection between painting and fashion. Amin’s passion for fashion ignited from the very moment he began to draw, realizing early on that he didn’t just want to express on canvas, but wanted to weave the very physics of… clothing.
Like many prodigies, silent observation was always the primary and most defining trait of any visionary destined to change the impressions of others. Amin observed the fashion world from the outside for a very long time. He witnessed the golden era of streetwear’s peak in 2010s. The era accompanied by the aesthetics of Kanye West, Hypebeast drops, and Virgil Abloh. All of the above played a role in shaping what Amin loved to present later, deeply influenced by the raw aesthetic of Gallery Dept and its associated concepts of upcycling.
Do you expect the traditional sequence of events to begin now?
The First Change of Amin Poorarzhangy
With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, much unfolded; while the pandemic marked the turning point for millions. For Amin, it felt like an invitation to act. Following the major lockdown, something stirred deep within him, urging him to yield something raw and creative. He was supposed to be preparing for his high school final exams, yet he began sewing old bedsheets in his room. He started wearing those handmade pieces to school. And school? The first critical arena on planet Earth… As Amin Poorarzhangy began arriving in his self-made creations, those around him started asking where he had bought them. Word-of-mouth spread rapidly among his peers, leading him to craft garments for friends, print customized t-shirts, and trace pant patterns.
Just three months before his final high school exams in 2022, Poorarzhangy made the decisive choice to drop out of school entirely. His singular objective at that moment was to dedicate 100% of his energy to his passion. The initial spark during the pandemic lockdown was not the only catalyst forging Amin’s trajectory. What fueled him even further was rejection.
The Start Point
After leaving school, Amin applied to a fashion university, and like many who disrupt established equations, he was rejected. Everything seemed to point toward a defining moment: “If this is the end of the academic path, nothing will shape my future except what I build with my own hands.” Amin decided to construct a solid foundation atop his existing skills. Although he had been self-taught in garment construction and tailoring from the beginning, he chose to reinforce it all by learning through YouTube tutorials. As Amin noted:
“YouTube sewing tutorials became my academy. I learned by taking apart existing garments, manipulating basic patterns, upcycling fabrics, and endless, disciplined repetition.”
Amin Poorarzhangy never touched a formal, academic education system in his life; instead, he defined his own boundaries, curriculum, and academy.
He also reflected:
“When people ask about my ‘first steps in the fashion industry,’ it’s hard for me to pinpoint a specific moment because I honestly don’t view myself as part of a traditional industry machine. To me, what I am doing today still feels exactly like what I was doing six years ago in my childhood bedroom. It’s the same raw urge to create, just with evolved execution.”
When you spot avant-garde pieces while scrolling through your favorite celebrity’s feed, you might very well be looking at Amin Poorarzhangy’s creations..even if it’s a subtle earring!
Amin Poorarzhangy’s aesthetic is distinguished by raw avant-gardism, focusing exclusively on womenswear. This journey began at age 19 when he launched his first project, initially named Souls Out Brains. The name felt like a manifestation of shadows before taking form as reality. Shadows echoing like a silhouette, where everything unconventional dwells beyond the mind. Inhabiting a space just before a thought crosses logic. He then transitioned to his second iteration, Refugee. Roughly two years ago, Amin arrived at a definitive name for his brand: Poorarzhangy..his family name.
Amin Poorarzhangy believes that every name he chose and every prior iteration of his brand was an essential experiment required to cultivate the vision seen today. Proving that the final outcome is the culmination of steps taken through the years.
The Believe
There was something that radically transformed Amin Poorarzhangy’s perception..altering how he views creativity, life, and decision-making. Amin states that confronting mortality is what reshaped his outlook on life and his creative process, sharing:
“The only thing that truly endures is the footprint we leave behind. Ever since I truly internalized the reality of death, it has become the core foundation that guides every decision I make. It liberates me completely from societal norms, industry expectations, and fear, because I know that nothing is permanent. Real, groundbreaking change can only happen when you create with this exact mindset, fully conscious that everything is temporary.”
He added:
“I cannot emphasize this strongly enough: realizing that everything on this earth is transient..that both joy and suffering are fleeting..gives you absolute, radical freedom.”
The Anatomy of Avant-Garde
He urges young creators to design boldly without pause because everything is fleeting. This core philosophy is what inspires his artistic journey, reflected in an avant-garde style that can be summarized in a few words: cold, industrial, stripped-down, and stripped of unnecessary elements. Poorarzhangy’s universe is defined by a strict palette of five colors: Black, White, Blue, Red, and Gray. Mixing black, white, blue, and red together yields gray. Have you ever wondered why gray? The importance of gray for Poorarzhangy lies in a single quality: its ability to adapt to any angle. It serves as the aesthetic and conceptual foundation for every piece in the brand..a bridging background model, yet the absolute core.
The avant-garde framework of the brand was built on specific pillars, the first being scarcity and the fusion of distinct entities. Amin Poorarzhangy’s approach aligns with the logic of today’s reality. Today’s world is driven by hyper-consumerism and mass production, and in Amin’s view, modern design does not mean the overproduction of items. As he stated:
“We live in a hyper-consumerist era saturated with products..we already have enough clothing. What we lack is new perspective.”
Thus, Amin chose to create hybrid objects positioned between two familiar concepts, adding:
“My work revolves around recontextualizing existing cultural items and artifacts through a different lens. For instance, high heels already exist, and trekking sandals already exist as well. My approach was to take these two distinct objects and fuse them together into High Heel Trekking Sandals. By mixing and re-engineering elements that are already present in our culture…”
He sought to present something genuinely new, viewed through a fresh perspective, rather than adding to the consumer noise of today’s world.
Amin Poorarzhangy views himself as a communicator rather than strictly a fashion designer. He sees each piece he crafts as a language of communication with every soul that owns or admires it, where each detail tells a story that leaves a lasting impression.
Amin Poorarzhangy Message
Amin Poorarzhangy concluded with a message to ambitious youth, and in his own words, to everyone living outside the boundaries of the ordinary..as well as those within it:
“Embrace this deep awareness of mortality and create boldly without fear.”
There are still stories untold. Ambitious souls, and individuals who grew up mastering the unconventional. Stealing glances at the balconies of the ordinary… Will the world be able to find them?
