Photo: Aqib Anwar Save Story Save this story Save Story Save this story Welcome to the Scoop : a weekly email series in which I quiz fashion insiders on the stories of the week. This will be a way for the Vogue Business community to synthesize and reflect on the latest headlines and get a little inside scoop every Friday.
This week’s guest is Osama Chabbi, one of the few fashion commentators that emerged on Instagram post-pandemic that actually has something to say. Born in France, Osama moved to Dubai in 2018 and soon after, started working for Farfetch, first as a stylist for the platform’s Middle East campaigns and later on joining the private client side of the business.
Osama didn’t feel this was the right place for him, telling me he felt a little too close to the business targets to really enjoy his job. But spending time with the 1% who actually consume fashion gave him insight that is hard to gain, like the ability to fragment a collection into different product ranges based on region and age, and understanding what will actually sell.
While still at Farfetch, Osama started posting fashion show reviews on Instagram Stories against Vogue Runway images. He began to gain a following, and soon after he got a surprising double-whammy of on-camera interviews — first with Haider Ackermann, then with Kris Van Assche — that he filmed and also posted on the platform. He speaks about how those came to be in the interview below, along with sharing his feelings on the protests in France and some predictions for the latest round of designer comings and goings. Now, Osama is ready to take his career in a new direction, which he also spoke to me about.
I’m directing my first documentary, and it is about my favorite designer. I can’t yet tell you who the designer is, but we will start filming in January, and it’s meant to come out next year. I’m working in partnership with a fashion-centric streaming platform that’s going to be launching soon. Our film will be one of the platform’s originals.
I didn’t realize filmmaking was among your ambitions.
Me neither. Basically, I had the idea to do a sort of commemorative interview, in light of the anniversary of the designer’s death. I wanted to film a conversation with two figures who meant a lot in this person’s history.
When I film my own interviews, I produce and direct them. I’m on set, involved with all the technical aspects — the shots, the framing, the lighting, the chairs, and what if the chair makes a weird noise. I was talking to someone on my team who handles our production, and she was like, “I think you have imposter syndrome. You’re actually a director.” It was really nice to hear that and a wake-up call. I decided to give it a shot and jump into something that’s longer than what I’m used to shooting, and obviously a bigger risk.
Behind the scenes look of Osama Chabbi interviewing Loewe creative directors, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez.
Can you give me a clue about who the documentary is about?
A little man with big ideas. I am interested in the idea of legacy. When I first started interviewing designers, the goal was really for these interviews to age well and eventually end up in exhibitions, museums, fashion schools. So I feel this is on the same path.
I was just jobless and on Twitter, and I wrote that I really wanted to interview Haider Ackermann when he was guest designer for Jean Paul Gaultier. I received a call from the Jean Paul Gaultier PR team, and they said,…