Naeem khan, fashion designer and supporter of artists on Studio 54.

Naeem khan is an Indian-American fashion designer. He has designed gowns for Michelle Obama and Queen Noor Jordan. New York-based Naeem Khan has shook up New York Fashion Week by creating glitzy dresses, gowns and disco inspired garments which dazzle in the moonlight.

In 1978, he moved to America to work as an apprentice for Halston. He worked with celebrities like Elizabeth Taylor, Liza Minnelli and others before creating his namesake brand in 2003. It is currently worn by Taylor Swift and Penelope Cruz.

He recently held a glitzy runway show at the 30th Annual Women of Distinction Luncheon on May 11 in New York City, hosted by the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation.

The event, honoring Deborah Martin and Marcy Nanus, is one of New York City’s top fundraising events, raising over $32 million since 1993 for research and education programs. It’s also one of the city’s most stylish events of the year, with women decked out in Chanel, Veronica Beard, Gucci and of course, Naeem Khan, who has 300 boutiques across the globe.

A T-shaped runway was set up in The Glasshouse where Khan presented his collection for fall/winter. “I love creating things with textures,” said Khan in an interview. “Everything, from my metallic pieces to the threadworks are all made by hand at my brand,” he said.

The brand’s ethos includes the support of independent artists, craftworkers and designers. “My whole thing is how do I keep artisans alive; this is also keeping it ecologically going, and you have to think, how are you benefiting humanity?” he asks. “Artisans are to be protected.”

Khan designs dresses that take two to three month to produce for an employee who works 40 hours per week. In Japan, China India, Latin America and Latin America, Khan employs over 600 artisans. “It keeps me going because it’s dying,” he said.

“Do fashion designers make it worthwhile for artisans to keep going?” he asks. “I make sure the artisans that work with me are well-paid and have suitable working conditions.”

Khan is from an Indian fashion family, as the textiles they make have been made for more than a hundred years. In 1918, his grandfather began working in the fashion industry by making clothes for royalty. “He was dedicated to his craft,” said Khan. “My father was born in 1932, then started his own design firm in Mumbai and started his own workshop making one couture Sari at a time,” and rose to prominence in the 1950s and 1960s.

“My family is based in India and Indian artisans are magical, they have been doing luxury clothing for thousands of years,” said Khan. “My work is not ethnic or Indian, it’s very contemporary. The artisans follow my guidance.”

Khan was introduced to Halston’s work by his father after he moved to New York in 1978 to study at the Fashion Institute of Technology. “Halston gave me a job and didn’t want me to go to school, he wanted me to be his assistant,” he said. “I became his right hand and that’s how I learned my craft.”

He was in the studio 54 craze at the time, where he met Andy Warhol Jean-Michel Basquiat and Ian Schrager. “That’s when I learned that fashion is not just about making clothes, it’s about having a journey,” said Khan. “It’s about understanding life.”

The collection he has for fall/winter is a disco-inspired one. “Within my core, that’s me,” said Khan. “The songs ring in my head, the times stand still in my mind. It’s a hundred percent disco, and even now, I see women dancing in my clothes. It was the greatest era of our time, and it was all about having a good time.”

His latest collection is also dominated by geometrical lines, which are inspired by abstract artists such as Victor Vasarely or Piet Mondrian.

Working with Halston introduced him to New York’s high society and the celebrity circuit. He made clothes for Elizabeth Taylor. Zsa Zsa Gavor, and Liza Minelli. Coming from India, star royalty didn’t mean much to him. “I just saw it as doing my job,” he said.

“It wasn’t about just making clothes for the stars, it was our friendship—chatting with them, understanding them,” said Khan. “Elizabeth Taylor used to come from lunch and would have a few glasses of wine and say: ‘Send me Naeem, I want to talk to him.’ She asked me: ‘Tell me about your life in India, growing up with tigers and elephants.’”

And next up, he is being honored at a lunch hosted by the Museum of the City of New York for a lifetime achievement award at the 2023 Spring Symposium & Luncheon on June 7. According to him, it’s a completely different atmosphere than the fashion week. “Runway luncheons are more about the celebration of a designer and their vision,” said Khan, noting that fashion weeks are more than just influencers shoving elbows for front row seats. “Fashion weeks are very business for retailers, who are present at runway shows and taking notes of what they’re going to put in stores.”

Khan runs an artisanal company. “I’m making beautiful clothes for limited, high-end people, so my future is, how do I scale this?” he asks.

He is interested in expanding into perfumes, cosmetics and jewelry. “The big conglomerates have their own hands that can stretch many places, but how does an artisanal brand go out there and scale it?” asks Khan. “That’s a challenge for me.”

He wants to make affordable products that can be sold for less than $1,000 (his dresses usually cost $4,000).

Khan is most likely to remember the Halston designer who worked behind-the-scenes. Despite the 2021 drama-fueled Netflix series that focused on Halson’s life going out of control, there is more to it than sensationalism.

“People have this vision of him of parties and madness, which is so really shallow and not the iconic Halston,” said Khan.

“He was a man of great value who came from a small town, loved people, and built a business from nothing. He was dedicated both to his art and to women who bought his clothes. He considered how to drape and cut fabrics. He was one of the hardest working designers, and he always taught me ‘be dedicated to your craft.’”