In conversation with Karim Acolina · By Callie
When I asked my best friend Karim what he’d worn that day, his answer was surprisingly sensible: a navy suit, matching trousers, a sturdy belt and brown shoes. If you know Karim, you’ll understand why I immediately asked whether he’d choose that outside work.
“Unfortunately, we live in a world that doesn’t have a lot of whimsy in it,” he told me. “I would love to be able to wear Galliano to a meeting.”
That sounded much more like the Karim I know.
For this In the Stitch interview, I wanted to talk to someone whose love of fashion I’ve seen up close. Karim and I both come from Gibraltar where style tends to lean casual and understated. His never has. Larger than life, eccentric and impeccably dressed, he’s one of the people who reminds me just how much can be done with clothes.
We started with his working wardrobe. By the end, we’d found our way to Cinderella, Mugler, and the possibility of having an entire room to play dress-up in. A fairly natural progression for us, honestly.
Quotes have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
The coat that wants a reaction
Karim’s office clothes might have to be conventional, but he still cares about the fit. A cinched waist, a suit worn well. What frustrates him is the limited room he feels he has to experiment with men’s fashion in an ordinary office job. Outside work, that room gets considerably bigger.
When I asked which pieces felt most like him, he chose two coats thrifted in São Paulo earlier this year. One, a long vintage fur in rich brown, is a second-hand find he’s careful to separate from modern fur production. For winter, he imagines it over something fitted or sheer, with statement jewellery.
The other is cropped, faux fur, and very hot pink. He described it as “pop girly”, a piece that commands attention. Of course he did.
“Something that you put on and that just begs to be addressed,” he explained. Whether someone loves it or asks, “What the fuck are you wearing?”, the outfit has done something. It has started a conversation.
I love that about his style. There’s always something to notice, and he isn’t waiting for everybody to agree before he wears it.
That led us to what actually deserves a place in his wardrobe. His answer was excitement. He wants to open the doors and feel something, rather than find the same colours and designs looking back at him.
“Instead of being just a wardrobe, it’s a playground.”
He talked about walking into a room turned into a wardrobe, his own atelier, with a world of possibilities inside. I absolutely adored that. Getting dressed is so much more interesting when you can try things together and see where they take you.
Cinderella had something to do with it
I’d expected our conversation about early influences to stay with clothes. Instead, we ended up talking about his mum working nights and the Disney film he watched before falling asleep.
Growing up, Karim didn’t have a ready-made reference for styling. His mum was working and providing for the family; matching outfits weren’t the priority. Later, he took it upon himself to learn about different styles, fits and how pieces worked together.
“I never really had that, so I was like, ‘I’m going to be that person.’”
There’s something lovely about that determination. He didn’t have to grow up surrounded by fashion to become someone who cared deeply about it.
But one reference had stayed with him: the mice and birds making Cinderella’s dress. Watching fabric become a gown fascinated him. It wasn’t only the finished look; it was the making, the different pieces coming together.
Cinema, particularly the fantasy worlds of Disney, still feeds his imagination. Hearing him talk about it made the connection clear: he likes clothes that offer somewhere else to go.
A little more drama on an ordinary day
When I asked him to describe his style, he took a moment. Then came “daring”, followed by unusual silhouettes and pieces that start conversations. That felt right.
Interestingly, the next thing he wants to explore is something more casual: early-2000s men’s street style, with fitted tops and loose, baggy jeans. He has plenty of clothes for events and nights out. Now he wants more of that experimentation in his everyday wardrobe.
I told him I thought that was something we should all strive for. You should feel good every day, not only on the days you’ve decided deserve an outfit.
From there, we got onto texture. He wishes people played with it more: furry leg warmers, a belt or a hat that adds dimension, fabric manipulation that changes the shape of a look. Iris van Herpen came up as a reference for that kind of experimentation.
I’m always drawn to little details myself, so I loved this part of the conversation. It’s easy to talk about colour or print and forget how much the surface of a fabric can bring to an outfit.
And although we share a hometown, Karim doesn’t feel his wardrobe belongs to one place. He spoke about seeing country-Western references from Texas or Harajuku style from Japan online, and wanting to try them. Coming from somewhere small doesn’t mean your imagination has to stay there.
A million possible outfits
Our conversation about where his style comes from turned into a conversation about who he’s dressing as. Himself, or the person he wants to feel like that day?
“I want to be a million people at once,” he said. “I don’t think my soul has a specific outfit on.”
I loved that answer. There’s room in his wardrobe for different moods, different shapes, different versions of him. The occasion matters, but it doesn’t always get the final say. Sometimes dinner has to accommodate the club outfit because he’s going out afterwards. Fair enough.
For all the spectacle, his answer about feeling well dressed was much more intimate: confidence, comfort in your skin, and feeling safe in what you wear. Sometimes it’s achieving an image of yourself you didn’t think you could achieve.
When I asked whether fashion could help you move towards who you want to be, he didn’t hesitate.
“Fashion should be a vehicle for when you need it to take you to who you want to be.”
That stayed with me. I’ve always wanted to do so many things within fashion, and I understand the pull of seeing a version of yourself in your head and wanting to bring her into the world. Sometimes putting an outfit together gives you a small place to start.
Naturally, we got to Mugler
Karim was ready to discuss his favourite designers before I’d even reached that question. Once we got there, Mugler was first.
He loves the confidence of the Mugler woman, the curves, the sharp shapes and the exaggerated silhouette. His favourite is the autumn/winter 1995 show, particularly the almost corporate looks made so body-conscious. For him, they carry the message that you can be sexy, powerful and successful at once.
Which brought us back, rather neatly, to the navy suit we’d started with. Here was the office wardrobe with the drama he’d been wishing for.
Alexander McQueen’s Plato’s Atlantis followed: the prints, the fabrics, the underwater world. Again, he was drawn to a designer building somewhere for us to enter.
“It’s not just a fashion show. It’s a world, it’s a universe. They’re inviting you to be a part of.”
Then Vivienne Westwood, for the layering, the prints and the textures. Anyone who knows me knows I was very happy to stay on that subject.
By the time I asked for his final fashion take, we’d talked about coats that invite comments, Cinderella’s dressmakers, and wardrobes with enough possibility to become playgrounds. His answer felt entirely appropriate.
“Don’t be boring. Why are we being boring in 2026? Be fun. Be creative. Think outside the box.”
What I took from our conversation was how willing he is to try. A different texture, an unfamiliar silhouette, something that might get a reaction. That’s one of the things I’ve always loved about Karim: he gives himself permission to wear the idea.
I think we could all borrow a little of that. I’ll leave Galliano at the office to him, though.
Love,
Callie x
Runway references: Mugler, autumn/winter 1995; Alexander McQueen, Plato’s Atlantis, spring/summer 2010.
