Osman Yousefzada

Besides being an artist, Osman is working as a research practitioner at the Royal College of Art and is a visiting fellow at Jesus College, Cambridge.

Osman has written on various themes of Race, Labour and marginalised communities.[10]

In 2022 he published an memoir, called 'The Go Between'. The memoir gives an insight about growing up in the 80's in Birmingham, in a closed Pakistani migrant community. The book has received critical acclaim.[11] Stephen Fry reviewed it as 'One of the greatest childhood memoirs of our time'.[12] Hanif Kureishi has said that it was 'Poetic and moving'[13] and The Guardian reviewed it as magic behind closed doors.[14]

The memoir was longlisted for the Polari First Book Prize in 2022 and won the Slightly Foxed prize in 2023.

The black-pink pattern (Infinity Pattern 1) designed by Yousefzada at Selfridges Building, Birmingham

Yousefzada's first solo exhibition, "Being Somewhere Else", was at the critically acclaimed contemporary art space Ikon Gallery in 2018. The exhibition was made to demonstrate the inequalities in the contemporary fashion world, as well as exploring marginalised voices and experiences within migration.[15]

Yousefzada created a short film named Her Dreams are Bigger about garment workers in Bangladesh which was shown at the Whitechapel Gallery in London.[16][17]

Yousefzada launched his eponymous label, Osman, in 2008.[2] He earned a reputation at London's fashion weeks that year mostly by the black dresses he designed, which prompted the U.S. Vogue magazine to call him the "re-inventor of the Little Black Dress".[18]

Within a few years of launching his label, Yousefzada had become a "fashion powerhouse".[19] Some of his famous clients include Beyoncé, Emily Blunt and Lady Gaga.[2] Beyoncé wore an Osman dress at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards.[20]

In 2016 he won the Outstanding Achievement in Art & Design at the 6th Asian Awards.[21]

He launched his first solo exhibition at the Ikon Gallery in 2018. The exhibition was made to demonstrate the inequalities in the contemporary fashion world, as well as experiences with migration.[8]

In 2019, Yousefzada opened up a temporary space in London's Floral Street which he named House of Osman.[22]

Nowadays Yousefzada is focusing more on visual & performative art.

Yousefzada has claimed that his Asian heritage inspired some of his cuts and that many of his works are done in Pakistan and India.[20] Recently for a capsule collection for fall 2022, Yousefzada made designs to celebrate South Asian identity, using fabrics and inspirations from India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.[3] Some of his designs have also had inspirations from Maasai tribes and Ancient Greece.[23]

Rituals & Spells,[24] Cromwell Place, London

What is Seen & What is Not, Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Being Somewhere Else, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham

Life is more important than Art,[25] White Chapel Gallery, London

One that Includes Myth, Goodman Gallery, London

Ventilator, Installation, Royal College of Art, London

Alea Iacta Est, Vistamare, Milan (Italy)

Spaces of Transcendence, Sufi & Trans-gender rituals (New Commission), Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney

Glasstress, Berengo Fondazione, Venice

'Her Dreams are Bigger', Radical Figures: Painting in the New Millennium, Whitechapel Gallery, London

Malevich Symposium: The Power of Sound 180 Strand, London

A Rich Tapestry: Curated by Jonathan Watkins & Ayesha Khalid, new commission for ‘Huis-Clos (No Exit)’ Lahore Biennale, Lahore (Pakistan)

Between the Sun and the Moon, Lahore Biennale, Lahore (Pakistan)

Nightfall, Mendes Wood DM, Brussels (Belgium)

Volcano Extravaganza, Fiorucci Art Trust, Stromboli (Italy)

Total Anastrophes, Dhaka Art Summit, Dhaka (Bangladesh)

The Fabric of India (toured by V&A museum), Cincinnati Art Museum, Ohio (United States)

The Fabric of India, Ringling  Museum, Florida (United States)

The Wedding Dresses 1775-2014, V&A Museum, London

Reconstruction, British Council, Lahore Museum in Lahore. Central State Museum, Almaty. Georgian National Museum, Tbilisi. Style.uz, Tashkent. Bangladesh National Museum, Dhaka

Design of the Year Awards, Design Museum, London

Jerwood: Fashion, Film and Fiction, The Wapping Project, London

Infinity Pattern 1, Ikon Gallery & Selfridges Birmingham

In 2020, Yousefzada created an installation putting the conversation of Migration into the heart of the city - titled Infinity Pattern 1. It is the largest public art canvas which was installed as a temporary hoarding facade at the Selfridges site in Birmingham. It remained until the end of 2022 Commonwealth Games. This was Yousefzada's first work of public art.[26]