Throwback photos stir up laughs, memories and—for denim heads—a wealth of vintage denim inspiration. This weekly column on Rivet asks individuals in the denim industry to take a look back and reminisce about a denim moment in time captured on film.
This week, Omer Ahmed, the director of Artistic Milliners, looks back at a photo that combines two of the biggest influences in his life: family and denim. Now leading the family-run denim mill in Pakistan, his interest in the fabric began at an early age—further back than this photo dates.
After graduating from North Carolina State University, Ahmed began working at the mill, which has since earned recognition for its innovations in sustainability and industry-leading women’s empowerment practices: It’s Pakistan’s first-ever LEED Certified garment factory and, as of October 2018, women make up half of Artistic Milliners’ top management team.
Omer Ahmed, director of Artistic Milliners
This photo was taken in 1997 when I was 14 years old. My elder sister and I were at a museum we visited in Toronto. We all went on many vacations as a family, and this was one of them. We’re both in classic ’90s denim—she’s in faded, baggy overalls and I’m wearing Tommy Hilfiger jeans with a “No Fear” T-shirt complete with a Sony Walkman—and a middle part.
