Quick Facts
Biography
Amirah Kassem (born on January 8, 1987) is a baker in New York City. She is best known as the owner and founder of Flour Shop, which she founded in 2012. Kassem specializes in sculpting custom cakes without the use of fondant.Kassem is also known for her "Explosion Cake," and her Cara the Unicorn Explosion Cake was featured as Instagram's most memorable trend of 2017.
Early life and education
Kassem grew up in Chihuahua, Mexico where she learned to bake from her mother and grandmother. She moved to El Paso, Texas at the age of 9 with her parents.Later on, she attended the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in LA.
Career
Fashion
Amirah Kassem began her career in fashion while attending FIDM. She started out working for 7 For All Mankind and Fred Segal. Eventually Kassem moved her way into high fashion through experiences at Interview Magazine and Karl Templer. She then moved to NYC, where she worked alongside Johan Lindeberg in the launch of BLKDNM.
Flour Shop
In 2012 Amirah Kassem left the fashion industry to set up a high-concept bakery, Flour Shop. This is known for unusually-shaped cakes in the shapes of cheeseburgers, pizzas, buckets of popcorn and the well-known 'Explosion Cake'. The company specialise in creating baked goods without the use of fondant icing.
Flour Shop opened their Flagship Store in SoHo New York in November 2017.
Her clients have included Kim Kardashian, Katy Perry and Beyonce, as well as brands likes Vans, Louis Vuitton, and Alice + Olivia.
Amirah has headlined food festivals like Food and Wine Festival, New York City Wine and Food Festival and Catskills Festival.
Press
Amirah and her products have been featured Vogue, Harper's BAZAAR, The New York Times, New York Post, Refinery29, Food and Wine, Elle, Teen Vogue, Late Night With Seth Myers and The Rachael Ray Show.
Art
Amirah Kassem works frequently on collaborations with photographer Henry Hargreaves. Their work includes “Burning Calories” photo series, which is in a gallery in Venice, Italy as of November 2013. Kassem and Hargreaves also collaborated on a photo series in celebration of the Wu Tang Clan's 20th anniversary for the Wu Tang Brand.
Amirah's work has also been featured in the Whitney Museum and Brooklyn Museum. In 2015, When the Brooklyn Museum celebrated Takashi Murakami, Amirah used 10,000 gumballs to create her own art installation, reinterpreting the Murakami flower.
Personal life
Kassem currently resides in Los Angeles with her husband and business partner, Ross "The Boss" Harrow.